The triumph of liberalism and the return of realism -- The eagle rises -- The cold war -- Realism and the end of the cold war : from Vietnam to Reagan -- The liberal and neoconservative consensus -- The costs of imbalance : the iraq and Afghan wars -- Realigning American power : the Asia pivot -- The politics of foreign and defense policy -- America's search for security in the twenty-first century
Summary
In America's Search for Security, Sean Kay surveys major historical trends in American foreign policy and provides a new context for thinking about America's rise to power from the founding period through the end of the Cold War. It details the post-Cold War rise of idealist foreign policy goals and the costs of abandoning realist roots, analyzing in-depth the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as examples of what disappointing, if not disastrous, outcomes can befall America abroad when foreign policy objectives are muddied, unclear, and fail to remain grounded in what historically has made America an unquestionable world power
