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How America Got It Right
The U. S. March to Military and Political Supremacy
1 of 1 copy available
Left-wing critics—both at home and abroad—relish blasting our country for being the world’s sole superpower, or even an “imperialist” power.
But as acclaimed military historian Bevin Alexander shows in How America Got It Right, these criticisms are completely off the mark. Alexander reveals how the United States has done and continues to do exactly the right thing in military and foreign affairs. As the world’s dominant political force and military power, he says, we are the only nation that will actually go into the world and strike down evil. And we must not shirk that responsibility—especially because we cannot rely on our so-called allies to defend our freedoms.
Alexander tells the dramatic and sometimes surprising story of how, from the American Revolution to the War on Terror, America’s core principles and ideals have shaped our march to economic, military, and political supremacy.
How America Got It Right reveals:
•How in the War on Terror we’re simply repeating the process of World War II—going wherever we have to in the world to destroy those who threaten our safety
•How unpatriotic critics of American foreign policy fail to understand the clear threats we now grapple with—but how our leaders get it
•How America boldly—and correctly—asserted this nation’s unique status to the world long before we had the military strength to back up our daring proclamations
•How, at almost every turn, our leaders demonstrated remarkable foresight that enabled America to become the world’s dominant power
•How a policy of securing other people’s freedom is in fact grounded in American tradition, not a dangerous departure from precedent
As Americans debate what our nation’s role in world affairs should be, Alexander shows how—far from overreaching or bumbling into situations in which we shouldn’t be involved—the United States has properly embraced its role as world leader. Covering more than two centuries of history, How America Got It Right refutes those critics who suggest that America has somehow gone off course or overextended itself.
Indeed, according to Alexander, our government has got it right. America’s critics have got it wrong, because what they are hoping for—peace without a price—will never come to pass.
We saw early in our colonial history that—because of our isolation from Europe, and because of the immense wealth and bounty of our land—we had the opportunity to build the greatest, freest, and most prosperous nation ever to arise on earth. We spent the first century and a quarter of our independent existence in creating this great nation. But to protect this treasure, we found that we needed to establish the world’s paramount military structure and become the world’s preeminent political power. This book is the story of America’s march to economic, military, and political supremacy, and the ideals that have guided us along the way. —From How America Got It Right
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
July 5, 2005 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780307238382
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780307238382
- File size: 2099 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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June 6, 2005
In this polemical, sometimes informative overview of U.S. military and diplomatic history from the French and Indian Wars to the war in Iraq, westward expansion was inevitable; the Mexican War was wise; slavery "did deflect and distort the dream," but the Civil War need not have been fought (though it did professionalize the army). After WWI "the United States took over responsibility from Britain for governing the world's oceans"; this expanded navy turned out to be crucial for winning WWII. Almost all nonexperts will learn something from Alexander's (How Wars Are Won
) brisk and detailed accounts of 20th-century battles and diplomatic controversies, and his expertise on postwar China and Korea provides support for surprising arguments. As he approaches the present day, however, he sounds less sure than merely cocksure: "the United States had to go into Iraq," he writes, because "it set out to neutralize terrorism and tyrants." Readers who already think so will enjoy the book. Agent, Agnes Birnbaum with Bleecker Street Associates
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July 1, 2005
This is a feel-good book for those who are convinced the U.S. role in world affairs has been consistently beneficial. Military historian Alexander's survey of more than two centuries of America's interactions with the world rejects the notion of the U.S. as an imperial power. Although he acknowledges major mistakes (slavery, Vietnam), Alexander asserts that America has never sought to conquer foreign peoples (that, of course, would be disputed by the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Mexicans of the Southwest). Americans, Alexander argues, have viewed themselves as an island nation protected by vast oceans that allowed us to develop our democratic institutions while avoiding the chronic warfare experienced by European states. In the twentieth century, that benign isolation was no longer tenable. Thus, America reluctantly became a world power, but with the primary goal of protecting its own liberty. In doing so, we have generally advanced the cause of liberty around the world. One need not be an America basher to see this work as a bit one-sided.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)
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