On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall collapsed, taking the Cold War down with it. The next twelve years passed in a haze of self-congratulation, Republican confusion, and angst, and economic prosperity—until they ended abruptly with a stunning catastrophe on September 11, 2001.

In America Between The Wars, Derek Chollet and James Goldgeier blend deep expertise with broad access to both parties’ political and policy establishments to find out how—and why—America failed to recognize that when we became the sole superpower with responsibility for the world’s oversight, we overlooked how the new world actually worked.