America Right or Wrong - Softcover

Lieven, Anatol

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199660255 ISBN 13: 9780199660254

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2012

Synopsis

American policies, the American economy, and the health of the American political system are all of crucial importance to the world - and to other Western democracies in particular. Yet in recent years, the American political scene has become increasingly radicalized, embittered, and polarized
- contributing to a near-paralysis of economic policy and intense partisanship concerning relations with the rest of the world.

In this essential guide to the present state of US politics, renowned commentator Anatol Lieven pin-points American nationalism as the key to explaining the present troubles in America's body politic. Delving deep into the cultural and historical roots of the phenomenon, Lieven portrays American
nationalism as a highly complex mixture of different elements which are sometimes opposed to each other, and sometimes intertwined. On the one hand, there is the core tradition of American civic nationalism based on the universalist 'American Creed' of almost religious reverence for American
democratic institutions and the U.S. constitution. On the other, there exists a chauvinist nationalism which holds that these institutions are underpinned by cultural values which belong only to certain Americans, and which is strongly hostile both to foreigners and to minorities in America which
are felt not to share those values.

In this updated edition of his classic study, Anatol Lieven traces the re-emergence of radical strains of American nationalism in recent years, manifested in the rise of the Tea Party movement and the ongoing radicalization of the Republican Party. He attributes this to a combination of the effects
of 9/11, the influence of the alliance with Israel, and above all, the long-term and increasing economic decline of large sections of the white middle classes. Deprived by nationalist ideology of the ability to explain what is happening to them in rational terms, many of these people are now turning
to ideologies and demonologies that contribute greatly to the paralysis of effective government in what remains the world's most powerful and important country.

About this title

About the Author:

Anatol Lieven is a professor in the War Studies Department at King's College London, and a senior fellow of the New America Foundation in Washington DC. From 2000 to 2007 he worked at think tanks in Washington DC and studied US foreign and domestic policies in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist
attacks. His areas of expertise include US strategy and political culture; Islamist terrorism and insurgency; contemporary warfare; the countries of the former Soviet Union; and the Greater Middle East, especially Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. From 1989 to 1998 he worked as a journalist in the
former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (for The Times, the Financial Times, and the BBC). He is the author of several books on Russia and its neighbours. His most recent book, Pakistan: A Hard Country was published in 2011 by Penguin. It is based on his time as a journalist in Pakistan in the late
1980s and extensive research on the ground in recent years.

Review:

Review from previous edition: "Lieven provides a compelling argument"

--London Review of Books

"This is a rich book. Lieven hopes it will help to persuade American intellectuals to reflect on their own nationalism, as Europeans were forced to do."

--Independent

"Illuminating... Lieven draws on his wide reading, consultation and much personal observation to bring balance, perspective, and historical sense to what is a rather intricate tale."

--Martin Woollacott, Guardian

"Relentlessly candid... a remarkably thought-provoking book"

--New York Review of Books

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0199660255
• ISBN 13: 9780199660254
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 297