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American Empire : The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy
American Empire The Realities and Consequences of US Diplomacy Author:Andrew J. Bacevich In a challenging, provocative book, 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 replacemen... more »t 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. "Bacevich insists that there are no differences in the key assumptions governing the foreign policy of the administrations of Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II—and this will certainly be the subject of passionate debate … Bacevich's argument persuades … by means of engaging prose as well as the compelling and relentless accumulation of detai … Bring[s] badly needed [perspective] to troubled times." —James A. Miller, Boston Globe "An intelligent, elegantly written, highly convincing polemic that demonstrates how the motor of U.S. foreign policy since independence has been the need to guarantee economic growth." —Dominick Donald, The Guardian "I have long suspected our nation's triumphs and trials owed much to the American genius for solipsism and self-deception. Bacevich has convinced me of it by holding up a mirror to self-styled idealists and realists alike. Read all the books you want about the post–Cold War, post-9/11 world, just be sure American Empire is one of them." —Walter A. McDougall, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian, University of Pennsylvania« less