Predictions about the world have the power to grip whole societies, and shape the actions of many groups whether working in politics, ecology or religion. At the end of epochs and eras humans tend to reflect on the shape of things to come. Most recently, fears about the 'millennium bug' had thousands rushing to stock up on candles and food in the weeks before New Year's Eve. Concerns about the future have been expressed differently throughout history. This book explores the historical context surrounding various debates, decisions and beliefs about the future in recent centuries. Religious, political, literary and ecological visions of the future in America and Germany are addressed comparatively. In particular, scholars from the United States and Germany explore the meaning of eschatological and utopian thoughts pursued during the last three centuries and tackle subjects ranging from science fiction to religious radicalism, utopian social experiments, and visions of race relations. This book delves into the hopes and fears for the future that have shaped the past and will be of interest to comparative historians as well as to historians of Europe and the United States intrigued by the subject of utopias.

From Jules Verne to the Jetsons, from a 500-passenger flying wing to an anti-aircraft flying buzz-saw, the vision of the future as seen through the eyes of the past demonstrates the play of the American imagination on the canvas of the future.

In much the same way that Japan has become the focus of contemporary American discussion about industrial restructuring, Germans in the economic reform in terms of Americanism and Fordism, seeing in the United States an intriguing vision for a revitalized economy and a new social order. During the 1920s, Germans were fascinated by American economic success and its quintessential symbols, Henry Ford and his automobile factories. Mary Nolan's book explores the contradictory ways in which trade unionists and industrialists, engineers and politicians, educators and social workers explained American economic success, envisioned a more efficient or "rationalized" economic system for Germany, and anguished over the social and cultural costs of adopting the American version of modernity. These debates about Americanism and Fordism deeply shaped German perceptions of what was economically and socially possible and desirable in terms of technology and work, family and gender relations, consumption and culture. Nolan examines efforts to transform production and consumption, factories and homes, and argues that economic Americanism was implemented ambivalently and incompletely, producing, in the end, neither prosperity nor political stability. Vision of Modernity will appeal not only to scholars of German History and those interested in European social and working-class history, but also to industrial sociologists and business scholars.

Eminent scholar Zbigniew Brzezinski's New York Times bestselling blueprint for American foreign policy strategy in the twenty-first century The world today faces a crisis of power, caused by the dramatic shift in its center of gravity from the West to the East, by the dynamic political awakening of people worldwide, and by the deterioration of America's performance both domestically and internationally. As a result, America's position as a world superpower is far from secure. In Strategic Vision, former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski argues that America can and should be actively engaged in navigating this period of crisis and provides a strategic blueprint for America to revitalize its global status and promote a peaceful twenty-first century. As Brzezinski eloquently shows, without an America that is economically vital, socially appealing, responsibly powerful, and capable of sustaining an intelligent foreign engagement, the geopolitical prospects for the West could become increasingly grave.

Mary Nolan's Visions of Modernity explores the contradictory ways in which German trade unionists and industrialists, engineers and politicians, educators and social workers explained American economic success, envisioned a more efficient or "rationalized" economic system for Germany, and anguished over the social and cultural costs of adopting the American version of modernity.

Antologi. Indeholder en undersøgelse af de transatlantiske forbindelser siden terrorangrebene d. 11. september 2001 i USA samt den efterfølgende krig i Irak. Bogen søger at identificere de grupper, som skaber politiken og offentlighedens opfattelse af relationerne på begge sideraf Atlanten. Ligeledes forsøger den at spore oprindelsen til den opståede splid efter 11.september, samt at belyse de nuværende og fremtidige udfordringer til de bilaterale relationer og forholdet generelt mellem USA og Europa. Perspektiverne belyses ved fem europæiske bidragydere med fokus primært på England, Frankrig, Tyskland, Italien og Rusland og suppleret med tre amerikanske bidragydere.

A revealing reassessment of the American government's position towards Indonesia's struggle for independence.