The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy
This definitive portrait of American diplomacy reveals how the concept of the West drove twentieth-century foreign policy, how it fell from favor, and why it is worth saving.


Throughout the twentieth century, many Americans saw themselves as part of Western civilization, and Western ideals of liberty and self-government guided American diplomacy. But today, other ideas fill this role: on one side, a technocratic "liberal international order," and on the other, the illiberal nationalism of "America First."


In The Abandonment of the West, historian Michael Kimmage shows how the West became the dominant idea in US foreign policy in the first half of the twentieth century — and how that consensus has unraveled. We must revive the West, he argues, to counter authoritarian challenges from Russia and China. This is an urgent portrait of modern America's complicated origins, its emergence as a superpower, and the crossroads at which it now stands.
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The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy
This definitive portrait of American diplomacy reveals how the concept of the West drove twentieth-century foreign policy, how it fell from favor, and why it is worth saving.


Throughout the twentieth century, many Americans saw themselves as part of Western civilization, and Western ideals of liberty and self-government guided American diplomacy. But today, other ideas fill this role: on one side, a technocratic "liberal international order," and on the other, the illiberal nationalism of "America First."


In The Abandonment of the West, historian Michael Kimmage shows how the West became the dominant idea in US foreign policy in the first half of the twentieth century — and how that consensus has unraveled. We must revive the West, he argues, to counter authoritarian challenges from Russia and China. This is an urgent portrait of modern America's complicated origins, its emergence as a superpower, and the crossroads at which it now stands.
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The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy

The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy

by Michael Kimmage
The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy

The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy

by Michael Kimmage

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Overview

This definitive portrait of American diplomacy reveals how the concept of the West drove twentieth-century foreign policy, how it fell from favor, and why it is worth saving.


Throughout the twentieth century, many Americans saw themselves as part of Western civilization, and Western ideals of liberty and self-government guided American diplomacy. But today, other ideas fill this role: on one side, a technocratic "liberal international order," and on the other, the illiberal nationalism of "America First."


In The Abandonment of the West, historian Michael Kimmage shows how the West became the dominant idea in US foreign policy in the first half of the twentieth century — and how that consensus has unraveled. We must revive the West, he argues, to counter authoritarian challenges from Russia and China. This is an urgent portrait of modern America's complicated origins, its emergence as a superpower, and the crossroads at which it now stands.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780465055906
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: 04/21/2020
Pages: 384
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Michael Kimmage is a professor of history at the Catholic University of America, specializing in the history of the United States, Europe, and Russia. A member of the secretary's policy planning staff at the US Department of State from 2014 to 2016 and the author of two books, he lives with his wife and two daughters in Washington, DC.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I The Rise of the West

Chapter 1 The Columbian Republic, 1893-1919 29

Chapter 2 The Case for the West, 1919-1945 69

Chapter 3 The Rise of the "West, 1945-1963 111

Part II The Abandonment of the West

Chapter 4 Questions, 1963-1979 157

Chapter 5 The Suicide of the West? 1963-1992 201

Chapter 6 The Post-Columbian Republic, 1992-2016 249

Conclusion 299

Acknowledgments 331

Permissions 335

Notes 337

Index 355

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