Paths not taken : speculations on American foreign policy and diplomatic history, interests, ideals, and power / edited by Jonathan M. Nielson ; foreword by Walter LaFeber.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Nielson, Jonathan M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Foreign relations.

United States.

United States--Foreign relations--Decision making.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (239 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024

Place of Publication:

Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In America's foreign affairs there has been a delicate balance between often conflicting imperatives of interests, ideals, and power. How these imperatives have intersected to shape the constellation of American foreign policy decisions throughout the nation's history and, indeed, how they have served to advance or subvert attainment of America's regional, hemispheric and global ambitions, is the subject of this study. This collection of essays explores seminal decisions in American foreign policy and diplomatic history, from the early National period to the Vietnam War, each of which proved to be a turning point, and then asks readers to consider alternative futures based upon different courses of action. Nielson underscores how history could, and perhaps should, have been different. U.S. foreign policy has in large measure been contingent upon decisions made by individuals in positions of power. Their personalities, characters, and assumptions about duty and America's role in the world have uniquely shaped policy choices and, thus, the course of foreign affairs, for better or worse. This book hopes to show that history is ever fluid, unpredictable, and problematic. It will complement traditional texts as a what if counterpoint which will stimulate interest in and speculation about leadership roles, national interest, and decision making in foreign policy.

Contents:

Cover

PATHS NOT TAKEN

Contents

Foreword: Thinking Otherwise

Preface

Introduction: The Path Not Taken

1 John Adams: Peace at a Price?

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY

2 1917: What if the United States Had Not Intervened?

3 Lost Opportunities: The Diplomacy of the 1930s

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Manuscript Collections: Private

Manuscript Collections: Public

Published Documents

Books

Articles and Chapters in Books

4 When Nationalism Confronted Hegemony: The U.S. Challenge to the Cuban Revolution, 1959-1961

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

STAGE 1

STAGE 2

STAGE 3

STAGE 4

CONCLUSION

General Works

U.S.-Cuban Relations through the Eisenhower Presidency

The Period of the Revolution

Kennedy, the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis

1963-Present

5 Eisenhower, Dulles, and U.S. Policy Toward Israel and the Middle East Crisis at Suez, 1956

FOR FURTHER STUDIES

6 A Liberal Iran: Casualty of the Cold War

7 Lyndon Johnson and America's Military Intervention in Southeast Asia

Bibliographies and Documentary Collections

Memoirs and Bibliographies

Aid and Advice: The Early Years

Escalation and Defeat: The Johnson and Nixon Years

Index

About the Editor and Contributors.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9798400695568

9780313003769

0313003769

OCLC:

55216621