Defiant Superpower

Donald E. Nuechterlein examines George W. Bush's transformation of American foreign policy and the repercussions for the future. Defiant Superpower recounts how the Bush administration's bold actions in response to September 11, 2001, toppled the Taliban and displayed American strength. But by 2002, much of the world, including our allies, had become alarmed by American assertiveness, particularly Bush's proclamation that America would pursue preventative wars to eliminate future threats. The divergence of national interests between the United States and old allies became acute in early 2003 when Germany and France openly rejected U.S. plans to invade Iraq and bring about regime change. While the Bush administration's defiant and unilateralist policies initially seemed to empower the United States to pursue its national interests, the pitfalls of this new American hegemony are now apparent. Occupying Iraq and engaging in a global "war on terror" are costly, in both human and economic terms, and the United States would benefit from broad-based international cooperation. Will Bush's reelection mean that the robust hegemony of his first term is here to stay, or will he moderate his style and objectives to mend fences with old allies? Defiant Superpower offers a balanced critique of recent foreign policy and suggests how policymakers should recognize the limits of the new hegemony in order to determine America's realistic national interests.

"This book is bold, controversial, and thoroughly stimulating."---Charles Doran, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of International Relations, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) --

A dissident U.S. Foreign Service officer's prescriptions for an effective foreign policy

Today the U.S. military is more nimble, mobile, and focused on rapid responses against smaller powers than ever before. One could argue that the Gulf War and the postwar standoff with Saddam Hussein hastened needed military transformation and strategic reassessments in the post-Cold War era. But the preoccupation with Iraq also mired the United States in the Middle East and led to a bloody occupation. What will American strategy look like after U.S. troops leave Iraq? Iraq and the Evolution of American Strategy examines the ways in which the Gulf War, the WMD standoff, the Iraq War, and the ongoing occupation have driven broader changes in U.S. national security policy and military strategy. Steven Metz answers three overarching questions: 1. How did the conflict with Iraq drive and shape broader changes in national security and military strategy? 2. Did policymakers and military leaders interpret the conflict correctly and make the most effective responses? 3. What does this process tell us about the process of change in America's national security and military strategy and in the evolution of its strategic culture? Metz concludes that the United States has a long-standing, continuing problem "developing sound assumptions when the opponent operates within a different psychological and cultural framework." He sees a pattern of misjudgments about Saddam and Iraq based on Western cultural and historical bias and a pervasive faith in the superiority of America's worldview and institutions. This myopia contributed to America being caught off guard by Saddam's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, then underestimating his longevity, and finally miscalculating the likelihood of a stable and democratic Iraq after he was toppled. With lessons for all readers concerned about America's role in the world, Dr. Metz's important new work will especially appeal to scholars and students of strategy and international security studies, as well as to military professionals and DOD civilians. With a foreword by Colin S. Gray.

It is widely recognized that American culture is both exceptionally religious and exceptionally violent. Americans participate in religious communities in high numbers, yet American citizens also own guns at rates far beyond those of citizens in other industrialized nations. Since September 11, 2001, U.S. scholars have understandably discussed religious violence in terms of terrorist acts, a focus that follows U.S. policy. Yet, according to Jon Pahl, to identify religious violence only with terrorism fails to address the long history of American violence rooted in religion throughout the country's history. In Empire of Sacrifice, Pahl explains how both of these distinctive features of American culture work together by exploring how constructions along the lines of age, race, and gender have operated to centralize cultural power across American civil or cultural religions in ways that don't always appear to be “religious” at all. Pahl traces the development of these forms of systemic violence throughout American history and focuses an intense light on the complex and durable interactions between religion and violence in American history, from Puritan Boston to George W. Bush's Baghdad.

Examines the rapidly changing role of diplomacy.

Shows students how to analyze foreign policy choices