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Book Cover
Book
Author Bacevich, Andrew J.

Title American empire : the realities and consequences of U.S. diplomacy / Andrew J. Bacevich
Published Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2002

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 W'PONDS  327.73 Bac/Aet  AVAILABLE
Description ix, 302 pages ; 25 cm
Contents 1. The Myth of the Reluctant Superpower -- 2. Globalization and Its Conceits -- 3. Policy by Default -- 4. Strategy of Openness -- 5. Full Spectrum Dominance -- 6. Gunboats and Gurkhas -- 7. Rise of the Proconsuls -- 8. Different Drummers, Same Drum -- 9. War for the Imperium
Summary "Andrew Bacevich reconsiders the assumptions and purposes governing the exercise of American global power. Examining the presidencies of George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton - as well as George W. Bush's first year in office - he demolishes the view that the United States has failed to devise a replacement for containment as a basis for foreign policy. He finds instead that successive post-Cold War administrations have adhered to a well-defined "strategy of openness." Motivated by the imperative of economic expansionism, that strategy aims to foster an open and integrated international order, thereby perpetuating the undisputed primacy of the world's sole remaining superpower. Moreover, openness is not a new strategy, but has been an abiding preoccupation of policymakers as far back as Woodrow Wilson."
"Though based on expectations that eliminating barriers to the movement of trade, capital, and ideas nurtures not only affluence but also democracy, the aggressive pursuit of openness has met considerable resistance. To overcome that resistance, U.S. policymakers have with increasing frequency resorted to force, and military power has emerged as never before as the preferred instrument of American statecraft, resulting in the progressive militarization of U.S. foreign policy." "Neither indictment nor celebration, American Empire sees the drive for openness for what it is - a breathtakingly ambitious project aimed at establishing a global imperium. Large questions remain about that project's feasibility and about the human, financial and moral costs that it will entail. By penetrating the illusions obscuring the reality of U.S. policy this book marks an essential first step toward finding the answers."--BOOK JACKET
Analysis United States
Power (International relations)
Foreign policy
Trade liberalisation
Political change
History, 1946-1999
Overseas item
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Subject Diplomacy.
SUBJECT United States -- Foreign relations. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140058
United States -- Foreign relations -- Philosophy. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh88003959
LC no. 2002068740
ISBN 0674009401 alkaline paper
0674013751 paperback