Imperial America

Zusatztext “What distinguishes Imperial America by John Newhouse from so many other books on a similar theme is the elegance of the prose and the acuity of the argument. . . . There’s fresh material on political changes in Iran! the threat posed by North Korea! and Washington’s apparently boundless enthusiasm for Ariel Sharon’s vision of the Middle East.” – Los Angeles Times Book Review “This useful book is packed with compelling little details showing just how many wise and experienced people warned others at one time or another that Iraqi regime change was needless at best! dangerous at worst. . . . persuasive and thorough.”-- The Washington Post Book World “A well-timed and elegantly written reminder of the international dynamics that were in play long before Sept. 11! 2001! and will require diplomats’ attention long after American infantrymen leave Iraq. . . . [An] admirable study.” – The New York Times Book Review “Newhouse is worth listening to. . . . His experience in government on arms control and European issues has taught him much about how government works.” --The Economist Informationen zum Autor John Newhouse Klappentext In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, most of the world was ready to accept American leadership in a war against terrorism. Yet within a year the United States was estranged from its allies and enmeshed in a costly and increasingly deadly occupation of Iraq, while virtually ignoring potentially great threats from other parts of the world. In this measured but forcefully argued book, the distinguished foreign correspondent John Newhouse shows what went wrong. Timely, knowledgeable, and filled with vivid portraits of such figures as George W. Bush Tony Blair, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney, Imperial America is an indispensable book.CHAPTER 1 Opportunities Lost Huge opportunities were left in the wake of September 11, 2001. Most of the world was ready and willing to accept American leadership. George W. Bush probably had the largest field of maneuver available to any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt after December 7, 1941. The Bush admin- istration could have generated a cohesive political force of a kind that had not been seen since the Cold War. “We are all Americans,” proclaimed the page-one headline in Le Monde, the French newspaper, on September 12, a declaration of solidarity from an unlikely source. In seizing the moment, Bush’s people could and should have set about stabilizing the most serious sources of instability—the Middle East, Southwest Asia, and Northeast Asia. In the Middle East, they could have deployed their new leverage to push Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization into serious negotiations. Quite clearly, Israel’s Likud government expected exactly that, especially when on October 2 Bush endorsed the idea of a Palestinian state. Two days later, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned Washington not to “try to appease the Arabs at our expense . . . Israel will not be Czechoslovakia.” The administration backed off. Regime change on the West Bank became more attractive than taking on the Likud and its allies in Washington.1 In the Persian Gulf, the Iranian government cooperated by authorizing American search-and-rescue operations on its soil, the transit of humanitarian assistance, and help in the formation of the new Afghan government. In many Iranian cities, groups gathered to express sympathy for the victims of the attacks on the United States. Both hard-liners and reformers denounced the attacks. At that pivotal moment, Iran’s reformist government would have been politically free to extend its reach to America even further. But Washington’s harsh reaction, notably Bush’s “axis of evil” remark, damaged prospects for beginning to repair a bilateral relationship with Iran, a relationship of surpassing strategic importance. B...

About the author

John Newhouse

Product details

• Authors: John Newhouse
• Publisher: Vintage USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 14.09.2004
• EAN: 9780375713729
• ISBN: 978-0-375-71372-9
• No. of pages: 208
• Dimensions: 131 mm x 203 mm x 13 mm
• Subjects: Non-fiction book; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education