What America Owes the World: The Struggle for the Soul of Foreign Policy

by H. W. Brands

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For two hundred years, Americans have believed that they have an obligation to improve the lot of humanity. This belief has consistently shaped US foreign policy. Yet within this consensus, two schools of thought have contended: the 'exemplarist' school (Brands' term) which holds that what America chiefly owes the world is the benign example of a well-functioning democracy, and the 'vindicationist' school which argues that force must sometimes supplement a good example. In this book, H. W. show more Brands traces the evolution of these two schools as they emerged in the thinking and writing of the most important public thinkers of the last two centuries. This book, first published in 1998, is both an intellectual and moral history of US foreign policy and a guide to the fundamental question of America's relations with the rest of the world - a question more pressing than ever in the confusion that has succeeded the Cold War: What does America owe the world? show less

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55+ Works 12,024 Members
H.W. Brands was born Henry William Brands in Oregon. He graduated from Stanford University in 1975 with a B.A. in history, and from Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon. He went on to earn his graduate degree in mathematics and history in Oregon and Texas. He taught at Vanderbilt University and Texas A&M University before he joined the faculty show more at the University of Texas at Austin. He acquired the title of Dickson Allen Anderson Centennial Professor of History at the U of Texas. He specializes in American History and politics, with books including Traitor to His Class, Andrew Jackson, The Age of Gold, the First American, and TR. Several of his books have been best sellers, including one recently published, The General vs. the President. Two of them - Traitor to His Class and The First American were finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He lectures often on historical and current events and he can be seen and heard on national television and radio programs. (Bowker Author Biography) H. W. Brands lives in Austin, Texas. (Publisher Provided) H. W. Brands is Distinguished Professor of History and Ralph R. Thomas '21 Professor in Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Classifications

Genres
Nonfiction, History, Politics and Government, Philosophy
DDC/MDS
327.73Society, Government, and CulturePolitical scienceInternational Relations: SpiesNorth AmericaUnited States
LCC
E183.7 .B694History of the United StatesUnited StatesHistoryDiplomatic history. Foreign and general relations.
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