America's Imperial Burden

by Ernest W. Lefever

On the cusp of a new millennium, are we Americans prepared to accept the imperial burden that history has trust upon us? Will America be the leading force for peace and freedom in the next century like it was in the present one? Are we suffering from "imperial overstretch" or are we too divided or morally exhausted to be Lincoln's "last best hope of earth"? Ernest Lefever addresses these provocative questions with vigor and shrewd sense of history. His point of reference is the American idea embodied in the Founders and rooted in the Judeo-Christian moral tradition. Drawing on political thinkers from Aristotle and Thucydides to Edmund Burke and Tocqueville, he describes himself as a "humane realist."After a brief review of American's encounter with the external world--from Manifest Destiny to Pearl Harbor--Lefever focuses on World War II, the Cold War, The Persian Gulf crisis, and beyond. Attentive to the issues of tyranny and freedom, he reviews the foreign polices of presidents--from Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. He also comments on their critics, especially academics and religious leaders.Looking back, the author argues that writ large, America, despite its internal flaws and external blunders, has borne its imperial burden with a singular sense of responsibility. America has not sought to dominate other peoples and has treated its former adversaries with compassion.As the preeminent world power, says Lefever, America has an inescapable responsibility. He takes on assorted isolationists, "declinists," multilateralists, and neo-Wilsonian interventionists, all of whom, in his view, fail to recognize this responsibility.Can we accept our heavy burden with courage and without hubris? Is America living in the last days of Rome or the twilight of the British Empire?Lefever is guardedly hopeful. If we return to our roots and replicate our performance since Pearl Harbor, America stands a good chance of remaining the chief guardian of liberty and decency well into the twenty-first century.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813399998
• ISBN13: 9780813399997
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

America's Imperial Burden - Is the Past Prologue?

Well written and researched. An excellent treatise of 20th century American intervention in foreign affairs throughout the world. Neither slanted towards the left or right, the material is well balanced from a political standpoint.This reader was left with a positive, hopefull perception of the future of America as it relates to world political affairs, war, military police actions, and diplomacy.