The author reassesses the role and significance of America in the world, from the colonial period to the turn of the twentieth century, offering a revealing glimpse of America's increasing global power and influence over the course of the past four centuries.
Most Americans believe the United States had been an isolationist power until the twentieth century. This is wrong. In a riveting and brilliantly revisionist work of history, Robert Kagan, bestselling author of Of Paradise and Power, shows how Americans have in fact steadily been increasing their global power and influence from the beginning. Driven by commercial, territorial, and idealistic ambitions, the United States has always perceived itself, and been seen by other nations, as an international force. This is a book of great importance to our understanding of our nation's history and its role in the global community.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Introduction
1. The First Imperialists
2. The Foreign Policy of Revolution
3. Liberalism and Expansion
4. To the Farewell Address and Beyond
5. “Peaceful Conquest”
6. A Republic in the Age of Monarchy
7. The Foreign Policy of Slavery
8. Manifest Destinies
9. Beyond the National Interest
10. War and Progress
11. From Power to Ambition, from Ambition to Power
12. Morality and Hegemony
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
