Reluctant Crusaders; Power, Culture, and Change in American Grand Strategy

Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006. Second printing [stated]. Hardcover. ix, [3], 224, [2] pages. Notes. Index. Some highlighting and marks noted. minor endpaper discoloration. Colin Dueck is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he is focusing on the interconnection between US national security strategies and party politics, conservative ideas, and presidential leadership. He is also a professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, where he is the faculty adviser for the Alexander Hamilton Society. A senior nonresident fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, he has also served as a foreign policy adviser on several Republican presidential campaigns. Dr. Dueck is the author of three books on American foreign and national security policies: “The Obama Doctrine: American Grand Strategy Today” (Oxford University Press, 2015), “Hard Line: The Republican Party and US Foreign Policy Since World War II” (Princeton University Press, 2010), and “Reluctant Crusaders: Power, Culture, and Change in American Grand Strategy” (Princeton University Press, 2006). He has testified before Congress and has been published in academic journals and the popular press. These include International Security, Orbis, Political Science Quarterly, the Review of International Studies, Security Studies, World Policy Journal, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, RealClearPolitics, and National Review. A Rhodes scholar, Dr. Dueck has a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University and an M.Phil. in international relations from Oxford University. His earlier degrees in history were obtained from the University of Saskatchewan. In Reluctant Crusaders, Colin Dueck examines patterns of change and continuity in American foreign policy strategy by looking at four major turning points: the periods following World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He shows how American cultural assumptions regarding liberal foreign policy goals, together with international pressures, have acted to push and pull U.S. policy in competing directions over time. The result is a book that combines an appreciation for the role of both power and culture in international affairs. The centerpiece of Dueck's book is his discussion of America's 'grand strategy'--the identification and promotion of national goals overseas in the face of limited resources and potential resistance. One of the common criticisms of the Bush administration's grand strategy is that it has turned its back on a long-standing tradition of liberal internationalism in foreign affairs. But Dueck argues that these criticisms misinterpret America's liberal internationalist tradition. In reality, Bush's grand strategy since 9/11 has been heavily influenced by traditional American foreign policy assumptions. While liberal internationalists argue that the United States should promote an international system characterized by democratic governments and open markets, Dueck contends, these same internationalists tend to define American interests in broad, expansive, and idealistic terms, without always admitting the necessary costs and risks of such a grand vision. The outcome is often sweeping goals, pursued by disproportionately limited means. Condition: Good / Very good.

Keywords: Grand Strategy, Containment, Hegemony, Balance-of-power, Disengagement, Foreign Policy, Internationalism, Humanitarian Intervention, George Kennan, League of Nations, Limited Liability, Cold War, Primacy Strategy, Rogue States, Terrorism, Structural

ISBN: 9780691124636

[Book #84929]

Price: $50.00

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