Why America Is Such a Hard Sell: Beyond Pride and Prejudice

by Juliana Geran Pilon

Overview

History offers ample proof of America's pride and prejudice, a twin handicap that prevents effective communication with the rest of the world. Using literature, political science, philosophy, and humor, the book explores some of the reasons for America's current predicament. It ends, however, on a positive note, describing some heartening initiatives, and expressing confidence in the sustaining power of the American spirit. Dr. Pilon's analysis should prove useful to scholars and practitioners, indeed to anyone interested in improving the interaction between America and the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742551480
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/19/2007
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Juliana Geran Pilon teaches politics and culture at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. The author of The Bloody Flag and Notes From the Other Side of Night, her writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The American Spectator, The National Interest, The Freeman, Humanitas, and many other publications both in the United States and abroad. Born in Romania, she received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago, then held post-doctoral fellowships in international affairs at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace and the Institute of Humane Studies. During the 1990s she was Vice President of Programs at IFES (International Foundation for Election Systems) and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface: On a Personal Note
Chapter 2 Why America is Such a Hard Sell: An Overview
Chapter 3 Introduction: America's Mixed Legacy
Part 4 I. Why America is Such a Hard Sell
Chapter 5 1. How Can You Tell?
Chapter 6 2. It's Them, Not Us
Chapter 7 3. Consumerism Uber Alles
Chapter 8 4. Empire Lite and Not-So-Lite
Chapter 9 5. Watch Out for the Entertainment
Chapter 10 6. The Nonstarter Solutions: More Pride and Prejudice
Part 11 II. The Legacy of Pride
Chapter 12 7. History of a Paradox
Chapter 13 8. Americans Self-Exiled to Self-Sufficiency
Chapter 14 9. Exceptionalist Nationalism
Chapter 15 10. Too Proud to Play Hardball at the U.N.
Chapter 16 11. Strategic Public Diplomacy: Just for Dummies?
Chapter 17 12. The Price of Pride
Part 18 III. The Legacy of Prejudice
Chapter 19 13. Why Learn about Others?
Chapter 20 14. No Place Like Home
Chapter 21 15. Biased against Intelligence
Part 22 IV. Public Diplomacy the Hard Way
Chapter 23 16. Soft Power for Softies?
Chapter 24 17. Misreading Machiavelli
Chapter 25 18. Speakers-in-Chief Define the New World
Chapter 26 19. Presidential Highlights from the Three World Wars
Chapter 27 20. Post-Cold War Semantic Impasse
Part 28 V. Opting for Sense and Sensibility
Chapter 29 21. Is the United States Really Such a "Hard Sell"?
Chapter 30 22. Global Strategic Outreach: Doing It Right
Chapter 31 23. False Sensibility vs. True Sense
Chapter 32 24. The Five (or Six) Basic Rules of Global Strategic Outreach
Chapter 33 Conclusion: Not for Sale

Editorial Reviews

A contribution to studies about U.S./world relations.

Alexander J. Groth

Juliana Pilon offers a sober and insightful analysis with solid recommendations on how to reverse the declining perception of the United States overseas. This is a must read for anyone who is concerned about how these perceptions are adversely impacting the U.S. role in the world and looking for concrete ideas about what to do about it.

Kevin F. F. Quigley

.. . a nonpolemical, evenhanded, and folksy critique of an America that failed to practice effective "global outreach". .. Recommended.

Choice Reviews - L.S. Hunt

Juliana Pilon brings substantial doses of international political experience and wisdom to bear on the vexing question of how America can do a better job of making itself understood in the world. Her ideas cut across stale partisan lines of debate and offer a host of practical ways for moving forward.

Thomas Carothers

. . . a nonpolemical, evenhanded, and folksy critique of an America that failed to practice effective "global outreach" . . . Recommended.
— L.S. Hunt

Choice

Why America Is Such a Hard Sell is a thoughtful analysis of the world situation and why America's world reputation is tarnished. Juliana Pilon offers hopeful and practical ways of combating this image problem. This book is important because Pilon stays above the political fray, giving her solutions an air of legitimacy rarely seen in contemporary analysis. Pilon's compassion is like a beacon of hope for everyone in this divided world. I strongly encourage everybody to read this book.

Ambassador Akbar S. Ahmed

How can the country that attracts immigrants from around the world—many of whom risk their lives to take on marginal and difficult lives as illegals—be concurrently hated by so many others? Juliana Pilon provides provocative insights into one of the world's true "love/hate" relationships and points to the many missteps, some thoughtless, others cynical and calculated, that contribute to international ambivalence about the United States, its policies, and its culture. In the last in particular, Dr. Pilon draws needed attention to the global impacts, intended or otherwise, of a popular culture that is often as diffucult for others to ignore as it is for Americans to defend.

William Nolte

. . . a nonpolemical, evenhanded, and folksy critique of an America that failed to practice effective "global outreach" . . . Recommended.--L.S. Hunt "CHOICE "

Juliana Pilon brings substantial doses of international political experience and wisdom to bear on the vexing question of how America can do a better job of making itself understood in the world. Her ideas cut across stale partisan lines of debate and offer a host of practical ways for moving forward.--Thomas Carothers, Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Juliana Pilon offers a sober and insightful analysis with solid recommendations on how to reverse the declining perception of the United States overseas. This is a must read for anyone who is concerned about how these perceptions are adversely impacting the U.S. role in the world and looking for concrete ideas about what to do about it.--Kevin F. F. Quigley, President, National Peace Corps Association

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