The same aspects of American government and society that propelled the United States to global primacy have also hampered its orderly and successful conduct of foreign policy. This paradox challenges U.S. leaders to overcome threats to America′s world power in the face of fast-moving global developments and political upheavals at home. U.S. Foreign Policy explores this paradox, identifies its key sources and manifestations, and considers its future implications. Authors St...

Now in its Twenty-Second Edition, Hook, Spanier, and Grove’s American Foreign Policy Since World War II has long set the standard in guiding students through the complexities of American foreign policy. The text introduces students to the American "style" of foreign policy, imbued with a distinct sense of national exceptionalism. By giving students the historical context they need, this book allows them to truly grasp the functions and dysfunctions of the nation’s...

This new contributed volume from Steven Hook and James Scott introduces students to the conduct of foreign policy under the Obama administration. Its twelve original essays, written by a stellar cast of experts in the field, address whether the Obama administration’s strategy represents a "renewal" of U.S. engagement. To what extent has this administration succeeded in building both the domestic and international constituencies needed to implement its foreign policy goals? How exactly have...

No nation has maintained such an immense stature in world politics as the United States has since the Cold War’s end. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, prompting the global war on terrorism and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, along with American economic and "soft power" primacy, there has been increased interest in and scrutiny of American foreign policy. The Routledge Handbook of American Foreign Policy brings together leading experts in the field to examine current tr...

At a time when the national political debate is about inequality and fairness, bestselling author David Horowitz and coauthor Jacob Laksin have written an unsettling book about the distribution of power in America. Thoroughly researched and amply documented, The New Leviathan overturns the conventional wisdom about which end of the political spectrum represents the rich and powerful, and which represents the people.The Democratic Party presents itself to the electorate as ...

An eye-opening overview of American cultural policy fully updated through the end of the Bush presidency, Propaganda, Inc. reveals how the United States Information Agency became a bureaucracy deeply distrustful of dissent, and one-way in its promotion of American corporate interests overseas.Nancy Snow spent two years inside the Agency, and here provides an insider's account of its crooked relationship to corporate interests and war—a must-read for those concerned with American pro...

By mid-2015, the Obama presidency will be entering its final stages, and the race among the successors in both parties will be well underway. And while experts have already formed a provisional understanding of the Obama administration's foreign policy goals, the shape of the "Obama Doctrine" is finally coming into full view. It has been consistently cautious since Obama was inaugurated in 2009, but recent events in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Far East have led an increasingly...

State crimes are historically and contemporarily ubiquitous and result in more injury and death than traditional street crimes such as robbery, theft, and assault. Consider that genocide during the 20th century in Germany, Rwanda, Darfur, Albania, Turkey, Ukraine, Cambodia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and other regions claimed the lives of tens of millions and rendered many more homeless, imprisoned, and psychologically and physically damaged. Despite the gravity of crimes committed by states and ...

Our ideas about national security have changed radically over the last five years. It has become a political tool, a "wedge issue," a symbol of pride and fear. It is also the one issue above all others that can make or break an election. And this is why the Democratic Party has been steadily losing power since 2001. In Hard Power, Michael O'Hanlon, an expert on foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, and Kurt Campbell, an authority on international security at the Center for ...

Acts of violence assume many forms: they may travel bythe arc of a guided missile or in the language of an economic policy, and theymay leave behind a smoldering village or a starved child. The all-pervasivenessof violence makes it seem like an unavoidable, and ultimately incomprehensible,aspect of the modern world. But, in this detailed and expansive book, Marc Pilisuk and Jen Rountree demonstrateotherwise. Widespread violence, they argue, is in fact an ...

National security is pervasive in government and society, but there is little scholarly attention devoted to understanding the context, institutions, and processes the U.S. government uses to promote the general welfare. The Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security aims to fill this gap. Coming from academia and the national security community, its contributors analyze key institutions and processes that promote the peace and prosperity of the United States and, by extension, its...

Readings in American Foreign Policy delivers a contemporary introduction to America’s role in world affairs. Useful alone or as a supplementary reader for undergraduate American foreign policy courses, the second edition focuses on the most current problems and how to interpret them. Readings are divided into six parts and each part opens with an introductory essay providing students with a historical framework and “big picture” questions to guide comprehension. Each part incorporates a va...