American Umpire
American Umpireis the most persuasive and sensible one-volume interpretation of the whole history of American foreign policy to appear in at least a generation. (Philip Zelikow, University of Virginia)American Umpireis startlingly original, a fascinating interpretation of the history of the United States in the world. (Erez Manela, co-editor ofThe Shock of the Global: The 1970s in Perspective)Are we really exceptional? Have we really improved the world through our foreign activities? Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman offers a resounding yes to both questions. With insight and wit, she explains how Americans have helped to build more open, accountable, and peaceful societies across the globe. (Jeremi Suri, author ofLiberty's Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama)Few ideas about world politics seem more popular than the notion that the United States, still the world's great superpower, has formed its own form of empire. This is the notion that Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman challenges in this fast-paced, always provocative, and certainly controversial interpretation of America's global role. (Jack N. Rakove, author ofRevolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America)A useful, cogent examination of why, despite some folly and ill judgment, America continues to be the one country the world looks to when in crisis or need of support. (Kirkus Reviews2013-01-01)In this bold revision of the history of American foreign policy, Stanford historianCobbsHoffmanupends the notion that the U.S. was ever an empire, arguing instead that democratic capitalism, in which the people are sovereign and individuals own and generate wealth, essentially sells (and is selling) itself. (Publishers Weekly2013-01-14)[A] wholly engaging analysis of U.S. history...One of the book's underlying themes is a convincing critique of the depiction of the U.S. as an empire. In doing this,Cobbs  Hoffmanlends the long lens of history to contemporary debates on U.S. foreign policymaking...A key strength of this book is that it successfully embeds the founding and unfolding history of the U.S. into...broader global trends. In doing so,American Umpireengages in debates in the fields of global and international histories on the place of the U.S. in world affairs. (J. Simon RofeTimes Higher Education2013-05-23)