Civil war and other types of radical domestic upheaval are replacing international war as the preeminent threat to American security and economic well being, according to Steven R. David. Catastrophic Consequences argues that civil conflicts are of even greater importance than deliberate efforts to harm the United States because the damage they inflict is unintended and therefore impossible to deter.

David examines the prospects for and potential aftereffects of instability in four nations vital to U.S. national interests--Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China, and Mexico. It is not,...