The American Era

by Robert J. Lieber

Book Overview

The American Era makes a provocative argument about America's world role. It establishes the rationale for a grand strategy that recognizes American preponderance as necessary and desirable for coping with the perils of the post-9/11 world. First, militant Islamic terrorism plus weapons of mass destruction pose a threat of an entirely new magnitude and require us to alter the way we think about the preemptive and even preventive use of force. Second,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521697387
• ISBN13: 9780521697385
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Intellectual integrity, deep understanding, clearly written: the ideal book to explain the American

Robert Lieber has successfully accomplished what dozens, if not hundreds, of other authors have sought to do: he has written a clear, concise, wise and clear-minded book that explains to the general reader why the United States of America, regardless of which party holds the White House or the Congress, will be the world's major guiding force for the century ahead. He brilliantly explains the arcane and often invisible workings of the various segments of the American government that are responsible for our foreign policy---and shows what the underlying purpose of American foreign policy is. His sharp mind, his crystal clear writing, his vast reading, his conversations around the world with policy makers, scholars and citizens of countries as diverse as those in China and Japan, Iraq and Israel and Germany, the U.K. and France---all add up to a readable, non-partisan book that lays out the challenges and the policies that have shaped and will continue to shape the American role in the 21st century. It takes a real expert to be able to write as beautifully as Lieber does: any fool can obfuscate; Lieber clarifies and sheds the light of his learning, his wisdom and his integrity as a thinker and as a scholar on every page of this splendid book. This should be required reading for (1) every citizen (2) every journalist worldwide (3) every blogger around the world and (4) every friend of yours who wants a clear understanding of the world of today. This is THE book to buy. Highest recommendation.

A great book by a great authority---yet accessible to all readers: full of wisdom, clarity, and unco

Robert Lieber, whose calm demeanor and great wisdom are familiar to viewers of PBS's THE NEWS HOUR WITH JIM LEHRER among other television programs, is at the very pinnacle of American authorities on foreign policy. In this book, he writes at the top of his form, free of academic jargon (despite his professorship of government and international affairs at Georgetown University), free of the partisan slant that encumbers so many books about America's role in the world, and full of wisdom and clarity. Because of his deep understanding and familiarity with all major political players on the world stage---from the United States to Western Europe to the Middle East to Asia---as well as his profound understanding of globalization and energy issues, Professor Lieber's THE AMERICAN ERA will educate the reader in everything he or she needs to know about the era in which we are all living. This book is a guide for the perplexed---and who among us isn't?---about how the United States is the world's best hope for leadership in the 21st century. In the clearest possible language, he takes up every major source of trouble and anxiety throughout the world, and elucidates the issues facing the West today, including the role of a diminished Europe, the issues raised by Iraq and the Middle East, America's role in Asia, and whether the U.S. is truly "hated" or secretly much appreciated by the nations and peoples of the world. He cuts through the headlines of the moment and shares with the reader decades of careful, insightful understanding of why the world is the way it is. Perhaps Robert Lieber's greatest gift to the reader--- in addition, of course, to his deep intelligence and his ability to summarize succinctly enormous amounts of reading and numbers of conversations with scholars and leaders around the world--- is something even more valuable: uncommon common sense. This is no ivory tower book by an ivory tower thinker: it is a vivid and thoughtful examination of why the United States plays such a critically important role in the 21st century---and why it will continue to do so, despite its many challenges. This is the perfect gift for anyone who wishes to understand the world today. In other words, it is the perfect gift for everyone. Kudos to a great teacher and a superb writer.

Hard to improve on the above comments

Written for an informed citizen, this soaring account ought to be tucked under your arm for awhile. Since 2001, this reader has been racing through Colin S Gray, Robert Haass, Keith Payne, Robert Kagan, Robert D Kaplan, and so on. If you need perspective, then this book cannot be praised enough. Superior.