Republic in Peril: American Empire and the Liberal Tradition - Hardcover

Hendrickson, David C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0190660384 ISBN 13: 9780190660383

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2017

Synopsis

In Republic in Peril, David C. Hendrickson advances a powerful critique of American policy since the end of the Cold War. America's outsized military spending and global commitments, he shows, undermine rather than uphold international order. They raise rather than reduce the danger of war, imperiling both American security and domestic liberty. An alternative path lies in a new internationalism in tune with the United Nations Charter and the philosophy of republican liberty embraced by America's founders.

The sum of the conventional view-touted by the national security establishment and embraced by Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush-is that it is impossible to have a liberal world order unless America has hostile relations with Russia, China, and Iran, together with a shifting cast of lesser states. Donald Trump, iconoclastic is so many ways, promises to bring the militarization of U.S. foreign policy to an entirely new level.

But it is precisely those who would lead us into battle with "hostile states" who threaten a liberal world order, because they look to a competition that is to be settled through dominance rather than reciprocity. Formed by ideology, greatly fortified by special interests, the U.S. posture has put it into standing collision with other great powers. The flaws of the U.S.-led world order-a chronic overreliance on force, habitual violations of the rules governing intervention-should not be attributed to liberalism but to a flock of "neo-isms" parading in its name. In searching for a remedy, we must find it by rediscovering, not repudiating, the liberal tradition.

Hendrickson offers a panoramic view of America's choices in foreign policy, analyzing the vested interests and ideologies that have justified a sprawling global empire over the last 25 years. Hendrickson recovers the tradition of liberal pluralism, one that sees in nonintervention, the balance of power, and great power concert the formula for a durable peace. Rather than claiming a superior role as judge, jury, and executioner, the United States must share power in accordance with the Golden Rule. It needs restraint rather than braggadocio, acceptance of its role as a nation among the nations rather than arrogant pretensions regarding its exceptional virtue and superior wisdom.

Ranging widely, from the classics of American political thought and international theory to the bewildering thicket of hot wars and regional feuds across the globe that embroil America, Hendrickson forcefully shows that the militarization of U.S. foreign policy is deeply at odds with the animating purposes and principles of the American experiment.

About this title

About the Author

David C. Hendrickson is Professor of Political Science at Colorado College and the author of eight books, including Peace Pact: The Lost World of the American Founding.

Review

"Hendricksonās concern about the direction of US foreign policy is well founded and this well-written, flowing volume will be of interest to scholars, policy-makers and students of international relations." -- Michael John Williams (New York University), International Affairs 94:2

"[T]he book is thoughtful critique on US grand strategy....Highly recommended."--J. Fields, CHOICE

"Republic in Peril is a masterpiece of perspicacity from one of our greatest political scientists. Critiquing the 'liberal world order' promoted by our political establishments as profoundly illiberal, Hendrickson bids Americans to remember the words of their original prophets and return to first principles. Those with ears to hear, let them hear."--Walter A. McDougall, Pultizer Prize Winner, University of Pennsylvania

"In this incisive, sharply observed, and utterly persuasive account, David Hendrickson offers a scathing critique of the blundering march toward militarized folly that has defined U.S. policy since the end of the Cold War. Citing the wisdom of the Founders, he also identifies a path offering a return to sanity--an approach to statecraft rooted in realism, modesty, and prudence. Americans concerned about their country's fate should read this brilliant book."--Andrew J. Bacevich, author of America's War for the Greater Middle East

"In Republic in Peril, David Hendrickson, true to form, musters his erudition, elegant prose, wit, and mastery of history and political thought to offer a scorching critique of the (bipartisan) principles and practices of post-Cold War American foreign policy, explaining why and how they have reduced Americans' liberty, security, and prosperity. Unlike most critics, however, Hendrickson also presents an alternative strategy that is substantive and compelling, the more so because it exposes the impracticalities of reflexive isolationism and the perils of hubris-driven exceptionalism. This is truly a book for our times."--Rajan Menon, Anne and Bernard Spitzer Professor of International Relations, City College of New York/City University of New York

"Hendrickson compellingly demonstrates that the American Republic is in peril--not from foreign enemies, but from the consequences of its own misguided foreign policy. Ranging widely and deftly, from the classics of American political thought and international theory to the bewildering thicket of hot wars and regional feuds across the globe that embroil America, Hendrickson forcefully shows that U.S. foreign policy has become increasingly imperial and militarist--and deeply at odds with the animating purposes and original philosophies of the liberal republican American experiment."--Daniel Deudney, Associate Professor of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University

"In Republic in Peril, one of the foremost scholars of U.S. foreign policy makes a passionate and convincing case for a return to the first principles of American republican liberalism."--Michael Lind, author of The American Way of Strategy

"Still, Hendrickson has performed an urgently necessary service in reconstructing the liberal pluralist tradition. He reminds us that there is a humane alternative to contemporary orthodoxy if we can only recognize it." -- The New York Review of Books

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0190660384
• ISBN 13: 9780190660383
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304