American Pendulum

Recurring Debates in US Grand Strategy

De: Christopher M. Hemmer

Narrado por: Jim Woods

In American Pendulum, Christopher Hemmer examines America's grand strategic choices between 1914 and 2014 using four recurring debates in American foreign policy as lenses. First, how should the United States balance the trade-offs between working alone versus working with other states and international organizations? Second, what is the proper place of American values in foreign policy? Third, where does the strategic perimeter of the United States lie? And fourth, is time on the side of the United States or of its enemies?

Hemmer asserts that heated debates, disagreements, and even confusions over US grand strategy are not only normal but also beneficial. He challenges the claim that uncertainties or inconsistences about the nation's role in the world or approach to security issues betray strategic confusion or the absence of a grand strategy. American foreign policy, he states, is most in danger not when debates are at their most pointed but when the weight of opinion crushes dissent. As the United States looks ahead to an increasingly multipolar world with increasing complicated security issues, Hemmer concludes, developing an effective grand strategy requires ongoing contestation and compromises between competing visions and policies.

©2015 Cornell University (P)2016 Redwood Audiobooks

Reseñas de la Crítica

"This creative and perceptive work deserves the attention of both scholars and policymakers." (Christopher Preble, Cato Institute)

"An important contribution to the literature by contextualizing recurring debates about American grand strategy… This book is required reading for students of U.S. grand strategy, and will be of interest to nonspecialist readers as well." (Christopher Layne, Texas A&M University)

"Christopher Hemmer provides a balanced and reliable survey of American grand strategy from the early twentieth century to the Obama era, pointing to recurring tensions and debates." (Colin Dueck, George Mason University)