Empire If You Can Keep In Power & Principle in American F

A truly compelling, thought provoking, and relevant text for students of American foreign policy Drawing on the Bush administration's foreign policy maneuvering and the realities of a post-9/11 world, Thomas M. Magstadt goes beyond a mere recitation of events in U.S. diplomatic history. He instead paints a vivid portrayal of the tension between the pursuit of power and the adherence to principle deeply embedded in America's political culture. Magstadt traces the country's move from vulnerable upstart in 1789, to great power by 1898, to unrivaled dominance at the turn of the twenty-first century, when considerations of security and self-interest compete head-to-head with the moral imperative for global leadership and the promotion of democratic ideals. The dynamics of process also matter in this struggle. The book illuminates the complexities of both policy- and decision-making in a way that balances coverage more compactly and more analytically than core texts do, thereby improving readability and student critical thinking. And, by placing recent foreign policy developments in the context of America's historic sense of purpose, Magstadt stresses the need for a new consensus and a new balance between power and principle, between hard and soft power.