America and the World: Debating the New Shape of International Politics

Summary -- 

The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union ushered in a new era of international politics, one that people have been trying to get a handle on ever since. This collection is a record of the best attempts at that task over the last dozen years. It brings together many powerful and well-stocked minds, all trying to figure out what forces are driving world events and how Americans should respond. What is more important, ideology, culture, or power? What lies ahead, order or chaos? What is democracy? How strong is the United States, and for what purposes should it use its strength? How vulnerable is it, and what must it do for protection? The authors gathered here address these and many other questions, often directly engaging each others' arguments and educating the rest of us in the process. Originally published in Foreign Affairs and eight other leading journals and magazines, the articles constitute an essential reading list for anyone interested in contemporary international relations.

For essays that appeared originally in Foreign Affairs, click on the essasy title for a summary of the argument and 500-word preview of the full text.

Introduction
Gideon Rose, Managing Editor of Foreign Affairs

The End of History?
Francis Fukuyama, The National Interest , Summer 1989

No Exit: The Errors of Endism
Samuel P. Huntington, The National Interest , Fall 1989

The Clash of Civilizations?
Samuel P. Huntington, Foreign Affairs , Summer 1993

The Summoning
Fouad Ajami, Foreign Affairs , September/October 1993

The Coming Anarchy
Robert D. Kaplan, The Atlantic Monthly , February 1994

The Myth of Post-Cold War Chaos
G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs , May/June 1996

The Rise of Illiberal Democracy
Fareed Zakaria Foreign Affairs , November/December 1997

Liberalism and Democracy
Marc Plattner, Foreign Affairs , March/April 1998

Sense and Nonsense in the Globalization Debate
Dani Rodrik, Foreign Policy , Summer 1997

Spreading the Wealth
David Dollar and Aart Kraay, Foreign Affairs , January/February 2002

Life After Pax Americana
Charles A. Kupchan, World Policy Journal , July/August 2001

Power and Weakness
Robert Kagan, Policy Review , June/July 2002

American Primacy in Perspective
Stephen G. Brooks & William C. Wohlforth, Foreign Affairs , July/August 2002

Why Do They Hate Us
Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek , October 15, 2001

Somebody Else's Civil War
Michael Scott Doran, Foreign Affairs , January/February 2002

Islam, Terror and Democracy
Boroumand and Boroumand, Journal of Democracy , April 2002

Beyond bin Laden: Reshaping U.S. Foreign Policy
Stephen M. Walt, International Security , Winter 2001/02

The New Threat of Mass Destruction
Richard K. Betts, Foreign Affairs , January/February 1998

West Point Commencement Speech
George W. Bush

America's Imperial Ambition
G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs , September/October 2002