The Global Republic – America′s Inadvertent Rise to World Power - Hardcover

Ninkovich, Frank

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 022616473X ISBN 13: 9780226164731

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2014

Synopsis

For decades the United States has been the most dominant player on the world's stage. The country's economic authority, its globally forceful foreign policy, and its dominant position in international institutions tend to be seen as the result of a long-standing, deliberate drive to become a major global force. Furthermore, it has become widely accepted that American exceptionalism - the belief that America is a country like no other in history - has been at the root of many of the country's political, military, and global moves. Frank Ninkovich disagrees. One of the preeminent intellectual historians of our time, Ninkovich delivers here his most ambitious and sweeping book to date. He argues that historically the United States has been driven not by a belief in its destiny or its special character but rather by a need to survive the forces of globalization. He builds the powerful case that American foreign policy has long been based on and entangled in questions of global engagement, while also showing that globalization itself has always been distinct from - and sometimes in direct conflict with - what we call international society. In the second half of the twentieth century, the United States unexpectedly stumbled into the role of global policeman and was forced to find ways to resolve international conflicts that did not entail nuclear warfare. The US's decisions were based less in notions of exceptionalism and more in a need to preserve and expand a flourishing global society that had become essential to the American way of life. Sure to be controversial, The Global Republic compellingly and provocatively counters some of the most common and deepest misconceptions about America's history and its place in the world.

About this title

Review:

"Frank Ninkovich has done it again. "The Global Republic" offers a wide-ranging and original account of America's place in the modern world. A pioneer in bringing culture to the study of American foreign relations, Ninkovich deftly weaves together culture, politics, and economics in this impressive and counterintuitive analysis of what did--and didn't--make the United States an exceptional world power."--David C. Engerman "Brandeis University "

"'Marvelous' is the word to characterize this book. It is a marvel of insight, reflection, and analysis. Displaying the erudition, depth, and wit that readers have long since come to expect from him, Ninkovich has produced a strikingly original account of the United States's two centuries of experience in the world. He combines ascents to heights of philosophical discourse with consistent exercise in down-to-earth skepticism toward ideologies and intellectual constructs, including his own emphasis on globalism. No one who cares about America and the world can afford not to read this book."--John Milton Cooper, author of Woodrow Wilson: A Biography

"For decades, Ninkovich has pioneered profound and sweeping works on the history of American foreign relations, most notably on the complex interaction of culture, writ large, on diplomacy. This book is no exception. Ninkovich explores how America rose to power, buffeted by the winds of globalization that shaped its culture, society, and ideology. His conceptualization moves beyond new and old approaches by placing the United States not just in the world, but in a global society. The scholarship is sound, the grasp on theory is breathtaking, and the method of weaving together external and internal transformative forces is original. This tour de force situates the author among the intellectual leaders of international relations history."--Thomas Zeiler "University of Colorado "

"We often now speak of 'America in the World' and Ninkovich has firmly put the world in the nation's history. His provocative book challenges us to move beyond the categories of American exceptionalism that historians have too often leaned upon to see globalization, and the ability of the United States to ride and guide its waves, as a decisive force in the nation's status in the world."--David Ekbladh "Tufts University "

Marvelous is the word to characterize this book. It is a marvel of insight, reflection, and analysis. Displaying the erudition, depth, and wit that readers have long since come to expect from him, Ninkovich has produced a strikingly original account of the United States s two centuries of experience in the world. He combines ascents to heights of philosophical discourse with consistent exercise in down-to-earth skepticism toward ideologies and intellectual constructs, including his own emphasis on globalism. No one who cares about America and the world can afford not to read this book. --John Milton Cooper, author of Woodrow Wilson: A Biography"

For decades, Ninkovich has pioneered profound and sweeping works on the history of American foreign relations, most notably on the complex interaction of culture, writ large, on diplomacy. This book is no exception. Ninkovich explores how America rose to power, buffeted by the winds of globalization that shaped its culture, society, and ideology. His conceptualization moves beyond new and old approaches by placing the United States not just in the world, but in a global society. The scholarship is sound, the grasp on theory is breathtaking, and the method of weaving together external and internal transformative forces is original. This tour de force situates the author among the intellectual leaders of international relations history. --Thomas Zeiler "University of Colorado ""

Frank Ninkovich has done it again. "The Global Republic" offers a wide-ranging and original account of America s place in the modern world. A pioneer in bringing culture to the study of American foreign relations, Ninkovich deftly weaves together culture, politics, and economics in this impressive and counterintuitive analysis of what did and didn't make the United States an exceptional world power. --David C. Engerman "Brandeis University ""

We often now speak of America in the World and Ninkovich has firmly put the world in the nation s history. His provocative book challenges us to move beyond the categories of American exceptionalism that historians have too often leaned upon to see globalization, and the ability of the United States to ride and guide its waves, as a decisive force in the nation s status in the world. --David Ekbladh "Tufts University ""

Frank Ninkovich has done it again. The Global Republic offers a wide-ranging and original account of America s place in the modern world. A pioneer in bringing culture to the study of American foreign relations, Ninkovich deftly weaves together culture, politics, and economics in this impressive and counterintuitive analysis of what did and didn't make the United States an exceptional world power. --David C. Engerman "Brandeis University ""

Frank Ninkovich delivers a bold and compelling argument in this brilliant book. Challenging a generation of scholarship on the history of U.S. foreign relations, he rejects American exceptionalism by stressing the power of globalization itself. The result is an innovative work that moves from American attempts to join international society at the turn of the century, through efforts to rescue it amid global war and Cold War conflict, into the unsettling dilemmas of our own era. For all seeking a fresh interpretation of America s engagement with the world, The Global Republic provides a striking new approach. --Michael Latham "Fordham University ""

About the Author:

Frank Ninkovich is professor emeritus of history at St. John's University, New York. He is the author of many books, including Modernity and Power and The Wilsonian Century, both also published by University of Chicago Press. His most recent book is Global Dawn: The Cultural Foundation of American Internationalism.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 022616473X
• ISBN 13: 9780226164731
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368