Worldmaking: The Art and Science of American Diplomacy

by David Milne

A new intellectual history of U.S. foreign policy from the late nineteenth century to the present

Worldmaking is a compelling new take on the history of American diplomacy. Rather than retelling the story of realism versus idealism, David Milne suggests that U.S. foreign policy has also been crucially divided between those who view statecraft as an art and those who believe it can aspire to the certainty of science. Worldmaking follows a cast of characters who built on one another’s ideas to create the policies we have today. Woodrow Wilson’s Universalism and moralism led Sigmund Freud to diagnose him with a messiah complex. Walter Lippmann was a syndicated columnist who commanded the attention of leaders as diverse as Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and Charles de Gaulle. Paul Wolfowitz was the intellectual architect of the 2003 invasion of Iraq―and an admirer of Wilson’s attempt to “make the world safe for democracy.” Each was engaged in a process of worldmaking, formulating strategies that sought to deploy the nation’s vast military and economic power―or sought to retrench and focus on domestic issues―to shape a world in which the United States would be best positioned to thrive. Tracing American statecraft from the age of steam engines to the age of drones, Milne reveals patterns of worldmaking that have remained impervious to the passage of time. The result is a panoramic history of U.S. foreign policy driven by ideas and by the lives and times of their authors.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Essays, United States, Ebooks

624 pages, Hardcover

First published September 22, 2015

Reviews

[Bilal Anis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very well researched and written. It explains for beginners to intermediate users a detailed history of the nine men who influenced the United States foreign policy in the past 120 years!

Mahan.. Wilson .. Beard.. Lippmann .. Kennan.. Nietz.. Kissinger.. Wolfowitz.. Obama..

From realism approaches to idealism to people with no obvious political approach... a scientific approach to artistic one ..

A must read to whoever want to delve more into the American politics and how it affected the world...

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal read. Well researched, in depth, and compellingly written. Provides an evenhanded account with well sourced, well crafted arguments for both supporters and opponents of the individuals profiled.

Unfortunately the critical eye and thought the author takes for most of the book tails off in Barack Obama's section, but not enough to meaningfully detract from an otherwise wonderful book. I can see how it's difficult to look objectively at a period that is still ongoing, though.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an outstanding book. As an intellectual history of the drivers in U.S. foreign policy, it is the best one available. But it is also a superb overview of the lives of some of the key creators of America's position in the world.

Odd Arne Westad, Harvard

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A marvelous achievement. David Milne gives us not merely a richly textured and striking collective portrait of some of the most important figures in modern American diplomacy and statecraft; he also explains, as few others have, how the United States rose to its unrivaled position on the world stage, and what it means for international affairs today. An altogether splendid book.

Fredrik Logevall, Harvardy

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amazon review


A bit superficial but a good overview

The author provides an interesting series of portraits of a selection of individuals who have helped shape American foreign policy over the past century plus. He offers some interesting little bio sketches of each, but anyone familiar with any of the individuals will find them rather superficial.

His analysis of their policies are also a bit thin, compared to what's available, but if you want an overview, it's not bad. He does tend to gush a bit over the ones he likes, like George Kennan, and get a bit catty over those he disapproves of, like Mahan.

The most glaring flaw was the inclusion of President Obama. Politics aside, any serious historian would balk at including a man who is still in office, and whose impact cannot possibly be determined yet. This is without mentioning Obama's obvious lack of focus on foreign policy (not unusual for American presidents). I suspect this was forced on him either by the publisher or academic colleagues.

John Desmond

[Angela Maloney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a book that follows the "great man" theory of history, this book examines U.S. foreign policy from the late 19th century to the present by examining the contributions of nine men--no women. While it is good for what it is, I would consider it a bit narrow. There is simply a great deal more that has happened than these nine people. By including two people from the present day--Paul Wolfowitz and current President Barrack Obama--the author manages to offer a thoughtful and nonpartisan look at what is happening in the foreign affairs world of today. At the same time, however, he risks that some readers, with passions inflamed, will be unable to read it through anything other than a partisan lense without the perspective that history will one day provide. Witness the review by Chris below.

This is a good introduction to some of the important thinkers in the history of American foreign affairs. Students with an interest in this area will find it of interest. Those seeking support for their partisan political views of any sort will be disappointed.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well researched and informative overview of great thinkers and leaders in American foreign policy, covering both the different schools of thought they embodied as well as their different styles and approaches to analysis and decision making. It would be fascinating to see this work revised in a few years (it ends with the approach of the 2016 presidential election) to see how the author assesses current international political trends.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it, I had to read it for a class (I also loved the class). I think it provides a lot of information on the history of US foreign policymaking and the persons behind it. It's not too technical or complicated so it was quite nice and actually interesting.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Difficult to read. Stilted prose. 500 pages to get to his nonsensical conclusion that Obama is a brilliant master of foreign policy. I DO NOT recommend it.

[Mills College Library]

327.73 M6592 2015

[Kyle]

A comprehensive historiography of US foreign policy from the late 1800's to the present with an emphasis on key thinkers who influenced the craft; the focus on their biographies and its impact on their worldview made for a lively anthology. The exploration of those drawn to a more historical/philosophical or a quantitative mindset seemed rather self constraining, indeed one could use just this text to argue that President Barrack Obama was informed by both.