America and the world, 1898-2025 : achievements, failures, alternative futures

This book surveys US achievements and failures in the world across the 20th century. The analysis builds upon surveys of experts at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and several universities conducted over the last 25 years. The reasons for success and failure are subject to hot dispute. Walter Clemens argues that the individual traits of US leaders account for far more variation in outcomes than the domestic or international contexts. He concludes that the policy outcomes of the past century confirm the assumptions of mutual gain theory, complexity theory, and liberal peace theory. Clemens then uses his analysis to sketch alternative futures that could face planners in the early 21st century. Booknews Clemens, most of whose work focuses on the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, has distilled the responses to surveys and interviews of US historians and political analysts taken 1976-77, 1987, and 1999 to elicit guidelines for US foreign policy in the first decades the 21st century. He analyzes such questions as achievements and failures, when and why policies succeeded, whether successful policies had any common traits, and how important individuals from Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton were in success and failure. Political cartoons dot his account. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Framework: Aims, Methods, Theories....Pages 1-21 Achievements of United States Foreign Policy, 1898–2000....Pages 23-60 Failures of United States Foreign Policy, 1898–2000....Pages 61-114 Sources of Success and Failure....Pages 115-152 Power, Fitness, and Influence at the Cusp....Pages 153-204 Alternative Futures, a.d. 2000 to 2025....Pages 205-222 Lessons from the Past, Guidelines for the Future....Pages 223-241 Back Matter....Pages 243-255