Book Forum 

# *Perilous Partners: The Benefits and Pitfalls of America’s Alliances with Authoritarian Regimes*

Cato Institute, 2015

##### Watch the Event 

Download:

[ 

Video 

](https://fastly-unsigned-us-east-1-prod.brightcovecdn.com/media/v1/pmp4/static/clear/6039378657001/051df35e-5776-431e-baa3-68ff32a2bf97/80dd2230-23ce-4f38-9d28-67a7a26e1433/main.mp4) 

[ 

Video 

](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2015/cbf-10-20-15.mp4) 

[ 

Audio 

](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2015/cbfa-10-20-15.mp3) 

If you can’t make it to the event, you can watch it live online at [www​.cato​.org/live](http://www.cato.org/live) and join the conversation on Twitter using [\#BadAllies](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23badallies). Follow [@CatoEvents](https://twitter.com/catoevents) on Twitter to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute.

Date and Time 

October 20, 2015 12 - 1:30 PM EDT 

Location 

Hayek Auditorium 

Share This Event 

##### Featuring 

Featuring the authors **Ted Galen Carpenter**, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute; and **Malou Innocent**, Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute; with comments by **Andrew J. Bacevich**, Professor Emeritus of History and International Relations, Boston University; and **Jacob Heilbrunn**, Editor, *The National Interest*; moderated by **Christopher Preble**, Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, Cato Institute. 

[[![Media Name: perilous-partners-cover.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/optimized/public/images/perilous-partners-cover.jpg?itok=m5yPto_Y)](/sites/cato.org/files/images/perilous-partners-cover.jpg)](http://www.amazon.com/Perilous-Partners-Benefits-Alliances-Authoritarian/dp/1939709709?tag=catoinstitute-20)

Liberal democracies such as the United States face an acute dilemma in the conduct of foreign relations. American national interests sometimes require cooperation with repressive, corrupt, or otherwise odious regimes. But close working relationships with autocratic regimes should not be undertaken lightly. Such partnerships risk compromising, or even making a mockery of, America’s values of democratic governance, civil liberties, and free markets. In their new book, *Perilous Partners: The Benefits and Pitfalls of America’s Alliances with Authoritarian Regimes*, Cato Institute senior fellow Ted Galen Carpenter and Cato adjunct scholar Malou Innocent contend that U.S. officials have amassed a less-than-stellar record of grappling with ethical dilemmas. When are alliances with “friendly dictators” necessary for America’s security? When are such alliances a gratuitous betrayal of fundamental American values? And when is the situation a close call? Please join the authors and two distinguished commentators for a spirited discussion of these and other relevant questions.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).