Liberty's Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama

by Jeremi Suri

Americans are a nation-building people, and in Liberty’s Surest Guardian, Jeremi Suri—Nobel Fellow and leading light in the next generation of policy makers—looks to America’s history to see both what it has to offer failed states around the world and what it should avoid. Far from being cold imperialists, Americans have earnestly attempted to export their invention of representative government. We have had successes (Reconstruction after the American Civil War, the Philippines, Western Europe) and failures (Vietnam), and we can learn a good deal from both.

Nation-building is in America’s DNA. It dates back to the days of the American Revolution, when the founding fathers invented the concept of popular sovereignty—the idea that you cannot have a national government without a collective will. The framers of the Constitution initiated a policy of cautious nation-building, hoping not to conquer other countries, but to build a world of stable, self-governed societies that would support America’s way of life. Yetno other country has created more problems for itself and for others by intervening in distant lands and pursuing impractical changes.

Nation-building can work only when local citizens “own it,” and do not feel it is forced upon them. There is no one way to spread this idea successfully, but Suri has mined more than two hundred years of American policy in order to explain the five “P”s of

PARTNERS : Nation-building always requires partners; there must be communication between people on the ground and people in distant government offices.

PROCESS : Human societies do not follow formulas. Nation-building is a process which does not produce clear, quick results.

PROBLEM-SOLVING : Leadership must start small, addressing basic problems. Public trust during a period of occupation emerges from the fulfillment of basic needs.

PURPOSE : Small beginnings must serve larger purposes. Citizens must see the value in what they’re doing.

PEOPLE : Nation-building is about people. Large forces do not move history. People move history.

Our actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya will have a dramatic impact on international stability. Jeremi Suri, provocative historian and one of Smithsonian magazine’s “Top Young Innovators,” takes on the idea of American exceptionalism and turns it into a playbook for President Obama over the next, vital few years.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, American History

368 pages, Hardcover

First published September 27, 2011

Reviews

[Matt Beaty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an understandable overview of some of the main American nation-building efforts. Ranging from the actual Founding to Afghanistan and Iraq, this book never gets too deep into the specifics of events. Rather, it focuses around the idea of the "American nation-building creed." From my understanding, it is the idea that America believes it will be better off and that the entire world will be better off if areas were formed into self-governing, democratic nation-states. It furthermore focuses on why some efforts had some level of success (education, getting to know people) and why some were colossal failures (rigid dogma, avoiding dealing with viable leaders).
The chapter about the Marshall Plan (and Herbert Hoover) and Vietnam were my favorite.

[Rsamuel3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree almost entirely with the nytimes review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/boo...

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dense. Interesting but not a light read.

[William J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the premise that Americans have been nation building since the United States was established, the author points out where America has succeeded and failed in its attempts at nation building. I wouldn't recommend it.

[Michael Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real good thesis, however it doesn't compare with person to person discussions with Dr. Suri.