The Godfather Doctrine: A Foreign Policy Parable - Hardcover

Hulsman, John C.; Mitchell, Wess; Mitchell, A. Wess

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691141479 ISBN 13: 9780691141473

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2009

Synopsis

The Godfather Doctrine draws clear and essential lessons from perhaps the greatest Hollywood movie ever made to illustrate America's changing geopolitical place in the world and how our country can best meet the momentous strategic challenges it faces. In the movie The Godfather, Don Corleone, head of New York's most powerful organized-crime family, is shockingly gunned down in broad daylight, leaving his sons Sonny and Michael, along with his adopted son, consigliere Tom Hagen, to chart a new course for the family. In The Godfather Doctrine, John Hulsman and Wess Mitchell show how the aging and wounded don is emblematic of cold-war American power on the decline in a new world where our enemies play by unfamiliar rules, and how the don's heirs uncannily exemplify the three leading schools of American foreign policy today. Tom, the left-of-center liberal institutionalist, thinks the old rules still apply and that negotiation is the answer. Sonny is the Bush-era neocon who shoots first and asks questions later, proving an easy target for his enemies. Only Michael, the realist, has a sure feel for the changing scene, recognizing the need for flexible combinations of soft and hard power to keep the family strong and maintain its influence and security in a dangerous and rapidly changing world. Based on Hulsman and Mitchell's groundbreaking and widely debated article, "Pax Corleone," The Godfather Doctrine explains for everyone why Francis Ford Coppola's epic story about a Mafia dynasty holds key insights for ensuring America's survival in the twenty-first century.

About this title

About the Author

John C. Hulsman is the Alfred von Oppenheim Scholar in Residence at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. He is the coauthor, with Anatol Lieven, of "Ethical Realism". A. Wess Mitchell is cofounder and director of research at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington, D.C.

From the Back Cover

"When it comes to American statecraft, the imperative of the moment is to think anew. In that regard, John Hulsman and Wess Mitchell perform a dual service. They persuasively demonstrate just how tired the existing foreign policy debate has become. And their Godfather Doctrine offers an alternative that is as provocative as it is entertaining."--Andrew J. Bacevich, author of The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism

"[B]rilliant . . . full of insight and humor . . . about the debate between liberal institutionalists, neocons, and realists in foreign policy. And it's all about The Godfather, one of the greatest political movies of all time."--Andrew Sullivan, Atlantic Online

"A brilliant, compelling analysis. The core message of this book is that America's power is in decline. I agree with the authors that many if not most of the foreign-policy elite in Washington have not really accepted this fact. The Godfather Doctrine causes us to think about America's dwindling superpower status in an approachable and upbeat way, and enables us to consider the different options for addressing it."--Mitchell A. Orenstein, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

"This book makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate about U.S. foreign policy post-Bush. The use of the Godfather analogy is very effective--it works as an entertaining and accessible vehicle for laying out important doctrinal differences and the potential consequences of our foreign-policy choices."--Jeffrey J. Anderson, Georgetown University

From the Inside Flap

"When it comes to American statecraft, the imperative of the moment is to think anew. In that regard, John Hulsman and Wess Mitchell perform a dual service. They persuasively demonstrate just how tired the existing foreign policy debate has become. And theirGodfather Doctrine offers an alternative that is as provocative as it is entertaining."--Andrew J. Bacevich, author ofThe Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism

"[B]rilliant . . . full of insight and humor . . . about the debate between liberal institutionalists, neocons, and realists in foreign policy. And it's all aboutThe Godfather, one of the greatest political movies of all time."--Andrew Sullivan,Atlantic Online

"A brilliant, compelling analysis. The core message of this book is that America's power is in decline. I agree with the authors that many if not most of the foreign-policy elite in Washington have not really accepted this fact.The Godfather Doctrine causes us to think about America's dwindling superpower status in an approachable and upbeat way, and enables us to consider the different options for addressing it."--Mitchell A. Orenstein, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

"This book makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate about U.S. foreign policy post-Bush. The use of theGodfather analogy is very effective--it works as an entertaining and accessible vehicle for laying out important doctrinal differences and the potential consequences of our foreign-policy choices."--Jeffrey J. Anderson, Georgetown University

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691141479
• ISBN 13: 9780691141473
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 96