The domino theory has been the central organizing concept behind American containment strategy in the postwar period. This strategy was behind the involvement of America in the wars in Korea and Vietnam: neither country was of great economic, military, or cultural value to the US, yet policy-makers assumed that defeats against these nations might create precedents for areas of greater intrinsic interest.

In this collection, Stephen Walt, Ted Hopf, Douglas Blum, Milan Hauner, the editors, and others, address crucial issues about the strategic beliefs that shape the competition between the superpowers in the Eurasian rimland.