Promised Land, Crusader State: The American Encounter with the World Since 1776Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Walter McDougall reinterprets the traditions that have shaped U.S. foreign policy from 1776 to the present in "an entertaining and iconoclastic fashion" (Philadelphia Inquirer). In a concise analysis, McDougall divides American diplomatic history into two stages, which he calls "Old Testament" and "New Testament" phases. The "Old Testament" phase, which ran from the Revolution to the 1890s, centered on protecting and perfecting America within. The "New Testament" phase, from the Spanish-American War to the present, is more interventionist, featuring competing ideals of containment, expansion, and meliorism. Within the "testament" phases, McDougall goes on to further categorize eight conflicting schools of thought. Conversational in tone and highly educational, readers will appreciate McDougall's astute observations and overview of American foreign policy. Crucially, McDougall contends that by projecting U.S. standards and ideals onto other countries, the U.S. repeatedly overextends its resources and pays too a high a price for assuming such risk. In Promised Land, Crusader State, "McDougall has written a lively and provocative book" (Wall Street Journal) that is "a rich study of the American experience" (Los Angeles Times). |
Contents
The American Bible of Foreign Affairs I | 1 |
Liberty or Exceptionalism so called | 15 |
Unilateralism or Isolationism so called | 39 |
The American System or Monroe Doctrine so called | 57 |
Expansionism or Manifest Destiny so called | 76 |
OUR NEW TESTAMENT | 99 |
Wilsonianism or Liberal Internationalism so called | 122 |
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alliance Allies Ameri American Diplomatic American Exceptionalism American Foreign Policy American System annexation Asia balance of power Britain British Cambridge century civil Cold Cold War colonies Communist Congress Containment crusade D. C. Heath democracy Democratic Diplomacy Diplomatic History economic Empire Europe European expansion Farewell Address Federalist fight force foreign aid Foreign Relations France freedom French George Germany Global Meliorism Herbert Hoover historians Hoover imperialism independence Indians interests isolationism isolationist Japan Jefferson John Adams John Quincy Adams Kennan land Latin League liberal Manifest Destiny Marshall Plan Meliorist Mexican Mexico military million mission Monroe Doctrine moral nation Navy neutral North Pacific Paterson peace political Polk president Princeton principles Republic Republican Revolution Robert Roosevelt Rostow Russia Senate social South South Vietnam Soviet Spain Spanish Thomas tion trade Treaty Truman U.S. foreign policy Unilateralism United University Press Vietnam Vietnam War vols Walt W Washington William Wilsonianism Woodrow Wilson wrote York