American Exceptionalism and the Legacy of Vietnam US Foreign Policy Since 1974

Trevor McCrisken examines the influence of the belief in American exceptionalism on the history of U.S. foreign policy since the Vietnam War. He analyzes attempts by each U.S. administration both rhetorically and by pursuing foreign policy supposedly grounded in traditional American principles. He argues that exceptionalism consistently provided the framework for foreign policy discourse but that the conduct of foreign affairs was limited by the Vietnam syndrome.

Trevor McCrisken is Lecturer in International Relations, University of Oxford.