BOOKS
Uruguay’s José Batlle y Ordoñez: The Determined Visionary, 1915-1917Milton I. Vanger If one died and could not reach heaven, went the saying in Latin America during the presidency of José Batlle y Ordoñez, one might get at least as far as Batlle’s Uruguay. José Batlle was committed to a vision of advanced democracy that included a plural executive (the Colegiado), state-run enterprises, an eight-hour-maximum workday, women’s rights, and the More > | ![]() |
US Democracy Promotion in the Arab World: Beyond Interests vs. IdealsMieczysław P. Boduszyński Whether democracy promotion should play a role in US foreign policy continues to be a subject of considerable debate, perhaps nowhere more than with regard to the Arab World. But looking beyond the "whether," what explains why, where, and how the United States promotes democracy? What caused the shift from the Obama administration's support of the Arab Spring protests in 2011 to its More > | ![]() |
US Missile Defense Strategy: Engaging the DebateMichael Mayer Why has the United States continued to develop ballistic missile defenses in an era of irregular warfare and asymmetric terrorist threats? How does missile defense contribute to US global strategy? Can the BMD system achieve the goals that lay behind its creation? Michael Mayer addresses these questions in his balanced approach to the contentious debate over the strategic value of missile More > | ![]() |
US National Security: Policymakers, Processes, and Politics, 6th ed.John Allen Williams, Stephen J. Cimbala, and Sam C. Sarkesian Choice Outstanding Academic Book! The main focus of US national security policy has shifted dramatically since the years of the Obama administration, moving away from nation building and counterinsurgency efforts and toward preparing for traditional state-on-state conflict with powerful peers. The sixth edition of US National Security reflects that change. It also addresses such current issues More > | ![]() |
US Policy in Afghanistan and Iraq: Lessons and LegaciesSeyom Brown and Robert H. Scales, editors How have the costs, both human and material, of US involvement in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq affected the country's will for conducting regime-change operations? What are the implications for issues of strategy? The authors of US Policy in Afghanistan and Iraq assess the impact of the two conflicts on US foreign policy, military planning, and capacities for counterinsurgency and More > | ![]() |
US Policy Toward Africa: Eight Decades of RealpolitikHerman J. Cohen Herman Cohen draws on both the documentary record and his years of on-the-ground experience to provide a uniquely comprehensive survey and interpretation of nearly eight decades of US policy toward Africa. Tracing how this policy has evolved across successive administrations since 1942 (beginning with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third term in office), Cohen illuminates the debates More > | ![]() |
US Politics and Climate Change: Science Confronts PolicyGlen Sussman and Byron W. Daynes Why is climate change the subject of such vehement political rhetoric in the United States? What explains the policy deadlock that has existed for nearly two decades—and that has resulted in the failure of US leadership in the international arena? Addressing these questions, Glen Sussman and Byron Daynes trace the evolution of US climate change policy, assess how key players—the More > | ![]() |
US Politics and Generation Y: Engaging the MillennialsDavid Rankin How have the momentous events of the early 21st century affected the millennial generation's political awareness and action? What accounts for the widespread youth mobilization in support of Barack Obama during the 2008 elections? How do millennials differ from past generations in the ways that they engage in politics? Addressing these questions, David Rankin goes beyond the impact of More > | ![]() |
US Politics and the United Nations: A Tale of Dysfunctional DynamicsAlynna J. Lyon It is no secret that the US variously pulls away from the United Nations and embraces it as a significant venue for policy initiatives. But what explains this dramatic inconsistency? What is the logic of US multilateralism? Alynna Lyon explores the puzzling waxing and waning of US support for the UN, tracing events, actions, and decisions from the end of World War I to the present. Lyon weaves More > | ![]() |
US Taiwan Strait Policy: The Origins of Strategic AmbiguityDean P. Chen Why did the Truman administration reject a pragmatic approach to the Taiwan Strait conflict—recognizing Beijing and severing ties with Taipei—and instead choose the path of strategic ambiguity? Dean Chen sheds light on current US policy by exploring the thoughts and deliberations of President Truman and his top advisers, among them Dean Acheson, John Foster Dulles, Livingston Merchant, More > | ![]() |