Description: Frank Ninkovich s revisionist history of America s relation to the world debunks American exceptionalism once and for all by showing how America s role in the world has been driven less by its ideals than by its fears. What makes the United States special in the global arena is not its economic dominance, its aggressive foreign policy, or its influence over international institutions. Rather, the United States has become distinctive through its deep-seated and long-standing engagement with the forces of globalizationas well as the threats that they represent or embody. The United States has been exceptionally aware of globalizing forces because it has come to have the most to lose on their account. This magisterial overview of the real history of America s role in the world will demystify, clarify, and -- depending on your politics -- enrage."
Brief description: Frank Ninkovich is professor emeritus of history at St. John's University, New York. He is the author of many books, including Modernity and Power and The Wilsonian Century, both also published by University of Chicago Press.
Review Quotes: "This remarkably well-written analysis of American foreign relations combines penetrating insight into the origins and evolution of the US claim to 'exceptionalism, ' especially as the US has faced the phenomenon of globalization. Ninkovich notes that the founders' ideals of republicanism could be neither implemented nor spread with the capabilities that could be mustered in the Colonial era. By the 1890s, when the author's analysis really takes off, the US had developed a global presence augmented by Wilsonian liberalism, a burgeoning dominance in the West, and an avoidance of international cooperation. . . . Recommended."-- "Choice"