The American Way of Strategy: U.S. Foreign Policy and the American Way of Life

by Michael Lind

Overview

In The American Way of Strategy, Lind argues that the goal of U.S. foreign policy has always been the preservation of the American way of life--embodied in civilian government, checks and balances, a commercial economy, and individual freedom. Lind describes how successive American statesmen--from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton to Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan--have pursued an American way of strategy that minimizes the dangers of empire and anarchy by two means: liberal internationalism and realism. At its best, the American way of strategy is a well-thought-out and practical guide designed to preserve a peaceful and demilitarized world by preventing an international system dominated by imperial and militarist states and its disruption by anarchy. When American leaders have followed this path, they have led our nation from success to success, and when they have deviated from it, the results have been disastrous. Framed in an engaging historical narrative, the book makes an important contribution to contemporary debates. The American Way of Strategy is certain to change the way that Americans understand U.S. foreign policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198042143
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/02/2006
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	423 KB

About the Author

Michael Lind is the Whitehead Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. Lind has been Assistant to the Director of the U.S. State Department's Center for the Study of Foreign Affairs and executive editor of The National Interest. He is the author most recently of What Lincoln Believed: The Values and Convictions of America's Greatest President (2005). Lind has written several books of nonfiction, fiction and poetry, including The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics (with Ted Halstead, 2001) and The Next American Nation (1995). He has been an editor or staff writer at The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine and the New Republic, and writes frequently for The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Financial Times. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

Part 1: America's Purpose1. Defending the American Way of Life2. Defending the American Way of StrategyPart II: A World Safe for American Democracy3. Independence, Unity, and the American Way of Life4. Averting a Balance of Power in North America: Power Politics and American Expansion5. Why the United States Fought in World War I6. World War II and the American Way of Life7. The Cold War8. The Cold PeacePart III: The Future of the American Way of Strategy9. U.S. Hegemony and the American Way of Life10. A Concert of Power11. American Strategy in the Asian Century12. The American Way of Military Strategy13. The American Way of Trade14. The World Order Which We SeekNotesIndex

Editorial Reviews

"A shrewd and plausible critique of the drift of policy since the cold war."—The New York Times Book Review

"Michael Lind's The American Way of Strategy represents an early and thoughtful attempt to sketch a post-Iraq foreign policy. The virtue of Lind's book is its sweeping ambition. He writes in evident outrage over the policies of the Bush administration, but his book is not about the debacle in Iraq or how to respond to Islamist terrorism. It is not even about the renewed dispute between the great foreign policy traditions of realism (a la Henry Kissinger) and idealism (a la Woodrow Wilson). Instead, Lind, a fellow at the New America Foundation, scours history for tenets that have guided U.S. foreign policy in the past and that should be applied in the future."—Washington Post Book World

"Lind's encyclopedic knowledge of U.S. history and extraordinary grasp of the intellectual history of U.S. politics qualify him to write with great authority and insight about the development of American grand strategy from the Washington administration to the present day, and this generally level-headed and balanced book will significantly enhance Lind's reputation in foreign policy circles."—Foreign Affairs

"In this important defense of liberal internationalism, Michael Lind reminds us that the greatest threat to the American way of life is that Americans jettison their democratic republican government and society in search of security in a garrison state. He wisely argues that democracy is best promoted by example, not by force, and that a world safe or democracy need not be a democratic world."—Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University and author of The Powers to Lead

"It is an intriguing thesis: American strategy is, and always has been, to prevent the rise of a hegemon sufficiently powerful to require us to sacrifice our liberty to preserve our country. Thus, Michael Lind could not be more timely in his caution against those today who would casually suspend our Constitutional liberties, our 'American way of life,' in the name of a war on terrorism."—Gary Hart, United States Senator (Retired)

"Lind deftly explores the intimate connection between America's political culture and its foreign policy, mapping out the consequences at home and abroad. This book offers a unique perspective on America's engagement with the world—and then goes on not only to diagnose why America has of late gone off course, but also to prescribe an intelligent and considered remedy."—Charles A. Kupchan, author of The End of the American Era

"In the 21st century, the United States must strive to make its position of primacy acceptable to the rest of the world, while preserving the domestic freedoms and economic vitality that are central to the American way of life.To do that, it must avoid the twin temptations of either global empire or isolationist withdrawal, while keeping our commitments and our resources in balance. In this incisive new book, Michael Lind shows why America's traditional strategy of 'liberal realism' is still the best blueprint for preserving both our national security and our essential liberties. It is a book whose message could not be more timely."—Stephen Walt, author of Taming American Power

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