Reconstructing Consensus: American Foreign Policy Since the Vietnam War

Reconstructing Consensus examines the reformulation of American foreign policy in the aftermath of the war in Vietnam. Organized by presidential administrations from Richard Nixon to George Bush, the book traces attempts to forge a new foreign policy consensus to replace what had been severely challenged by the American experience in Vietnam. It provides a structured, focused, comparison of the strategic objectives, tactics, and grand designs of the foreign policy of post-Vietnam presidents, including discussions of how each president tried to 'sell' his programs to the public.

This is a solid, well-documented, readable study of the attempts to rebuild a foreign policy consensus in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Melanson, acting director of the International Relations Program at Brown University, analyzes the grand designs, strategic objectives, and tactics of the Nixon, Carter, and Reagan administrations. Has the post-Vietnam era of American foreign policy finally ended? Certainly, there is no clear answer to that question, since the international political system is in greater flux than at any time since the end of World War II. But in discussing these issues, Melanson develops some provocative and thoughtful arguments that make this book a useful addition to the foreign policy collections of academic and larger public libraries.
-Robert H. Puckett, Indiana State Univ., Terre Haute
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