Why America Misunderstands the World

Paul Pillar traces the American public's misreading of foreign threats to the country's own history and geography. Protected by two oceans, Americans find it hard to grasp the worries of more exposed nations; the fast rise of their democracy leads many to assume the same liberal system can take root anywhere; and settling a continent with relative ease clouds their view of conflicts over land elsewhere. Moving from colonial times to modern terrorism, he shows how such assumptions made Finlandization a slur, fed the with-us-or-against-us stance of the George W. Bush years and still hide why Iraq stays close to Iran. He describes a cycle in which threats are played down before an attack and inflated after it.

Lucas Morales, founder and chief executive of Zeall.us, listed it among the contrarian reads he recommends for spotting opportunities others miss.