David A. Lake is Jerri-Ann and Gary E. Jacobs Professor of Social Sciences and Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of The Statebuilder's Dilemma: On the Limits of Foreign Intervention, and Hierarchy in International Relations and the coeditor of Politics in the New Hard Times: The Great Recession in Comparative Perspective and The State and American Foreign Economic Policy, all from Cornell University Press.

Lake has written an excellent book. He is meticulous in showing when and how his predictions are confirmed or disconfirmed by the evidence. His version of structuralism in the trade area is by far the most sophisticated and nuanced we have. By focusing sharply on structure, he alerts us to external constraints and opportunities, and suggests interesting reinterpretations of particular historical events.- Stephan Haggard (American Political Science Review)