The Case for Goliath: How America Acts as the World's Government in the Twenty-First Century

by Michael Mandelbaum

Book Overview

How does the United States use its enormous power in the world? In The Case for Goliath, Michael Mandelbaum offers a surprising answer: The United States furnishes to other countries the services that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586483609
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 1.3" x 0.2"

Customer Reviews

A Clear-eyed, Balanced, Splendidly-written Book of Insight

Everyone passionately interested in the state of the international system in the 21st century should rush to buy and read this work of splendid, non-partisan, non-jingoistic insight. Writing cooly and clearly, the author sets forth a surprising and uncannily perceptive view of the American role in the world. Unlike British and French imperial history, he shows that the United States has never---and still does not---seek to exercise direct political control over other countries, but rather has set in place a vast network of beneficial organziations, from NATO to the International Monetary Fund to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and the United Nations itself. These are among the legacies of a nation that may soon turn inward, in order to fund the vast social security entitlements that will come due as the post-World War II baby boomers require medical and economic aid from their government. This book is wise, profound and beautifully written. I teach English literature, and few books I have encountered are as well written. Bravo to its sage, calm and insightful message. You will be a wiser person for having read this significant book.

An Eloquent, Readable Understanding of America in the 21st Century

No one writing today has the ability to write as clearly, concisely and readably about where the United States is heading in the 21st century. He looks at the big picture and, with lots of specific examples, explains everything from the coming crisis of Medicare to how America is perceived---and misperceived---all over the world. No one can read everything on these complex, important subjects, so do yourseslf the favor of reading this one brilliant, readable book. You can have no better guide than this great writer and thinker.

The Einstein of Geopolitics

Professor Mandelbaum has the intellectual firepower and insight to vizualize and articulate geopolitical realities that heretofore have not been as accurately perceived or cogently explained. When, in this unique and outstanding work, he analyzes the facts and history of the world situation he is able to discerrn and describe why nation states have taken actions that their own leaders may not fully comprehend. Michael Mandelbaum is the foreign policy equivalent of combining a geopolitical Einstein with the Freud of nation states. This highly readable and consistently fascinating foreign policy masterpiece is like reading Hamlet; there are many levels to consider and the work is enjoyable for the reader in a multidimensional manner. The more one studies and considers Professor Mandelbaum's analysis, the more enlightened one becomes. Anyone interested in the current global role of the United States in our world will be fascinated by the expert analysis of Professor Mandelbaum. Everyone who wonders about the future geopolitical situation must seriously study this highly valuable and lucid work.

Underrated Assets Badly in Need of Recognition and Reappraisal

Michael Mandelbaum demonstrates convincingly that the world needs governance and the U.S. is the only country which has been able and willing to assume this role. Unlike the great powers and even the superpowers of the past, the 21st century U.S. has no international peer for this purpose following the disintegration of the former Soviet Union (pp. xxi, 4, 17, 196-218, 225). Mandelbaum shows clearly that many people erroneously perceive the U.S. as an empire. Subordination, coercion, and ethnic, national, religious, or racial difference - or some combination of these differences - between the ruled and rulers are the hallmarks of an empire (pp. 1-6). Growing resistance of the subjects of imperial rule resulting from nationalism made it prohibitive and ultimately doomed its existence (pp. 10, 27-28, 77-78). The U.S. provides services, which are public goods, to the society of sovereign states while furthering its interests around the globe (pp. 7-9). These services found their origin in the emergency measures that the U.S. took in the aftermath of WWII to strengthen Western Europe and key allies in East Asia economically, military, and politically, and to deter and contain the former Soviet Union (p. 18). The U.S. was not keen on repeating mistakes such as disastrous economic protectionism and appeasement of belligerent dictators in the 1930s (pp. 17-18, 31-32, 69, 129-34, 187-88, 224). The U.S. provides the following global services: 1) Reassurance/Deterrence: The American military presence in Europe reassures Europeans that they do not have to spend more on defense than they do for their protection against the possibility of an aggressive neighbor (pp. 30-41). Reassurance took over from deterrence at the end of the Cold War following the disintegration of the communist block in Central and Eastern Europe (p. 35). In contrast, defense dominance and weapon system transparency have not the same supremacy in East Asia (pp. 37-39). Most ominously, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, especially in the hands of unaccountable rogue states and terrorists, increases the costs of American world's government (pp. 41-64, 101-02, 159, 189-92, 214, 220-22). 2) Cross-border Trade: The global projection of American military forces also helps enforce the international economic order. The U.S. is the only country with a navy powerful enough to provide a secure political framework for international economic activity (pp. 88-115, 127-28, 193-94). Close to 95% of trade that crosses international borders is waterborne, as is 99.5% of the weight of all transcontinental trade as Arthur Herman reminds us in his excellent book "To Rule the Waves." 3) Money: Despite the recent arrival of the euro, the world continues to use the U.S. dollar as a vehicle for transactions and as a reserve (pp. 119-20). Although the U.S. derives economic advantages upon which it can pay its foreign bills in the currency that it itself prints, the world is still bett

mandelbaum delivers again--don't miss this one

You'd have to look hard to find a more incisive and eloquent expert on American foreign policy than Michael Mandelbaum. The Case for Goliath is perhaps his finest book. In it, Mandelbaum takes issue with the America-bashing that has become a staple of news commentary and scholarly analyses, showing that the United States plays a beneficial and irreplaceable role in the world--one that it has never sought but is destined to assume. Yet Mandelbaum is no Pollyana: he is clear-eyed and explicit about the burdens and challenges that come with this responsibility. If you're going to buy one book on international politics in 2006, this should be the one.