The Ambiguous Legacy: U.S. Foreign Relations in the 'American Century'

This collection of essays assesses the record of American foreign policy over the course of the twentieth century. The essays comprise the work of political scientists as well as historians, conservatives as well as liberals, foreign scholars as well as Americans. Taking off from Henry Luce's vision of an 'American century', the authors discuss such important topics as the American conception of the national interest, the tension between democracy and capitalism, the US role in both the developed and underdeveloped worlds, party politics and foreign policy, the significance of race in American foreign relations, and the cultural impact of American diplomacy on the world at large. The result is a lively collection of essays by authors who often disagree but who nonetheless provide the reader with keen insights about the past and provocative views of the future.

Michael J. Hogan is a professor of history at the Ohio State University and editor of Diplomatic History, the journal of record for specialists in American diplomatic history and national security studies. Mr. Hogan is recipient of numerous fellowships and prizes, including the Quincy Wright Prize of the International Studies Association, the George Louis Beer Prize of the American Historical Association, and the Stuart L. Bernath Prize of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.