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Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes Hardcover – February 18, 2014

4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 38 ratings

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The world has seldom been as dangerous as it is now. Rogue regimes—governments and groups that eschew diplomatic normality, sponsor terrorism, and proliferate nuclear weapons—threaten the United States around the globe. Because sanctions and military action are so costly, the American strategy of first resort is dialogue, on the theory that “it never hurts to talk to enemies.” Seldom is conventional wisdom so wrong.

Engagement with rogue regimes is not cost-free, as Michael Rubin demonstrates by tracing the history of American diplomacy with North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, the Taliban’s Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Further challenges to traditional diplomacy have come from terrorist groups, such as the PLO in the 1970s and 1980s, or Hamas and Hezbollah in the last two decades. The argument in favor of negotiation with terrorists is suffused with moral equivalence, the idea that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Rarely does the actual record of talking to terrorists come under serious examination.

While soldiers spend weeks developing lessons learned after every exercise, diplomats generally do not reflect on why their strategy toward rogues has failed, or consider whether their basic assumptions have been faulty. Rubin’s analysis finds that rogue regimes all have one thing in common: they pretend to be aggrieved in order to put Western diplomats on the defensive. Whether in Pyongyang, Tehran, or Islamabad, rogue leaders understand that the West rewards bluster with incentives and that the U.S. State Department too often values process more than results.

Editorial Reviews

Review


“Diplomacy, like any other human activity, has costs as well as benefits. Sadly, too many people believe that diplomacy is cost-free, or fail to understand that merely sitting down together at a negotiating table may simply be shifting the focus of conflict. These are the people who most need to read
Dancing with the Devil, but probably won’t. The rest of us should.”

—
John Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, 2005–2006

“Because of the current American negotiations with Iran about nuclear weapons, Michael Rubin’s path-breaking history,
Dancing with the Devil, could not be more timely. In this illuminating book, Rubin shows how fifty years of dancing with devils by Democratic and Republican administrations has more often than not led to failure rather than success, war instead of peace. Rubin warns us that when America negotiates naïvely with rogue nations and terrorist groups, we pay dearly.”

—
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman

“Beautifully written in clean and direct prose, thorough in its history and analysis, and compelling in its clear-eyed recommendations, this book will become the trade and textbook standard for how a free country should deal with hostile states and regimes. Here is due respect for the subtle arts of diplomacy as well as a necessary recognition of its limits.”

—
William J. Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education, fellow of the Claremont Institute, and host of the nationally syndicated radio show Morning in America

“When and how should the United States engage diplomatically with difficult, dangerous, ‘rogue’ regimes? No question is more important for America’s relations with the world. In
Dancing with the Devil, Michael Rubin provides a deeply considered, clearly written, politically controversial, and intellectually compelling answer. This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of American foreign policy.”

—
Michael Mandelbaum, author of The Road to Global Prosperity and professor of American foreign policy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

“Rubin’s book is one of the most comprehensive histories yet of the risks of US diplomatic engagement with rogue and extremist regimes, and should serve as a warning to naïve policymakers who do not understand their political pathologies.”

—
Andrew Natsios, Executive Professor and Director, Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at the George H. W. Bush School of Government and Public Service

"Everyone who engages or negotiates with rogue states, or any other nation, should be required to read Dancing with the Devil. Rubin’s assessment of rogue states is a compelling argument for utilizing all elements of our national power. The North Korea experience alone highlights how diplomacy can just as easily exacerbate as resolve conflict."

—
LTG Dan Petrosky, U.S. Army Retired, former commander, 8th U.S. Army

About the Author

Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official, is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 159403723X
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Encounter Books (February 18, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781594037238
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1594037238
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.7 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.2 x 1.4 x 9.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 38 ratings

About the author

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Michael Rubin
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Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
38 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the writing style well-written and exhaustive in research. They also appreciate the historical analysis of political errors and Rubin's wealth of experience.

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6 customers mention "Writing style"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well written, easy to read and follow, and say the author knows the subject well.

"This extremely well written book is easy to understand for the militarist, diplomat, and the average American citizen and something all Americans..." Read more

"...given conflict, Rubin's book provides first class research with a writing style and use of anecdotes that actually make for an enjoyable read...." Read more

"...Don't let the girth of this history intimidate you. It reads well and considering the span of history it covers and the many complex characters..." Read more

"Author knows the subject well. Book is easy to read and follow...." Read more

5 customers mention "Content"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's content well-written, exhausting in research, and incredible. They also appreciate the rich and complex material, and historical analysis of political errors.

