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U.S. vs. Them: Conservatism in the Age of Nuclear Terror
A challenging, clear-eyed, and authoritative history of American conservatism and its grave effect on our country's foreign policy
In this compelling and sometimes alarming analysis, J. Peter Scoblic, executive editor of The New Republic , traces the history of American foreign policy and how it has evolved from the Cold War conservatism of the 1950s to today. The belligerence, intransigence, and disinclination for diplomacy that mars the right wing once brought us to the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. More recently it has failed to meet the post-9/11 challenges posed by Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Scoblic argues forcefully that the only way to face these new threats practically and seriously is by adopting an approach exactly opposite to that suggested by conservatism. By diagnosing the origins of Bush's foreign policy, U.S. vs. Them illuminates the path to renewed American leadership in the twenty-first century as the most serious danger ever faced looms before nuclear terrorism.
In this compelling and sometimes alarming analysis, J. Peter Scoblic, executive editor of The New Republic , traces the history of American foreign policy and how it has evolved from the Cold War conservatism of the 1950s to today. The belligerence, intransigence, and disinclination for diplomacy that mars the right wing once brought us to the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. More recently it has failed to meet the post-9/11 challenges posed by Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Scoblic argues forcefully that the only way to face these new threats practically and seriously is by adopting an approach exactly opposite to that suggested by conservatism. By diagnosing the origins of Bush's foreign policy, U.S. vs. Them illuminates the path to renewed American leadership in the twenty-first century as the most serious danger ever faced looms before nuclear terrorism.
368 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 12, 2014
Great insight into how and why the "good vs. evil" duality and the ideology of American exceptionalism have characterized the political right over the last several decades and actually contributed to nuclear proliferation across the globe.
February 18, 2014
This book was very well-arranged. However, it wasn't very much well written.
I appreciated how the author went back to World War I then onto the Depression and the Second World War before jumping into modern times. This made it much easier to comprehend. There's a history of US politics, policies and philosophies, carefully morphed along time and we see how relevant it is today.
However, on to his writing, it was pretty much messed up. I know nonfiction is all about facts, but his writing was just boring. If I had not been really interested on the topic, I wouldn't have bothered finishing it.
I appreciated how the author went back to World War I then onto the Depression and the Second World War before jumping into modern times. This made it much easier to comprehend. There's a history of US politics, policies and philosophies, carefully morphed along time and we see how relevant it is today.
However, on to his writing, it was pretty much messed up. I know nonfiction is all about facts, but his writing was just boring. If I had not been really interested on the topic, I wouldn't have bothered finishing it.
September 7, 2011
"It is silly to invade one country [Iraq] that does not have a nuclear program to demonstrate to another nation [Lybia] what you might do to it if it doesn't behave. Wars are expensive and bloody things; they are not signals to be sent lightly." - pp. 254-55
September 2, 2008
My good friend Barron contributed to the research for this. Thought provoking thus far.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews