Imagining America at War: Morality, Politics and Film

This book seeks to understand the emerging American moralities and their implications for national and international politics through an examination of 10 films released between 9/11 and Gulf War II. Exploring the cinematic representations of American morality, family, nation and globalization in the films Pearl Harbor; We Were Soldiers; The Quiet American; Behind Enemy Lines; Black Hawk Down; Kandahar; Collateral Damage; In the Bedroom; Minority Report and Fahrenheit 9/11, Cynthia Weber presents a stimulating new study of how the American identity is being constructed and the moral values that inform US foreign policy. The author details US foreign policy formation in relation to traditional US narratives about US identity 'who we think we were/are', 'who we wish we'd never been', 'who we really are', and 'who we might become' as well as in relation to their foundations in nationalist discourses of gender and sexuality. Addressing the question of 'what does it mean to be a moral America(n)and how might such an America(n) act morally in contemporary international politics? Imagining America at War will be of great interest to students of American Studies, US Foreign Policy, Contemporary US History, Cultural Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Film Studies.

Cynthia Weber is Professor of International Relations at Lancaster University, UK.