The Unquiet Frontier: Rising Rivals, Vulnerable Allies, and the Crisis of American Power

August 15, 2017

The Unquiet Frontier: Rising Rivals, Vulnerable Allies, and the Crisis of American Power

How America’s vulnerable frontier allies—and American power—are being targeted by rival nations

From the Baltic to the South China Sea, newly assertive authoritarian states sense an opportunity to resurrect old empires or build new ones at America’s expense. Hoping that U.S. decline is real, nations such as Russia, Iran, and China are testing Washington’s resolve by targeting vulnerable allies at the frontiers of American power. The Unquiet Frontier explains why the United States needs a new grand strategy that uses strong frontier alliance networks to raise the costs of military aggression in the new century.


Princeton University Press

Dr. A. Wess Mitchell is co-founder and principal at The Marathon Initiative, a policy initiative focused on developing strategies to prepare the United States for an era of sustained great power competition.