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America's Crisis of Legitimacy

By Robert Kagan
March/April 2004
Article Summary and Author Biography

Europeans accuse the United States of acting like a bully: aggressive, self-interested, and disrespectful of rules. That charge is hypocritical. Still, it must be taken seriously, for as a liberal democracy with a global vision, the United States needs the approval of other nations that share its ideals. The American project is in Europe's interest, too--whether the Europeans understand that or not.

Robert Kagan is Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This essay is adapted from the afterword of the paperback edition of Of Paradise and Power.

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