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The Resource Mission failure : America and the world in the post-Cold War era, Michael Mandelbaum

Mission failure : America and the world in the post-Cold War era, Michael Mandelbaum

Creator
Summary
Unbeknownst to just about all observers of international affairs, America's decision in 1991 to provide air defense to oppressed Kurds in Iraq after the Gulf War had ended ushered in an entirely new era in American foreign policy. Until that moment, the United States used military power to defend against threats (real and perceived) that its leaders thought would either weaken America's position in the world order or✹in the worst case✹threaten the homeland. For the first time ever, the United States militarily was now actively involved in states that represented no threat, and with missions that were largely humanitarian and socio-political. After establishing the Kurdish no-fly zone, the US in quick succession intervened in Somalia, Haiti, and Kosovo. Even after 9/11, it decided that it had a duty to not just invade Iraq, but reconstruct Iraqi society along Western lines. In Mission Failure, the eminent international relations scholar Michael Mandelbaum provides a sweeping interpretive history of American foreign policy in the post-Cold War era to show why this new approach was doomed to failure. America had always adhered to a mission-based foreign policy, but in the post-Cold War era it swung away from security concerns to a near-exclusive emphasis on implanting Western institutions wherever it could. Many good things happened in this era, including a broad expansion of democracy and strong growth in the global economy. But the U.S. never had either the capacity or the will to change societies that were dramatically different from our own. Over two decades later, we can see the wreckage: a broken Iraq a teetering Afghanistan, a China that laughs at our demands that they adopt a human rights regime, and a still-impoverished Haiti. Mandelbaum does not deny that American foreign policy has always had a strong ideological component. Instead, he argues that emphasizing that particular feature generally leads to mission failure. We are able to defend ourselves well and effectively project power, but we have very little capacity to change other societies. If nothing else, that is what the last quarter century has taught us.--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
ix, 485 pages
Contents
  • China, the Global Economy, and Russia
  • Humanitarian Intervention
  • The War on Terror and Afghanistan
  • Iraq
  • The Middle East
  • The Restoration
Isbn
9780190469474
Instance
Label
Mission failure : America and the world in the post-Cold War era
Title
Mission failure
Title remainder
America and the world in the post-Cold War era
Statement of responsibility
Michael Mandelbaum
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
Unbeknownst to just about all observers of international affairs, America's decision in 1991 to provide air defense to oppressed Kurds in Iraq after the Gulf War had ended ushered in an entirely new era in American foreign policy. Until that moment, the United States used military power to defend against threats (real and perceived) that its leaders thought would either weaken America's position in the world order or✹in the worst case✹threaten the homeland. For the first time ever, the United States militarily was now actively involved in states that represented no threat, and with missions that were largely humanitarian and socio-political. After establishing the Kurdish no-fly zone, the US in quick succession intervened in Somalia, Haiti, and Kosovo. Even after 9/11, it decided that it had a duty to not just invade Iraq, but reconstruct Iraqi society along Western lines. In Mission Failure, the eminent international relations scholar Michael Mandelbaum provides a sweeping interpretive history of American foreign policy in the post-Cold War era to show why this new approach was doomed to failure. America had always adhered to a mission-based foreign policy, but in the post-Cold War era it swung away from security concerns to a near-exclusive emphasis on implanting Western institutions wherever it could. Many good things happened in this era, including a broad expansion of democracy and strong growth in the global economy. But the U.S. never had either the capacity or the will to change societies that were dramatically different from our own. Over two decades later, we can see the wreckage: a broken Iraq a teetering Afghanistan, a China that laughs at our demands that they adopt a human rights regime, and a still-impoverished Haiti. Mandelbaum does not deny that American foreign policy has always had a strong ideological component. Instead, he argues that emphasizing that particular feature generally leads to mission failure. We are able to defend ourselves well and effectively project power, but we have very little capacity to change other societies. If nothing else, that is what the last quarter century has taught us.--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Mandelbaum, Michael
Dewey number
327.7300904
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Ideology
  • Realism
  • Humanitarian intervention
  • Humanitarian intervention
  • United States
  • United States
  • United States
Label
Mission failure : America and the world in the post-Cold War era, Michael Mandelbaum
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 383-458) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Contents
China, the Global Economy, and Russia -- Humanitarian Intervention -- The War on Terror and Afghanistan -- Iraq -- The Middle East -- The Restoration
Control code
FIEb17862711
Dimensions
25 cm.
Extent
ix, 485 pages
Isbn
9780190469474
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)919682885
Label
Mission failure : America and the world in the post-Cold War era, Michael Mandelbaum
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 383-458) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Contents
China, the Global Economy, and Russia -- Humanitarian Intervention -- The War on Terror and Afghanistan -- Iraq -- The Middle East -- The Restoration
Control code
FIEb17862711
Dimensions
25 cm.
Extent
ix, 485 pages
Isbn
9780190469474
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)919682885

Subject

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