American Foreign Policy Since World War II
Good Fit
- Students and readers seeking a chronological overview of U.S. foreign policy from World War II to the present
- Anyone who likes academic analysis framed by concrete historical events (the bin Laden raid, the Cold War, 9/11)
- Readers wanting to learn international relations theory (containment, détente, unipolarity) through real historical examples
- Readers accustomed to a university-level textbook format (citations, maps, tables)
Not a Fit
- Readers wanting light, popular history and hoping to avoid an academic textbook tone
- Readers looking only for the most recent (post-2015) developments — the book ends in Obama's early years
- Anyone who doesn't need a survey of the full 70-plus-year span, only a single presidential era
The chapter opens with three striking events from 2011 — the killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan; Standard & Poor's first-ever downgrade of the U.S. government's credit rating; and the fall of Gaddafi in Libya — which the authors use to illustrate the contradictory picture of contemporary American foreign policy.
The authors set these events in historical context: when World War II ended in 1945, the U.S. emerged with unmatched military power, then prevailed in a nearly half-century struggle against the Soviet Union by 1991 — Francis Fukuyama's famous "End of History" thesis is quoted.
The chapter describes the ideological drift of the 1990s after the Cold War — the Clinton administration's pledge to "engage" friend and foe alike, even as Congress froze U.S. dues to the UN — and the public's general disinterest in foreign affairs.
The 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush's declaration of a "global war on terror," and the 2002 doctrine built on claims of American primacy are covered in detail — the White House's statement about "unrivaled military strength" is quoted directly.
The chapter continues with the transition from Bush to Barack Obama — describing how, against the backdrop of the financial crisis, the Arab Spring, and the erosion of America's "soft power," Obama promised "renewal" but fell short of many of his goals.
This opening chapter demonstrates the book's method: concrete historical events are consistently tied to a broader theoretical framework (balance of power, the idea of American exceptionalism) — later chapters apply this framework chronologically from World War II to the present.
- Opening with dramatic, concrete events (like the bin Laden raid) brings the academic textbook to life
- An extensive citation apparatus (footnotes, primary sources) provides academic rigor
- The chronological structure (each chapter corresponding to a presidential era) gives readers clear navigation
A similarly broad historical sweep, a classic work on the theory of American foreign policy
A similarly academic yet accessible overview of the Cold War era
The book goes on to trace the start of the Cold War (Chapters 2–4: the containment strategy, the Vietnam War), the era of détente (Chapters 5–6: Kissinger, the Reagan Doctrine), and the end of the Cold War (Chapter 7: the Soviet collapse) in chronological order.
The second half is devoted to the "unipolar moment" (Chapter 8: the Clinton years), old tensions in a new world order (Chapter 9: the Gulf War, failed states), and Europe's changing landscape (Chapter 10: NATO expansion, the Balkan wars); the book closes with Chapter 11's analysis of the post-9/11 era.
If you see a problem, write to us. Publisher, author, rights holder, or just a reader — it doesn't matter. If there's something problematic about copyright in this review, if the review's author has broken the site's rules, or if you simply have a suggestion or complaint, hey@kitabdanevar.com. We'd rather resolve this between ourselves than go to court: we review requests within 48 hours and, if needed, correct or fully remove the review.
