Reddit reviews The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force

Three suggestions, but I feel the latter two should be dealt with as a pair. All of these belong solidly in the Political Science/Foreign Affairs genre

Worldmaking: The Art and Science of American Diplomacy by David Milne

And I'll go with the WSJ review for the blurb:

“David Milne tells the story of the hundred or so years when a sequence of public intellectuals shaped the discourse and practice of U.S. foreign affairs with confidence and élan―and guided America to its place as the world’s No. 1 power . . . That Mr. Milne succeeds, and brilliantly, is due in no small part to the vivacity and jargon-free clarity of his prose. But he also has a clever, thoughtful thesis that, while developed with great brio, he is careful not to overstate.” ―Richard Aldous, The Wall Street Journal

https://www.amazon.com/Worldmaking-Art-Science-American-Diplomacy/dp/0374292566/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492799342&sr=8-1&keywords=worldmaking+the+art+and+science+of+american+diplomacy

Now the other two books I feel complement each other in their essential viewpoints. There's a friction between them (one written by a former Obama team member, the other by a Conservative heavyweight) but I feel they're best when read back to back.

The Long Game: How Obama defied Washington and redefined America's role in the World by Derek Chollet, and The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power & the Necessity of Military Force by Eliot Cohen.

The Economist review of The Long Game:

http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21702733-new-book-argues-barack-obamas-grand-strategy-has-made-america-stronger-both-home

The NYT review of The Big Stick:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/books/review-the-big-stick-argues-for-a-robust-military-role-abroad.html

Both available from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Game-Washington-Redefined-America-s/dp/161039660X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1492800752&sr=8-3&keywords=the+long+game

https://www.amazon.com/Big-Stick-Limits-Necessity-Military/dp/0465044727/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492800771&sr=8-1&keywords=the+big+stick

Also, I'm tilted towards wanting Worldmaking more, just for the broader history look.