In The Big Stick, Eliot A. Cohen argues that hard power is essential to cope with the challenge of an ambitious and well-armed China, the continuing threat from violent jihadists, the rise of revisionist states such as Russia, and the problems posed by ungoverned areas from outer space to cyberspace. It is a clear-eyed account of what military means can and--equally important--cannot do, the lessons of recent wars, and how soft power can supplement, but never fully replace, armed force.