Traditionally, states frame their interactions with other nations in terms of “good” and “evil.” The United States has been no exception. However, beginning in the 1980s, U.S. foreign policy shifted from a strategy of “containment” to one of “democracy promotion,” which inevitably made these distinctions much more difficult to discern. How can American foreign policy under democracy promotion be best explained? What theoretical tools help us best analyze American foreign policy in the post-Cold War world? Most importantly, what type of democracy are we promoting?