The American Century; The Rise and Decline of the United States as a World Power

by Donald W. White

• ISBN13: 9780300078787
• ISBN10: 0300078781
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1999-04-10
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Why did the United States assume a preeminent world role after World War II, and why has that role declined since the Vietnam War? This magisterial book - the first intellectual and cultural history of America's evolving status as a world power in the twentieth century-addresses these questions by examining Americans' perceptions of themselves and of the world during this period. Drawing on the writings of leading intellectuals, speeches by politicians, popular periodicals, movies and television, opinion polls, and dozens of other sources, Donald W. White explores what Americans thought about power in the twentieth century, how they evaluated America's expanding world role and the confrontations of the Cold War, and how they perceived the erosion of this unprecedented accumulation of power in the years after the Vietnam War. With colorful anecdotal detail, White presents a new perspective on foreign affairs during these years, recounting the global spread of American democratic philosophy, technology, industrial goods, literature, arts, and way of life against a backdrop of military crises and diplomatic negotiations. In the process he identifies major trends in past American foreign policy and suggests possibilities for the prospects of international relations in the future.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Prologue	1	(16)
Part I The Origins of a World Role
The Frontiers	17	(11)
A Circuit of the World	28	(19)
The Elemental Forces	47	(18)
The Legitimacy of Power	65	(24)
Part II The Growth of a World Role
The Pressure from Abroad	89	(22)
The Formulation from the Past	111	(16)
The View from the Present	127	(15)
The Consensus Theories	142	(19)
Part III The Manifestations of a World Role
Economic Enterprise	161	(28)
Foreign Aid	189	(22)
Cultural Thrust	211	(32)
Political Structure	243	(32)
Part IV The Crisis of a World Role
The Consensus Dilemma	275	(20)
The Internal Crises	295	(14)
The Dissenters	309	(11)
The Activities	320	(19)
Part V The Decline of a World Role
Discord at Home and Abroad	339	(30)
The Military Costs	369	(14)
Criteria of Declining Power	383	(21)
The New World	404	(23)
Epilogue	427	(12)
Notes	439	(58)
Bibliography	497	(34)
Index	531