Promised land, crusader state : the American encounter with the world since 1776 / Walter A. McDougall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McDougall, Walter A., 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Foreign relations.

United States.

International relations.

Diplomatic relations.

États-Unis--Relations extérieures.

Local Subjects:

États-Unis--Relations extérieures.

Physical Description:

xiii, 286 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

Summary:

Taking up the torch of George Kennan, Pulitzer Prize winner Walter McDougall proposes nothing less than to cleanse the vocabulary of our post-Cold War debate on America's place in world affairs. Looking back over two centuries, he draws a striking contrast between America as a Promised Land, a vision inspired by the "Old Testament" of our diplomatic wisdom through the nineteenth century, and the contrary vision of America as a Crusader State, which inspired the "New Testament" of our foreign policy beginning at the time of the Spanish-American War and reaching its fulfillment in Vietnam. To this day, these two visions and these two testaments battle for control of the way America sees its role in the world.

Contents:

Introduction: The American Bible of Foreign Affairs

pt. I. Our Old Testament. 1. Liberty, or Exceptionalism (so called). 2. Unilateralism, or Isolationism (so called). 3. The American System, or Monroe Doctrine (so called). 4. Expansionism, or Manifest Destiny (so called)

pt. II. Our New Testament. 5. Progressive Imperialism. 6. Wilsonianism, or Liberal Internationalism (so called). 7. Containment. 8. Global Meliorism

Conclusion: A Delightsome Spot.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 258-273) and index.

ISBN:

0395830850

9780395830857

0395901324

9780395901328

OCLC:

35646415