Synopses & Reviews
For decades the United States has been the most dominant player on the worlds stage. The countrys economic authority, its globally forceful foreign policy, and its leading position in international institutions tend to be seen as the result of a long-standing, deliberate drive to become a major global force. Furthermore, it has become widely accepted that American exceptionalismthe belief that America is a country like no other in historyhas been at the root of many of the countrys political, military, and global moves. Frank Ninkovich disagrees.
One of the preeminent intellectual historians of our time, Ninkovich delivers here his most ambitious and sweeping book to date. He argues that historically the United States has been driven not by a belief in its destiny or its special character but rather by a need to survive the forces of globalization. He builds the powerful case that American foreign policy has long been based on and entangled in questions of global engagement, while also showing that globalization itself has always been distinct fromand sometimes in direct conflict withwhat we call international society.
In the second half of the twentieth century, the United States unexpectedly stumbled into the role of global policeman and was forced to find ways to resolve international conflicts that did not entail nuclear warfare. The United States's decisions were based less in notions of exceptionalism and more in a need to preserve and expand a flourishing global society that had become essential to the American way of life.
Sure to be controversial, The Global Republic compellingly and provocatively counters some of the deepest and most common misconceptions about Americas history and its place in the world.
Review
“For decades, Ninkovich has pioneered profound and sweeping works on the history of American foreign relations, most notably on the complex interaction of culture, writ large, on diplomacy. This book is no exception. Ninkovich explores how America rose to power, buffeted by the winds of globalization that shaped its culture, society, and ideology. His conceptualization moves beyond new and old approaches by placing the United States not just in the world, but in a global society. The scholarship is sound, the grasp on theory is breathtaking, and the method of weaving together external and internal transformative forces is original. This tour de force situates the author among the intellectual leaders of international relations history.”
Review
“‘Marvelous is the word to characterize this book. It is a marvel of insight, reflection, and analysis. Displaying the erudition, depth, and wit that readers have long since come to expect from him, Ninkovich has produced a strikingly original account of the United Statess two centuries of experience in the world. He combines ascents to heights of philosophical discourse with consistent exercise in down-to-earth skepticism toward ideologies and intellectual constructs, including his own emphasis on globalism. No one who cares about America and the world can afford not to read this book.”
Review
“Frank Ninkovich has done it again. The Global Republic offers a wide-ranging and original account of Americas place in the modern world. A pioneer in bringing culture to the study of American foreign relations, Ninkovich deftly weaves together culture, politics, and economics in this impressive and counterintuitive analysis of what did—and didn't—make the United States an exceptional world power.”
Review
“We often now speak of ‘America in the World and Ninkovich has firmly put the world in the nations history. His provocative book challenges us to move beyond the categories of American exceptionalism that historians have too often leaned upon to see globalization, and the ability of the United States to ride and guide its waves, as a decisive force in the nations status in the world.”
Review
“Frank Ninkovich delivers a bold and compelling argument in this brilliant book. Challenging a generation of scholarship on the history of U.S. foreign relations, he rejects American exceptionalism by stressing the power of globalization itself. The result is an innovative work that moves from American attempts to join international society at the turn of the century, through efforts to rescue it amid global war and Cold War conflict, into the unsettling dilemmas of our own era. For all seeking a fresh interpretation of America’s engagement with the world, The Global Republic provides a striking new approach.”
Review
"Frank Ninkovichs The Global Republic . . . illuminates recent events and forecasts trajectories without pandering or prejudice. It eschews cheap shots for subtle insights. It is passionate and dispassionate. It is great history."
Review
“[Ninkovich] asserts that Americas climb as a world power was not driven from its conception by an abiding missionary quest. Rather, the author says it was an inadvertent consequence of responding and adapting to the pressures of fast-moving globalization in the 19th and 20th centuries in an effort to keep alive the American dream and way of life. . . . Ninkovichs interpretation explaining Americas ascension to world dominance will intrigue readers of the history of American foreign policy.”
Synopsis
Frank Ninkovichs revisionist history of Americas relation to the world debunks American exceptionalism once and for all by showing how Americas role in the world has been driven less by its ideals than by its fears. What makes the United States special in the global arena is not its economic dominance, its aggressive foreign policy, or its influence over international institutions. Rather, the United States has become distinctive through its deep-seated and long-standing engagement with the forces of globalizationas well as the threats that they represent or embody. The United States has been exceptionally aware of globalizing forces because it has come to have the most to lose on their account. This magisterial overview of the real history of Americas role in the world will demystify, clarify, and -- depending on your politics -- enrage.
About the Author
Frank Ninkovich is professor emeritus of history at St. Johns University, New York. He is the author of many books, including Modernity and Power and The Wilsonian Century, both also published by University of Chicago Press.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter One: Provincial Prelude
Chapter Two: Global Society and the Challenge to Exceptionalism
Chapter Three: Gaining Entrée: The United States Joins the Club
Chapter Four: The Wilsonian Anomaly; or, The Three Faces of Wilsonianism
Chapter Five: Restarting Global Society in the 1920s
Chapter Six: The War for International Society: The Coming of World War II
Chapter Seven: Economics versus Politics in the Reinvention of International Society
Chapter Eight: Ideology and Culture as Ingredients of the Cold War
Chapter Nine: Americanization, Globalization, and the End of the Cold War
Chapter Ten: Global Aftermath
Concluding Thoughts
Appendix: Historians and Exceptionalism
Notes
Index