Few scholars have reflected more deeply on the evolution of American foreign policy than Michael Mandelbaum. In this wide-ranging conversation based on his new book The American Way of Foreign Policy, the Johns Hopkins University professor examines the enduring principles that have shaped U.S. engagement with the world while assessing the profound geopolitical changes now confronting the international system. Revisiting his influential essay on the end of war, he considers whether today’s strategic environment—with renewed great-power rivalry, weakening arms-control agreements, and growing tensions surrounding Taiwan, Ukraine, and the Middle East—has become more dangerous than the Cold War itself. The discussion explores the increasing risks associated with nuclear proliferation, particularly in the Middle East, and the possibility that miscalculation or regional escalation could trigger consequences extending far beyond any single conflict. Looking ahead, Mandelbaum reflects on whether today’s increasingly brittle international order still possesses the political imagination needed to undertake meaningful institutional reform before another major crisis forces change upon us. The conversation ultimately raises one of the defining questions of our age: whether international cooperation can evolve rapidly enough to meet challenges that no nation can successfully address alone.