Since the birth of the nation, impulses of empire have been close to the heart of the United States. How these urges interact with the way the country understands itself, and the nature of the divergent interests at work in the unfolding of American foreign policy, is a subject much debated and still obscure. In a fresh look at the topic, Anderson charts the intertwined historical development of America’s imperial reach and its role as the general guarantor of capital. The internal tensions that have arisen are traced from the closing stages of the Second World War through the Cold War to the War on Terror. Despite the defeat and elimination of the USSR, the planetary structures for warfare and surveillance have not been retracted but extended. Anderson ends with a survey of the repertoire of US grand strategy, as its leading thinkers—Brzezinski, Mead, Kagan, Fukuyama, Mandelbaum, Ikenberry, Art and others—grapple with the tasks and predicaments of the American imperium today.
Author(s): Perry Anderson
Edition: 1st Edition
Publisher: Verso Books
Year: 2015
Language: English
Commentary: Not TruePDF
Pages: 212
Tags: United States: Foreign Relations, Diplomatic Relations, United States
Halftitle Page......Page 2
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright Page......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Preface......Page 7
Acknowledgements......Page 9
I. Imperium......Page 10
1. Prodromes......Page 12
2. Crystallization......Page 20
3. Security......Page 31
4. Keystones......Page 47
5. Perimeters......Page 60
6. Recalibration......Page 76
7. Liberalism Militant......Page 92
8. The Incumbent......Page 106
II. Consilium......Page 122
9. Native Traditions......Page 125
10. Crusaders......Page 131
11. Realist Ideals......Page 147
12. Economy First......Page 168
13. Outside the Castle......Page 176
Annexe......Page 181
Postscript......Page 194
Index......Page 200