"...find themselves on in any given conflict, Rubin's book provides first class research with a writing style and use of anecdotes that actually make..." Read more

"...There's so much rich and complex material to talk about, yet, after dipping in random chapters on my first scanning, I had the uneasy sense that..." Read more

"...documenting facts and it is an important book providing an excellent recap of history." Read more

"...Book is easy to read and follow. Up to date information and gives details which helps in understanding the foreign situations that the U.S. is..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2019
This extremely well written book is easy to understand for the militarist, diplomat, and the average American citizen and something all Americans should read and understand. This book pertains to our adversaries around the globe after the Cold War ended almost 30 years ago and is primarily concerned with six rogue nations. Michael Rubin’s style is easy to appreciate American Foreign Policy over this time period. This book illustrates the history of diplomacy over this time with the rogue or “States of Concern” referred to by the Clinton Administration SECSTATE.

Exhaustively researched Rubin delves deep into the various US administration polices of the past dealing with rogue states similarly to NSA teaching instruction. The reader will be surprised as to the reasoning behind the dealings and lost opportunities the US proffered away with various regimes! After reading this book the reader comes away with the impression US diplomats are ignorant and incompetent. If this information is true, and I feel it is, due to my past experience in NSA and DOD, US diplomats have provided very poor service to their country.

This service which has no metrics to review as military operations is difficult to determine if efforts are successful between American administrations. This continued failure has cost thousands of American lives! Diplomats might believe dialogue does not hurt, but unless efforts are made to set the right circumstance, its costs are enormous and are measured in lost lives. Rubin makes the claim that diplomats become so invested in the PROCESS they refuse to recognize the OBVIOUS.

Although the author is a military product his bias is well founded in the survey he presents. Of the six rogue groups he reviews two have been modified due to military force and the remainder have still ongoing diplomacy. A half century worth of experience, however, does not support the thesis that diplomacy with rogue regimes or terror groups brings peace. Rather, diplomacy misapplied can be the shortest path to war. He illustrates incentives and diplomatic entanglements do not flip rogue regimes. Also he finds engaging the most violent factions incentivizes terrorism and disadvantages groups that play by the rules.

Get this book if you desire to understand what is happening on the world stage. I recommend reading the last chapter first to get the position the author sets before the reader.
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2014
The world seems to be in a perpetual state of conflicts, but perhaps no time seems to have so many,as now; conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, Iraq, Syria, central Africa...the presence of battling various forces from radical Islamist groups to anti-government factions...it all seems to be never ending. How can these be resolved, who does one need to meet with and can various factions and rogue regimes be the people with whom one negotiates?
Michael Rubin's "Dancing with the Devil" addresses this issue in great detail. What are the benefits of negotiating with rogue states, with terrorists, with extremists? Rubin, who is a scholar of the Middle East region with extensive background of being on the ground in places from Iraq, Iran, Yemen and elsewhere, complemented by a language fluency that allows him to get beyond just the English speaking pundits, is not simply an academic. Rather, Rubin's "hands on" experience, coupled with exhaustive research provides great insight into when diplomacy and negotiations have worked and when they have not!
For the career diplomat, or the pragmatist who holds to the belief that one has to eventually confront one's enemies, you won't find Rubin's book very supportive. Coming from the position of great strength and ready to use all measures, at any cost, seems to be a strategy that underscores many of the case studies put forth in his book.
Whatever side of the table one might find themselves on in any given conflict, Rubin's book provides first class research with a writing style and use of anecdotes that actually make for an enjoyable read. Don't look for happy endings. But coming away with a more sober look at the prospects of negotiation with extremists and rogue regimes may be made ever more clear after reading "Dancing with the Devil".

Jerry Sorkin
Tunis, TUNISIA
3 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2017
Aha, the devil invoked in selling a book! I'm absolutely certain someone had to be offended by the provocative title, especially if they cracked the spine and saw names were named, deeds exposed, and wisdom and sound thinking roundly mistreated. Well, ol' Scratch doesn't embody just one person or cause in this volume. He's seen here in many a critical visage. The troubles for the government are his complex machinations on so many fronts, represented by so many foes, all at once.

Don't let the girth of this history intimidate you. It reads well and considering the span of history it covers and the many complex characters involved, it's smooth. Dancing with the Devil should help policy makers, bureaucrats, and the proletariat grasp the complexities of desiring negotiation at the expense of tangible accomplishment, or as Shakespeare may have quipped, “mere prattle without practice”.
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2014
Given the subject of Rubin's book and the title, maybe I expected too much. There's so much rich and complex material to talk about, yet, after dipping in random chapters on my first scanning, I had the uneasy sense that this author is reluctant to dig very deep. I could be wrong, so I'll take a closer look.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2014
The history in this book is incredible. Also, it is disheartening to learn about the mistakes the administrations over the last decades have made in dealing with the leaders of Rogue countries in trying to arrive at peaceful negotiations and agreements. It seems that too many times the focus moves off the right target and more to the precedent of trying to build a good legacy. Those choices were not always the best decisions for our country. Money not well spent accomplished little and the last message of the book is a feeling of hopelessness. This is not the author's fault; this is the fact that our policies just aren't always right. The author did an exceptional job of documenting facts and it is an important book providing an excellent recap of history.
4 people found this helpful
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