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America in Retreat: The Decline of US Leadership from WW2 to Covid-19

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America in Retreat: The Decline of US Leadership from WW2 to Covid-19

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Overview

The story of how America turned its back on the world...

In the heady days after 1945, the authority of the United States was unrivalled and, with the founding of the UN, a new era of international co-operation seemed to have begun. But seventy-five years later, its influence has already diminished. The world has now entered a post-American era, argues Michael Pembroke, defined by a flourishing Asia and the ascendancy of China, as much as by the decline of the United States.

This book is a short history of that decline; how high standards and treasured principles were ignored; how idealism was replaced by hubris and moral compromise; and how adherence to the rule of law became selective. It is also a look into the future – a future dominated by greater Asia and China in particular. We are in the midst of the third great power shift in modern history – from Europe to America to Asia.

Covering wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, interventions in Iran, Guatemala and Chile, and a retreat from international engagement with the UN, WHO and, increasingly, trade agreements, Pembroke sketches the history of America’s retreat from universal principles to provide a clear-eyed analysis of the dangers of American exceptionalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786079879
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	03/09/2021
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	1,164,969
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Michael Pembroke was educated at the Universities of Sydney and Cambridge and was a Director’s Visitor in 2017 at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ. A former New South Wales Supreme Court judge (2010–20), he is the author of Korea: Where the American Century Began (2018).

Preface 1

Introduction 5

Part 1 Origins

Chapter 1 Exceptionalism Myth & Reality 13

True Leadership 13

The Idea 17

Roosevelt's Dream 24

The UN Charter 29

Unrivalled Authority 31

Chapter 2 Ideology Cold War 34

Harry Truman 34

Fear of Communism 40

Breakdown in Poland 44

Japan & Korea 48

Doctrine & Distrust 54

Part 2 Outcomes

Chapter 3 Compromise Coups & Interventions 63

The CIA 63

Iran 1953 69

Guatemala 1954 74

Vietnam 1963 78

Chile 1973 85

Iraq 2003 90

Chapter 4 Criticism Warnings from Within 97

Voices of Dissent 97

Eisenhower 98

Shoup 100

Bacevich 104

Fulbright 107

Kennan 112

Part 3 Consequences

Chapter 5 Militarism Dominance & Overmatch 121

War Culture 121

Global Projection 128

Foreign Bases 133

Exorbitance 137

The Pentagon 142

Hidden Costs 145

Chapter 6 Unilateralism America First 154

Treaties & Conventions 154

International Scrutiny 158

Trade, Tariffs & WTO 164

Economic Sanctions 170

Summits, Arms & Climate 181

Part 4 The Future

Chapter 7 Asia First a Changing World 191

Waging War 191

Asian Wave 193

Decline & Fall 196

China Inc. 198

Belt & Road Initiative 203

Chapter 8 Shifting Alliances Looking East 209

China & Russia 209

The Middle East 213

South Asia 223

Southeast Asia 228

Africa 233

Latin America 238

Europe 241

Conclusion 249

Notes 259

Index 309

Acknowledgements 323

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

02/01/2021
Historian and foreign policy analyst Pembroke (Korea: Where the American Century Began) accuses the U.S. of failing to meet its responsibilities as a global leader in this disappointing polemic. He argues that America gave up on its post-WWII promise to install a “rules-based order” based on international institutions long before Donald Trump won the presidency on an isolationist platform, noting that previous administrations had already begun to distance the U.S. from the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. Pembroke also takes the U.S. to task for consistently seeking military solutions to international problems, instead of trusting in the institutions it helped create, and sketches the problematic motivations and outcomes of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and covert CIA operations in Chile and Guatemala. Arguing that global power is inexorably shifting from America to Asia, Pembroke faults U.S. foreign policy makers for their ineffectual antagonism toward China, and details how Asian nations are strengthening their trade agreements with one another, building their military defenses, and forging ties with Africa and Latin America. Pembroke’s complaints are familiar, and his analysis of the domestic political dynamics that have impacted U.S. foreign policy lacks depth. This half-baked treatise falls flat. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

'As Pembroke argues, America’s bully-boy tactics have only served to invigorate the country’s foes... Current events have added a startling and acidly ironic epilogue to Pembroke’s narrative. The storming of the Capitol was Trump’s Bay of Pigs, his My Lai, his Iranian hostage crisis and his Benghazi, all compressed into a few ugly hours.'

Book of the Day Observer

‘Perceptive and compelling, often heart-rending, sometimes downright terrifying ...’

Noam Chomsky on Korea: Where the American Century Began

‘... Beautifully written ... the phrase ‘as gripping as a thriller’ really applies: once I’d started reading I could not stop, literally so.’

A. C. Grayling on Korea: Where the American Century Began

‘Perceptive and compelling, often heart-rending, sometimes downright terrifying …’

Noam Chomsky on Korea: Where the American Century Began

‘… Beautifully written … the phrase ‘as gripping as a thriller’ really applies: once I’d started reading I could not stop, literally so.’

A. C. Grayling on Korea: Where the American Century Began

America in Retreat: The Decline of US Leadership from WW2 to Covid-19

America in Retreat: The Decline of US Leadership from WW2 to Covid-19

Hardcover

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Overview

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