American Foreign Policy Since World War II

Structure of the Book and a Summary of its Contents

This paper is a book review of American Foreign Policy since World War II, by Hook and Spanier (1). An acclaimed literary work, researchers have used the book in educational and political fields. It has only two parts. The first part has only six chapters, which investigate American foreign policy during the cold war period. The second part has seven chapters that explore American foreign policies in the new world order/disorder. Both parts of the book show the present and past geopolitical contexts, which shape (and continue to shape) the path of American foreign policy. The authors argue that American foreign policy is agile and presents the country as a steadfast nation that is capable of managing different adversities and excellent in exploiting new and existing opportunities in the global stage (Hook & Spanier 2).

Stated differently, both authors argue that American foreign policy is unique from other nations because it has a distinct sense of nationalism (Hook & Spanier 2). While this paper argues that this thesis is a fair representation of American foreign policy, it highlights idealism and cultural superiority as some underlying issues that could undercut the authors message in the book. To understand this analogy, it is, first, important to comprehend the background of the authors and their arguments in the book.

Summary of Authors Works

Both Hook and Spanier (1) are experienced authors in foreign policy. For example, Hook has written several books and articles on the subject. US Foreign Policy Today: American Renewal, US Foreign Policy Today: The Paradox of World Power, and American Foreign Policy: Issues for Debate in American Foreign Policy Package are some books written by the author on the subject. Spanier has also written (or co-authored) similar books, such as American Foreign Policy Making and the Democratic Dilemmas, Games nations play analyzing international politic and How American foreign policy is made. In the book American Foreign Policy since World War II, both authors argue that Americas foreign policy is agile and represents a distinct brand of nationalism that transcends global and national crises. In line with this analogy, both authors look at the major challenges and opportunities that America has experienced in the last few decades (Hook & Spanier 7).

Here, the authors analyze key historical events, such as the end of the cold war and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Using such global and national events, both authors also analyze the historical and current patterns in US foreign policy. In the same breadth of analysis, the authors review the methodological approaches and interpretations that have characterized American foreign policy. Here, the authors pay close attention to the emergence of Americas political and military muscle after the Second World War and the contributing role of economic independence and globalization to Americas dominance in political, social, and economic circles. Using the same assessment, the authors say national, ethnic, and religious confrontations still characterize Americas foreign policy dominance in world politics (Hook & Spanier 10-15). Similarly, from a military standpoint, America has had trouble managing the proliferation of deadly weapons in some of the worlds industrialized economies.

Importance of Topic to the Field

American Foreign Policy since World War II is useful in academic studies because it gives students and researchers a comprehensive understanding of the history of American foreign policy. Particularly, it offers useful insights about the foreign policies of the American government after the Second World War. Such analogy is useful in understanding current global issues, such as the debt crisis and the Arab uprisings, relative to American involvement in global politics. Using this analysis, the books findings are helpful in allowing students to make sense of the complexities that characterize American foreign policy.

Key Strengths and Weaknesses of the Work

Strengths

Hook and Spanier (5-8) infer that American foreign policies strive to promote democracy and world security in the face of terrorism threats and uncertain economic times. From this assessment, the authors propose that American foreign policy is the dominant force in world politics. The positive representation of the countrys foreign policy is beneficial in advancing the interests of the US in national and global spaces because it sets a standard for interaction between American citizens, corporations, organizations and foreign entities.

This representation describes an American way of doing business, which captures the nations ethos and values. It permeates through all facets of the society and presents the country as a unified bloc. Largely, this positive attribute of American foreign policy unites its political, economic, and social interests in the face of geopolitical turmoil. Furthermore, it offers a strong bargaining position for all parties associated with America (globally) because, through the foreign policy, the world understands what the country stands for.

Weaknesses

Idealism

Hook and Spanier (2) present a positive image of American foreign policy by highlighting its agile characteristics. For example, the two authors say the countrys foreign policy has transcended some of the worlds greatest geopolitical and economic challenges, such as the 2007/2008 global economic crisis and terrorism (Hook & Spanier 20-21). At the center of their narration is the conviction that America subscribes to a strong sense of nationalism. Although this argument is largely representative of most American foreign policy actions, it also highlights the idealistic nature of the American foreign policy framework. For example, this characteristic presents Americas foreign policy structure as a slave to rigid idealism. By extension, this assertion shows that American foreign policies could be captive to internal political and economic interests that may cloud the need to advance public interests as opposed to special interests.

Cultural Superiority

In their book, American Foreign Policy since World War II, Hook and Spanier (4) show Americas foreign policy resilience in the wake of global disasters and world wars. They also advance the same theme through Americas victory in ideological wars that have pitted nations against one another. For example, the authors show how American ideals were superior to alternative cultural, political and economic ideals presented by communist nations, such as China and Russia. In fact, they show an alternative form of governance (one party rule as practiced in China) as a threat to Americas governance model.

While the authors advance their views as a fair representation of American foreign policy, they represent American foreign policy as the most superior foreign policy in the world. This view is problematic to global cohesion and world peace because it may create resentments in some sections of the global population, particularly regarding Americas cultural superiority over other nations. Therefore, the representation of Americas foreign policy model as the superior model could make other nations feel demeaned, thereby breeding resentments among some of them. Evidence of such resentments already exists in the Middle East.

Conclusion

In their book, American Foreign Policy since World War II, Hook and Spanier (2-5) show how American foreign policy has affected different aspects of global politics. For example, they have shown how the countrys foreign policy influenced military action, human rights, political governance and foreign aid. The authors overarching argument is that the foreign policy has been agile and steadfast in presenting the country as an efficient entity that could manage different economic and political adversities.

This paper shows that this representation is an accurate depiction of American ethos, which encapsulates the spirit and aspirations of the American people. It is beneficial to the American society because it articulates what America stands for and standardizes how the nation engages with the global community. In this regard, this paper shows how American foreign policy benefits organizations, corporations and individuals, globally. The greatest weakness of the authors depiction of Americas foreign policy is the perceived superiority of the foreign policy framework, as presented by the authors.

Almost in a boastful fashion, the authors describe American foreign policy as a superior foreign policy that stretches across political, economic, and cultural spheres. This representation could cause discontentment among other countries/people regarding how they perceive America. This paper also shows that the authors depiction of American foreign policy borders idealism because it is subject to internal economic and political interests. Mostly, these interests could sideline national interests and ignore the pragmatism needed from responsible members of the global community. Nonetheless, both authors highlighted in this paper present an accurate picture of the resilience associated with American foreign policy actions.