Promised Land, Crusader State: The American Encounter with the World Since 1776
When the Cold War ended and left the United States without one clear,  monolithic enemy or ideology to battle, a hint of confusion and indecisiveness entered  U.S. foreign policy, revealing weaknesses in the American diplomatic tradition.  However, According to Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Walter A. McDougall, this  confusion was not a result of the Cold War, but rather made more visible by the absence  of a looming conflict. Reaching back to 1776 to analyze the foreign policy decisions  made during the U.S. progression to superpower, McDougall reveals the numerous  paradoxes present in American foreign policy.Beginning with the original intentions of the Founding Fathers and the various  interpretations of those ideals over the years, he deconstructs the role of the U.S. in global  affairs, questioning both the logic and motives of how the nation deals with friend and  foe. One of McDougall's major contentions centers on efforts to affect other countries'  policies and governments by projecting U.S. standards or choices on them. He is  particularly concerned with what he views as an overextension of resources and wisdom,  and the glaring hypocrisy such efforts reveal. He points to several examples of how time  and energy was wasted trying to change those who were uninterested or unwilling. As  McDougall points out lucidly and convincingly inPromised Land, Crusader State:  The American Encounter With the World Since 1776, one nation cannot cure the  major ills of another, and the price of such an attempt is too great to risk.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.