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American Foreign Policy: A History- Since 1900
American Foreign A History, Vol. 2: 1900 to Present
661 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1983
About the author
Thomas G. Paterson
46 books2 followersThomas Graham Paterson received his Bachelors degree from the University of New Hampshire in 1963, and his Masters and Doctoral degrees from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964 and 1968, respectively. Paterson is known primarily for his contributions to Cold War history with an emphasis on United States-Cuba relations, as well as the study of United States foreign relations in general.
A prolific author, Paterson has written and co-written numerous books and articles, and has also served as an editor for several books and scholarly journals, including Diplomatic History and the Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations (1997), for which he was a contributing editor. He has published several articles and book reviews in newspapers, magazines, and newsletters, as well as scholarly journals such as the Journal of American History, The New England Journal of History, Diplomatic History, the New England Quarterly, and the American Historical Review. He is a member of a multiple of historical and scholarly associations, including the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the New England Historical Association, and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR), the last of which he was president in 1987.
Paterson is the recipient of a number of fellowships and research grants. He has appeared on television and radio programs, and has delivered an impressive number of lectures throughout the United States, as well as Canada, China, Cuba, Venezuela, New Zealand, Great Britain, Colombia, and Russia. He taught both graduate and undergraduate level History courses at the University of Connecticut from 1967 through 1997. Aside from his teaching duties, Paterson was also a member of several different University and History Department committees. Paterson has been Professor Emeritus since his retirement from teaching at UConn in 1997.
A prolific author, Paterson has written and co-written numerous books and articles, and has also served as an editor for several books and scholarly journals, including Diplomatic History and the Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations (1997), for which he was a contributing editor. He has published several articles and book reviews in newspapers, magazines, and newsletters, as well as scholarly journals such as the Journal of American History, The New England Journal of History, Diplomatic History, the New England Quarterly, and the American Historical Review. He is a member of a multiple of historical and scholarly associations, including the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the New England Historical Association, and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR), the last of which he was president in 1987.
Paterson is the recipient of a number of fellowships and research grants. He has appeared on television and radio programs, and has delivered an impressive number of lectures throughout the United States, as well as Canada, China, Cuba, Venezuela, New Zealand, Great Britain, Colombia, and Russia. He taught both graduate and undergraduate level History courses at the University of Connecticut from 1967 through 1997. Aside from his teaching duties, Paterson was also a member of several different University and History Department committees. Paterson has been Professor Emeritus since his retirement from teaching at UConn in 1997.
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January 23, 2018
Paterson et al.'s account takes ideology seriously. Their integration of the American ideology of expansionism into the process of foreign policy is evidenced throughout their text. 3 For example, one sees this in their
explanation for America's entrance into WWI: "expansionist. American leaders were finally willing to fight in order to implant in the Old World the best principles and goods America had to offer." (p. 274) For Paterson et al., as for Michael Hunt, ideology is an analytical tool rather than a pejorative. Ideology, like "cultural baggage," cannot simply be overcome. Their account demonstrates that such simple dichotomies as idealism versus realism explain little, for example, in America's relationship with Latin America. This relationship is marked by a continuity of "insensitivity to the. nationalism of other peoples," (p. 250) which results form an ideology that defies categorization as realism or idealism.
For Paterson et al., it is the hegemonic ideology of capitalist democracy in concert with a belief in Anglo-Saxon cultural superiority which helps to explain America's arrogance with respect to Latin America. Louis A. Perez, Jr.'s dependency model thus fits in nicely with Paterson et al.'s consistent treatment of American domination of Latin America throughout the 20th century. Dependency theory cannot be reconciled with Jones's sporadic treatment of U.S. relations with Latin America.
Avoiding the pitfalls of imprecise language, including profuse end notes, and referring throughout to the work of other historians, Paterson et al.'s text is a far more intellectually challenging one than Jones's. Yet through their use of political cartoons, graphs, and detailed maps their text is also quite reader friendly. Reading American Foreign Policy, the student C) is exposed in a relatively painless manner to the interpretational issues at stake in the debates addressed in Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations. Reading The Course of American Diplomacy, the student runs the dual risks of boredom and remaining largely oblivious to the historiography of this discipline.
explanation for America's entrance into WWI: "expansionist. American leaders were finally willing to fight in order to implant in the Old World the best principles and goods America had to offer." (p. 274) For Paterson et al., as for Michael Hunt, ideology is an analytical tool rather than a pejorative. Ideology, like "cultural baggage," cannot simply be overcome. Their account demonstrates that such simple dichotomies as idealism versus realism explain little, for example, in America's relationship with Latin America. This relationship is marked by a continuity of "insensitivity to the. nationalism of other peoples," (p. 250) which results form an ideology that defies categorization as realism or idealism.
For Paterson et al., it is the hegemonic ideology of capitalist democracy in concert with a belief in Anglo-Saxon cultural superiority which helps to explain America's arrogance with respect to Latin America. Louis A. Perez, Jr.'s dependency model thus fits in nicely with Paterson et al.'s consistent treatment of American domination of Latin America throughout the 20th century. Dependency theory cannot be reconciled with Jones's sporadic treatment of U.S. relations with Latin America.
Avoiding the pitfalls of imprecise language, including profuse end notes, and referring throughout to the work of other historians, Paterson et al.'s text is a far more intellectually challenging one than Jones's. Yet through their use of political cartoons, graphs, and detailed maps their text is also quite reader friendly. Reading American Foreign Policy, the student C) is exposed in a relatively painless manner to the interpretational issues at stake in the debates addressed in Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations. Reading The Course of American Diplomacy, the student runs the dual risks of boredom and remaining largely oblivious to the historiography of this discipline.
Displaying 1 of 1 review