The Superpower Myth
The Use and Misuse of American Might
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"For eight years, Nancy Soderberg served with distinction and creativity at the highest levels of American government. She is uniquely positioned to explain how the world works in this new era-and when it's in danger of breaking down."
—Dr. Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State
Are there limits to American power? The neoconservative brain trust behind the Bush administration's foreign policy doesn't seem to recognize any. For the first time, we have people in power who believe that as the world's reigning superpower, America can do what it wants, when it wants, without regard to allies, costs, or results. But as events in Iraq are proving, America may be powerful, but it is not all-powerful.
In practice, no country could ever be strong enough to solve problems like Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq through purely military means. In the future, America's power will constantly be called up to help failed and failing states, and it is becoming clear that the complex mess of Somalia has replaced the proxy war of Vietnam as the model for what future military conflicts will look like: a failed state, a power vacuum, armed factions, and enough chaos to panic an entire region. Using vivid examples from her years in the White House and at the United Nations, Nancy Soderberg demonstrates why military force is not always effective, why allies and consensus-building are crucial, and how the current administration's faulty world view has adversely affected policies toward Israel, Iraq, North Korea, Haiti, Africa, and Al-Qaeda. Powerful, provocative, and persuasive, this timely book demonstrates that the future of America's security depends on overcoming the superpower myth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and Clinton foreign policy adviser, Soderberg offers this cogent study of the unilateralism that she believes has taken over American foreign policy and military intervention. The argument that ignoring U.S. allies (and even neutrals) interferes with the administration's own stated goals of peace and increased democracy is familiar, but Soderberg's deep knowledge of the mechanics of diplomacy, as well as of the players and issues, allows her to assess recent moves in depth: the book carries more than 1,150 footnotes. Along the way, we get a defense of Clinton's actions toward bin Laden (and other Clintonian policies) and various swipes at neoconservatives and neoconservative doctrine). Some readers will feel that Soderberg's rehashing of interventions in Somalia and the Balkans do not argue for multilateralism as a guarantee of improved politicomilitary outcomes. And the negative views of the "New Europe" on the aspirations of the Franco-German-Russian axis are not much taken into account though everything from the Oslo accords to troubles in Haiti is. But as a file from the opposition on the current administration's tactics, this is a satisfying document.
