Title Mission failure : America and the world in the post-Cold War era / Michael Mandelbaum

Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016] ©2016

Click on the following:
EBSCO eBooks
ProQuest Ebook Central

Copies

Description 1 online resource Contents Introduction -- China, the Global Economy, and Russia -- Humanitarian Intervention -- The War on Terror and Afghanistan -- Iraq -- The Middle East -- The Restoration -- Conclusion Summary "In Mission Failure, Mandelbaum argues that, in the past 25 years, U.S. foreign policy has undergone a significant shift. Historically, U.S. foreign policy was oriented primarily toward threat reduction, but the U.S. military has turned in recent years to missions that are largely humanitarian and socio-political. Mandelbaum argues that ideologically-driven foreign policy--that which seeks to reconstruct societies along Western lines--generally leads to mission failure"-- Provided by publisher "America's decision in 1991 to provide air defense to oppressed Kurds in Iraq after the Gulf War ushered in an entirely new era in American foreign policy. Until that moment, the United States had only used military power to defend against threats that its leaders thought would either weaken America's position in the world order or--in the worst case--threaten the homeland. But with this offer to the Kurds, the United States for the first time ever was now militarily involved in states that represented no threat, and with missions that were largely humanitarian and socio-political. After establishing the Kurdish no-fly zone, the US in quick succession intervened in Somalia, Haiti, and Kosovo. Even after 9/11, it decided that it had a duty to not just invade Iraq, but reconstruct Iraqi society along Western lines. In Mission Failure, the eminent scholar Michael Mandelbaum provides a comprehensive history of post-Cold War American foreign policy to show why this new approach was doomed to failure. Mandelbaum argues that all major foreign policy initiatives, both before and after September 11, 2001, had a basic feature in common: all were missions to transform other countries along Western lines, and all failed. This shift in policy did result in several positive effects, including a broad expansion of democracy and strong growth in the global economy. However, the U.S. had neither the capacity nor the will to change societies that were dramatically different from our own. Over two decades later, we can see the wreckage: a broken Iraq, a teetering Afghanistan, and a still-impoverished Haiti. Mandelbaum does not deny that American foreign policy has always had a strong ideological component. Instead, he argues that focusing solely on ideology at the expense of realism generally leads to mission failure"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes English Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed September 22, 2016) Subject Ideology -- Political aspects -- United States Realism -- Political aspects -- United States Humanitarian intervention -- History -- 20th century Humanitarian intervention -- History -- 21st century Political realism. OLITICAL SCIENCE -- International Relations -- Diplomacy. ISTORY -- United States -- 20th Century. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Government -- International. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- International Relations -- General. Diplomatic relations Diplomatic relations -- Philosophy Humanitarian intervention Ideology -- Political aspects Military policy Realism -- Political aspects Außenpolitik Internationale Politik SUBJECT United States -- Foreign relations -- 1989- http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh93001742 United States -- Foreign relations -- Philosophy. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh88003959 United States -- Military policy. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140379 Subject United States USA Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780190469481 019046948X 9780190469498 0190469498

  Permalink