The American Way of Empire: How America Won a World--But Lost Her Way

by James Kurth

Overview

Since the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, traditional American foreign policy has proven inadequate to 21st Century challenges of Islamic terrorism and globalization.

In this ground-breaking analysis, author James Kurth explains that the roots of America's current foreign policy crisis lie in contradictions of an American empire which attempted to transform traditional American national interests promoted by Presidents like Teddy Roosevelt and FDR into a new American-led global order that has unsucessfully attempted to promote supposedly universal, rather than uniquely American, ideals.

Kurth dates the creation of the American empire to the morning of September 2nd, 1945, when General Douglas MacArthur, at the head of the representatives of the Allied Forces, received the surrender of the representatives of the Empire of Japan.

And so, the book begins, on its front cover, with a depiction of the moment when the American Empire, and the "American Century," were born...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733117838
Publisher:	Washington Books
Publication date:	12/14/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	464
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

James Kurth is Claude C. Smith Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Swarthmore College. A Stanford graduate who received his doctorate under Harvard's Samuel P. Huntington, he has published over 120 articles and edited Orbis: A Journal of International Relations, as well as two books. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study. A decorated Navy veteran, he taught strategy at the U.S. Naval War College, was advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group, and has been awarded the Department of the Navy Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service. A world-traveler who has visited more than 50 countries, he serves as an elder at Proclamation Presbyterian Church in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Preface ............................................................................................ xiii

Overview: Hegemony

Chapter 1 The American Way of Empire:

The Seventy-Year Life of the U.S. Alliance System ........ 3

Part I: Ideology

Chapter 2 The Protestant Deformation:

The Source of the Ideological Tradition ....................... 57

Chapter 3 War, Peace, and the Ideologies of the

20th Century .............................................................. 81

Chapter 4 Democratization: Successes and Failures ..................... 97

Chapter 5 The Adolescent Empire: America and the

Imperial Idea ............................................................ 115

Part II: Strategy

Chapter 6 Grand Strategy: The Source of the

Realist Tradition ....................................................... 139

Chapter 7 Grand Strategy in the Global Era .............................. 167

Chapter 8 The American Way of Victory ................................... 197

Chapter 9 Europe: NATO Expansion versus the

Russian Sphere .......................................................... 215

Chapter 10 The Pacific: The U.S. Alliance system

versus the Chinese Seas ............................................. 231

Part II

Chapter 6 Grand Strategy: The Source of the

Realist Tradition ....................................................... 139

Chapter 7 Grand Strategy in the Global Era .............................. 167

Chapter 8 The American Way of Victory ................................... 197

Chapter 9 Europe: NATO Expansion versus the

Russian Sphere .......................................................... 215

Chapter 10 The Pacific: The U.S. Alliance system

versus the Chinese Seas ............................................. 231

Part III: Insurgency

Chapter 11 Globalization, Empire, and Islamist Terrorism .......... 259

Chapter 12 The Iraq War: Global Ideology versus

Local Realities ........................................................... 277

Chapter 13 The Neo-Conservatives and the Iraq War .................. 303

Chapter 14 Empire and Immigration .......................................... 319

Part IV: Political Economy

Chapter 15 Between America and the World:

The New York Foreign Policy Elite ............................ 339

Chapter 16 The Foreign Policy of Plutocracies: A Tale

of Two Countries – and Two Kinds of Wealth .......... 365

Chapter 17 Creating a Second American Century ....................... 393

Conclusion .................................................................................... 411

Acknowledgements ........................................................................ 419

End Notes ..................................................................................... 423

Bibliography .................................................................................. 433

Index ............................................................................................. 437

About the Author .......................................................................... 445

Editorial Reviews

"Kurth's provocative and passionate prose, accompanied by his brilliant analysis, make for lively reading. Indeed, his discussion of the American imperial idea constitutes but one of the book's many originalities. Divided into four sections, each following distinct thematic trajectories, The American Way of Empire investigates the rise and apparent decline of the American Empire from 1776 to the present. Eccentric, but replete with wisdom, the book draws on several fields: history, comparative politics, international relations, and political economy among others. Sometimes Kurth's prognoses and conclusions alarm, but he also suggests possible methods for the nation to extract itself from its present quagmire...The American Way of Empire is an entirely original and interpretive exploration of the American imperial project from its origins in the 19th century up to the present." --Charles W. Sharpe, Jr., CHRONICLES: A Magazine of American Culture, December 2020 issue (https://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/the-adolescent-empire/)

"When it comes to deciphering the mysteries and contradictions of American statecraft, no one holds a candle to James Kurth. Let me emphasize that: No one. For nigh on a half-century, he has been a source of insight and wisdom on all matters related to U.S. foreign policy. The appearance of The American Way of Empire is, therefore, cause for gratitude and great rejoicing."-Andrew J. Bacevich, author of The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory

"James Kurth is one of the world's leading scholars of international relations and political economy. With the entire global order rapidly transforming, these concise and splendidly written essays merit everyone's attention." -Thomas Ferguson, Contributing Editor, The Nation

"James Kurth has one of the most incisive and deeply-informed minds in the field of international relations. His new book is a cogent guide to a world undergoing fundamental change."--Bruce Cumings, University of Chicago

"A comprehensive, masterful analysis of the character of American foreign policy from its 18th century beginnings; to its present superpower status; and, most crucially, to the uncertainty of our mid-21st century future. Professor James Kurth, one of the West's foremost scholars of America's role in the world, has written a tour de force that will exert a powerful influence on those who think seriously about America's future."-John Fonte, Hudson Institute

"We should be grateful for having a voice like Kurth's that cuts through the ideological reveries of today's elites and forces us to examine the stark and dark possibilities of living in a fallen world."-Corey Abel, Academic Questions

"Kurth may be right or wrong on this or that point, but the message you should take is that the way Americans see the world - Americans of the right, left, and middle - is itself a construction rooted in history, religion, and culture." -Rod Dreher, The American Conservative

From the Publisher