Preface Introduction 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 Notes Acknowledgments Index
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 This deeply informed, impressive polemical book is precisely what Americans, in and outside of the academy, needed before 9/11 and need now even more. Crisp, lively, biting prose will help them enjoy it. Among its many themes are hubris, hegemony, and the fatuousness of claims by the American military that they can now achieve 'transparency' in war-making. -- Michael S. Sherry, Northwestern University The United States could not possibly have an empire, Americans think. But we do. And with verve and telling insight Andrew Bacevich shows how it works and what it means. -- Ronald Steel, author of Temptations of a Superpower: America's Foreign Policy after the Cold War
Andrew J. Bacevich is Professor of International Relations and History at Boston University.
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*
This deeply informed, impressive polemical book is precisely what
Americans, in and outside of the academy, needed before 9/11 and
need now even more. Crisp, lively, biting prose will help them
enjoy it. Among its many themes are hubris, hegemony, and the
fatuousness of claims by the American military that they can now
achieve 'transparency' in war-making.
*Michael S. Sherry, Northwestern University*
The United States could not possibly have an empire, Americans
think. But we do. And with verve and telling insight Andrew
Bacevich shows how it works and what it means.
*Ronald Steel, author of Temptations of a Superpower: America's
Foreign Policy after the Cold War*
[A] straightforward "critical interpretation of American statecraft
in the 1990s"...he is straightforward, too, in establishing where
he stands on the political spectrum about US foreign
policy...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 detail...Bring[s] badly needed [perspective] to
troubled times.
*Boston Globe*
For everyone there's Andrew Bacevich's American Empire, an
intelligent, elegantly written, highly convincing polemic that
demonstrates how the motor of US foreign policy since independence
has been the need to guarantee economic growth.
*The Guardian*
Andrew Bacevich's remarkably clear, cool-headed, and enlightening
book is an expression of the United States' unadmitted imperial
primacy. It's as bracing as a plunge into a clear mountain lake
after exposure to the soporific internationalist conventional
wisdom...Bacevich performs an invaluable service by restoring
missing historical context and perspective to today's shallow,
hand-wringing discussion of Sept. 11...Bacevich's brave,
intelligent book restores our vocabulary to debate anew the United
States' purpose in the world.
*Across the Board*
To say that Andrew Bacevich's American Empire is a truly realistic
work of realism is therefore to declare it not only a very good
book, but also a pretty rare one. The author, a distinguished
former soldier, combines a tough-minded approach to the uses of
military force with a grasp of American history that is both
extremely knowledgeable and exceptionally clear-sighted. This book
is indispensable for anyone who wants to understand the background
to U.S. world hegemony at the start of the 21st century; and it is
also a most valuable warning about the dangers into which the
pursuit and maintenance of this hegemony may lead America.
*Washington Monthly*
American Empire is an immensely thoughtful book. Its reflections go
beyond the narrow realm of U.S. security policy and demonstrate a
deep understanding of American history and culture.
*Political Studies Review*
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
This deeply informed, impressive polemical book is precisely what
Americans, in and outside of the academy, needed before 9/11 and
need now even more. Crisp, lively, biting prose will help them
enjoy it. Among its many themes are hubris, hegemony, and the
fatuousness of claims by the American military that they can now
achieve 'transparency' in war-making. -- Michael S. Sherry,
Northwestern University
The United States could not possibly have an empire, Americans
think. But we do. And with verve and telling insight Andrew
Bacevich shows how it works and what it means. -- Ronald Steel,
author of Temptations of a Superpower: America's Foreign Policy
after the Cold War
[A] straightforward "critical interpretation of American statecraft
in the 1990s"...he is straightforward, too, in establishing where
he stands on the political spectrum about US foreign
policy...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 detail...Bring[s] badly needed [perspective] to
troubled times. -- James A. Miller * Boston Globe *
For everyone there's Andrew Bacevich's American Empire, an
intelligent, elegantly written, highly convincing polemic that
demonstrates how the motor of US foreign policy since independence
has been the need to guarantee economic growth. -- Dominick Donald
* The Guardian *
Andrew Bacevich's remarkably clear, cool-headed, and enlightening
book is an expression of the United States' unadmitted imperial
primacy. It's as bracing as a plunge into a clear mountain lake
after exposure to the soporific internationalist conventional
wisdom...Bacevich performs an invaluable service by restoring
missing historical context and perspective to today's shallow,
hand-wringing discussion of Sept. 11...Bacevich's brave,
intelligent book restores our vocabulary to debate anew the United
States' purpose in the world. -- Richard J. Whalen * Across the
Board *
To say that Andrew Bacevich's American Empire is a truly
realistic work of realism is therefore to declare it not only a
very good book, but also a pretty rare one. The author, a
distinguished former soldier, combines a tough-minded approach to
the uses of military force with a grasp of American history that is
both extremely knowledgeable and exceptionally clear-sighted. This
book is indispensable for anyone who wants to understand the
background to U.S. world hegemony at the start of the 21st century;
and it is also a most valuable warning about the dangers into which
the pursuit and maintenance of this hegemony may lead America. --
Anatol Levin * Washington Monthly *
American Empire is an immensely thoughtful book. Its
reflections go beyond the narrow realm of U.S. security policy and
demonstrate a deep understanding of American history and culture.
-- David Hastings Dunn * Political Studies Review *
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