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Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama
American foreign policy since World War II has long been seen primarily as a story of strong and successful alliances, domestic consensus, and continuity from one adminstration to the next. Why then have so many presidents left office condemned for their foreign policy record?
In his fresh and compelling history of America's rise to dominance, Stephen Sestanovich makes clear that U.S. diplomacy has always stirred controversy, both at home and abroad. He shows how successive adminstrations have struggled to find new solutions, alternating between bold "maximalist" strategies and retrenchment efforts to downsize America's role. Almost all our presidents emerge from this vivid retelling in a sharp and unexpected light.
In his fresh and compelling history of America's rise to dominance, Stephen Sestanovich makes clear that U.S. diplomacy has always stirred controversy, both at home and abroad. He shows how successive adminstrations have struggled to find new solutions, alternating between bold "maximalist" strategies and retrenchment efforts to downsize America's role. Almost all our presidents emerge from this vivid retelling in a sharp and unexpected light.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 14, 2014
There's a certain formula for current books on global politics today. Assert an argument about the nature of change (generally along the lines of the US decline, rise of others, yadda yadda), then recount the history of the Cold War and decades since, cherry picking your way through those events which support your thesis, and wrap up with a small conclusion chapter that has some policy recommendations.
Like most authors, it's that last chapter which is hardest. For many it's perhaps unnecessary, they are not here to advise governments but to shape thinking. In this case however the difficulty in the last chapter is a telling blow.
The author argues that there is a clear cycle to US foreign policy, between Maximalist and Retrenchment approaches (I.e. go big, or go home). There's merit to this, indeed I often think one of the most under-rated aspects of democratic government's capacity is their cyclical, self-correcting nature.
Yet Sestanovich can't quite make up his mind which approach is the right one. You get the sense he strongly prefers Maximalist governments, but he's too honest to properly condemn Eisenhower, Nixon, Carter or Obama for their moments of pause and re-conceptualisation.
As such, this book is left with a reasonably good historical over-view, but the take away is somewhat confused. Like another (much better) book on recent geopolitics politics ('Still ours to lead' by Bruce Jones) I suspect the title does more harm than good to readers of this book.
Thus, his is a solid over view of US foreign policy and strategies, though not quite as strong on the Cold War strategic aspect as Gaddis's 'Strategies of Containment' nor as comprehensive on the governance structure as David Rothkopf's 'Running the World' on the NSC. Nor as good on the modern international environment as the above mentioned Jones 'Still ours to lead' or any number of rise of China tomes.
Sometimes it's worth reading these books just to refresh the history, know what the arguments of former policy makers are, and since it's rather straight forward you'll be able to skim through it in a day or two.You'll enjoy it if you find yourself with access to a copy (perhaps a long flight ahead), but it's unlikely one to make much of an impression.
Like most authors, it's that last chapter which is hardest. For many it's perhaps unnecessary, they are not here to advise governments but to shape thinking. In this case however the difficulty in the last chapter is a telling blow.
The author argues that there is a clear cycle to US foreign policy, between Maximalist and Retrenchment approaches (I.e. go big, or go home). There's merit to this, indeed I often think one of the most under-rated aspects of democratic government's capacity is their cyclical, self-correcting nature.
Yet Sestanovich can't quite make up his mind which approach is the right one. You get the sense he strongly prefers Maximalist governments, but he's too honest to properly condemn Eisenhower, Nixon, Carter or Obama for their moments of pause and re-conceptualisation.
As such, this book is left with a reasonably good historical over-view, but the take away is somewhat confused. Like another (much better) book on recent geopolitics politics ('Still ours to lead' by Bruce Jones) I suspect the title does more harm than good to readers of this book.
Thus, his is a solid over view of US foreign policy and strategies, though not quite as strong on the Cold War strategic aspect as Gaddis's 'Strategies of Containment' nor as comprehensive on the governance structure as David Rothkopf's 'Running the World' on the NSC. Nor as good on the modern international environment as the above mentioned Jones 'Still ours to lead' or any number of rise of China tomes.
Sometimes it's worth reading these books just to refresh the history, know what the arguments of former policy makers are, and since it's rather straight forward you'll be able to skim through it in a day or two.You'll enjoy it if you find yourself with access to a copy (perhaps a long flight ahead), but it's unlikely one to make much of an impression.
April 24, 2018
Not super helpful review of US military history since WWII. There is very little analysis of the decisions made. The author does almost nothing to explain the influences and reasons behind why decision makers felt the way they did. I also think this book perpetuates a common misunderstanding that US foreign policy is US defense policy. The two must be separate or the militarization of America will subsume soft power.
February 18, 2018
A thoughtful and sweeping look at American foreign policy in the post-WWII era.
February 21, 2015
This is a very readable book of recent history, but I was a little disappointed that, except for the Prologue and Epilogue, Maximalist is more dry collection of historical recitations than an articulation (with support from the facts) of a new theory or way of thinking about the post WWII geopolitical landscape.
June 9, 2014
A good overview of foreign policy since the end of WWII, with expansionist and retrenchment points of view, but I agree with another reviewer that the author could have gone further in examining the pros and cons of each and which for which style he advocated.
July 18, 2015
This is simply a fabulous book. It was well-written and has a clear structure. Anyone interested in learning more about American foreign relations since WWII must read this book. Not much analysis though, so if you don't want to just read about history you might want to keep looking.
May 12, 2014
A tour de force of American presidents and how they conduct foreign policy. It really makes you think about how presidents eventually view the importance of foreign policy in their administrations.
October 15, 2014
This was a book about American's foreign policy under Presidents from Truman to Obama. While parts of it was interesting, a lot of it was quite dry reading.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews