This book provides a comparative analysis of 30 American interventions into Third World countries. An historical approach is used to place the featured cases into a more general history of American Diplomacy. The author uses his assessments to prove that U.S. foreign policy has been driven by the goal of being the ultimate power in the global capitalist economic system. The author makes his work unique by giving a critical view of America's place in the world during an anticipated time of war and raised patriotism. He provides a scholarly look at U.S. diplomacy leading up to the era of the War on Terror. Sullivan explains how over the past 50 years the U.S. has come to succeed Europe as ruler of the global economic system. The political systems which have been promoted by the U.S. to preserve worldwide capitalism range from one-party rule to monarchies and recurring civil war. The interventions discussed have proved to be short-term successes for U.S. policy, but more often tragic for the local societies affected. Sullivan draws on his 1996 release Comparing State Polities to create a number of tables that place U.S. involvement into geographic and hierarchic perspective. The reader is ultimately provided with a provocative thesis that challenges traditional interpretations of America's role in the world. This book will be an asset to any undergraduate college student taking classes in political science or history. It will also appeal to a general audience.

Now in its second edition, American Adventurism Abroad traces US foreign policy from the late 1940s through the past six years of America’s 'war on terror,' and examines the impact of its repeated militaristic meddling into developing nations. Examines 34 cases of overseas US militaristic meddling, drawn from eleven presidencies and five geographic regions Provides not only understanding of the overseas interventions, but also a framework with which to interpret anticipated future American adventures Describes two recent dramatic non-terrorist-related interventions occurring in the Western Hemisphere—in Venezuela and Haiti and two terrorist-related interventions in Afghanistan (confirmed) and Iraq (alleged)

U.S. Foreign Policy and Muslim Women's Human Rights explores the integration of American concerns about women's human rights into U.S. policy toward Islamic countries since 1979, reframing U.S.-Islamic relations and challenging assumptions about the drivers of American foreign policy.

The Routledge Handbook of U.S. Military and Diplomatic History provides a comprehensive analysis of the major events, conflicts, and personalities that have defined and shaped the military history of the United States in the modern period. Each chapter begins with a brief introductory essay that provides context for the topical essays that follow by providing a concise narrative of the period, highlighting some of the scholarly debates and interpretive schools of thought as well as the current state of the academic field. Starting after the Civil War, the chapters chronicle America's rise toward empire, first at home and then overseas, culminating in September 11, 2001 and the War on Terror. With authoritative and vividly written chapters by both leading scholars and new talent, maps and illustrations, and lists of further readings, this state-of-the-field handbook will be a go-to reference for every American history scholar's bookshelf.

Positing that presidents shape America's foreign policy according to their ethnic heritage, this intriguing volume examines two groups that have dominated the presidency and the distinctly different agendas that have resulted. How is American foreign policy determined? The Great Anglo-Celtic Divide in the History of American Foreign Relations approaches that question from a fascinating perspective, arguing that, to a large extent, the answer lies in the ethnicity of the president. To make its point, this book examines the key foreign policies of American presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush and shows how their most important foreign policy decisions have tended to follow an ethnic pattern. The presidency has been dominated by Americans from English or Celtic backgrounds since the nation's founding, and as readers will discover, the foreign policies of the two groups have been very different. To document those differences, this book analyzes seven alternating periods of political domination by Anglo-Americans and Celtic-Americans, demonstrating how the cycle of change affected the shape and distinguishing characteristics of U.S. foreign policy in matters of war and peace and in relations with other countries.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. After one of the most controversial and divisive periods in the history of American foreign policy under President George W. Bush, the Obama administration was expected to make changes for the better in US relations with the wider world. Now, international problems confronting Obama appear more intractable, and there seems to be a marked continuity in policies between Obama and his predecessor. Robert Singh argues that Obama's approach of 'strategic engagement' was appropriate for a new era of constrained internationalism, but it has yielded modest results. Obama's search for the pragmatic middle has cost him political support at home and abroad, whilst failing to make decisive gains. Singh suggests by calibrating his foreign policies to the emergence of a 'post-American'world, the president has yet to preside over a renaissance of US global leadership. Ironically,Obama's policies have instead hastened the arrival of a post-American world.