The Global Republic: America's Inadvertent Rise to World Power

"This remarkably well-written analysis" of US foreign relations offers a provocative and compelling new interpretation of American Exceptionalism ( Choice ). For decades the United States has been the world's predominant superpower. The country's economic authority, forceful foreign policy, and leading position in international institutions are typically seen as the results of a long-standing, deliberate strategy. Furthermore, it has become widely accepted that American exceptionalism—the belief that America is a country like no other in history—has been at the root of the country's political and military decisions. Pioneering historian Frank Ninkovich disagrees. In The Global Republic, Ninkovich argues that the United States has been driven not by a belief in its destiny or its special character but rather by a need to survive the forces of globalization. He builds the powerful case that American foreign policy has long been entangled in questions of global engagement, while also showing that globalization itself has always been distinct from—and sometimes in direct conflict with—what we call international society.