A Balance of Titans: Peace and Liberty in the New Multipolar World

by Ivan Eland

Overview

What if America could be stronger, safer, and spend half as much on national defense?

The military-industrial complex is broken. Corruption, waste, and catastrophic hubris are out of control, and the result has been a perilous and expensive defense strategy—all at the expense of the American taxpayer. If we don’t change course now, the cost won’t just be measured in dollars, but in lives and liberties.

Enter Ivan Eland, Director of Independent Institute’s Center on Peace&Liberty and acclaimed foreign policy expert. A Balance of Titans: Peace and Liberty in the New Multipolar World lays out a much-needed, rational, strategy-first approach to national security, one that protects vital interests without bankrupting the nation or dragging America into endless wars. His theory of Independent Internationalism is principled and pragmatic, championing diplomacy and restraint over empire and endless war. With a proposed budget that slashes military spending by more than 40%, this book is a must-read for all Americans who believe in a smarter, saner path to American security in a multipolar world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598134353
Publisher:	Independent Institute
Publication date:	10/07/2025
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	150

About the Author

Ivan R. Eland is Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and Director of the Independent Institute’s Center on Peace & Liberty. Dr. Eland is a graduate of Iowa State University and received an M.B.A. in applied economics and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from George Washington University. He is the author of War and the Rogue Presidency, Eleven Presidents, Partitioning for Peace, Recarving Rushmore, The Empire Has No Clothes, No War for Oil, The Failure of Counterinsurgency, and Putting "Defense" Back into U.S. Defense Policy.

Editorial Reviews

"A Balance of Titans provides realist international relations recommendations for profitable American engagement with the ascendant multipolar world. Eland is right that while weapons manufacturers make the weapons and lobby for their purchase and deployment, it is the central US state that has played the game of global empire for more than 100 years. It is this game that must stop before financial collapse and/or general nuclear war destroy our civilization. Eland evokes a retrenched and restrained American power that even DC’s apparatchiks could learn to love."

Scott Horton

"In A Balance of Titans, Ivan Eland delivers a timely critique of US security policy, arguing that it has become outdated and fiscally overextended due to the influence of the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex (MICC). His proposal for "Independent Internationalism" charts a course toward a more restrained and fiscally responsible foreign policy. Eland provides a framework for reducing America’s military footprint, avoiding costly overseas adventures, and returning to the founders' vision of limited government engagement abroad. This book offers a significant first step for constraining the scale and scope of government power."

Christopher Coyne

"We often hear that 'less is more.' In the case of US foreign policy, it's absolutely true. Foreign policy maven Ivan Eland shows, with an informed treatment of US wars, that we would be safer if the United States retreated to a modern Monroe Doctrine and quit interfering around the world. As a bonus, he shows that US military spending could decline by half. Read and learn."

David R. Henderson

"Independent Institute scholar Ivan Eland again proves that he is an especially insightful and incisive analyst of world affairs. In his new book, A Balance of Titans, Eland provides an important blueprint for U.S. policymakers to navigate the delicate and dangerous problems of a world in which U.S. hegemony clearly has come to an end. His proposed new foreign policy based on realism and restraint to deal with a world that is increasingly multipolar strategically, as well as economically, offers the best opportunity by far to keep America at peace while protecting this country's vital interests."

Ted Galen Carpenter

"Ivan Eland proposes a bold new foreign policy for the United States, one that would encourage other nations to share the burdens of policing the world, saving the United States billions in defense spending and making peace more likely and sustainable."

Harvey Sapolsky