A new and unique framework for understanding the history of the foreign policy of the United States. The United States is now nearly 250 years old. It arose from humble beginnings, as a strip of mostly agrarian and sparsely populated English colonies on the northeastern edge of the New World, far removed from the centers of power in Europe. Today, it is the world's most powerful country, with its largest economy and most powerful military. How did America achieve this status? In The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy, Michael Mandelbaum offers a new framework for understanding the evolution of the foreign policy of the United States. He divides that evolution into four distinct periods, with each defined by the consistent increase in American power relative to other countries. His history of the four periods features engaging accounts of the major events and important personalities in the foreign policy of each era. Throughout, Mandelbaum highlights fundamental continuities in the goals of American foreign policy and in the way that policy was adopted and implemented. He portrays the United States, in its ascent, first as a weak power, from 1765 to 1865, then as a great power between 1865 and 1945, next as a superpower in the years 1945 to 1990, and finally as the world's sole hyperpower, from 1990 to 2015. He also presents three features of American foreign policy that are found in every era: first, the goal of disseminating the political ideas Americans have embraced from the first; second, the use of economic instruments in pursuit of the country's foreign policy goals; and third, a process for formulating policy and implementing decisions shaped by considerable popular influence. American foreign policy, as he puts it, has been unusually ideological, unusually economic, and unusually democratic. A sweeping and elegantly written history, The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy will reshape our understanding of how the United States became the most powerful nation the world has ever seen.

About the Author
Michael Mandelbaum is the Christian A. Herter Professor Emeritus of American Foreign Policy at The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is the author of sixteen previous books, including Mission Failure (Oxford, 2016) The Rise and Fall of Peace on Earth (Oxford, 2019), and, with Thomas L. Friedman, That Used to Be Us (2011).

Reviews
Mandelbaum has written a masterful interpretation of the twists and turns of U.S. foreign policy, offering keen insights into U.S. politics and the nature of global affairs along the way. The book will take its place alongside other seminal studies of the history of U.S. statecraft. * Charles A. Kupchan, Council on Foreign Relations, Georgetown University, Foreign Policy *
Where Mandelbaum breaks new ground is when he discusses and assesses the serial failures of Presidents Clinton through Obama in post-Cold War geopolitics. This alone is worth the price of the book. * Francis P. Sempa, New York Journal of Books *
Mandelbaum [...] has written a book so lucid on a subject so sprawling that it could be read with profit by someone only mildly curious about America's foreign entanglements and yet also be a source of inspiration to anyone steeped in the arcana of world affairs. * Tunku Varadarajan, Stanford University, Wall Street Journal *
The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy provides a masterly conceptual framework for coming to grips with past U.S. foreign policy. * Brian Stewart, Commentary, Commentary *
Michael Mandelbaum's new book is a masterpiece. I am often asked what is the best single book to read to understand the grand sweep and history of American foreign policy, and I will now say that it is this book. Mandelbaum uniquely combines the depth and knowledge of the best historians and the breadth and imagination of the best political scientists. His organizing paradigm of the great ascent of America through its four successive ages of increasing power-coming at the end of that ascent and at the beginning of a new age of diminished power-should be fundamental and invaluable to future scholars, policy analysts, and concerned citizens. * James Kurth, Claude Smith Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Swarthmore College *
The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy is a masterwork-a defining contribution to the most critical international debate of our time. It is essential for anyone concerned about world affairs. Mandelbaum's analysis contains unique perspectives and new insights for understanding America's role in today's turbulent era. A profound searchlight on the past and a guidepost for the future, it combines rare scholarship with lucid relevance. Vital for both general readers and professionals. * Ralph Buultjens, Former Nehru Professor, University of Cambridge (UK); New York University *
The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy is a sweeping account of America's place in the world. Elegantly written, it is an invaluable addition to the scholarship on the United States. * Susan Eisenhower, author of How Ike Led, and President of the Eisenhower Group, Inc. *
In this accessible and readable account of the broad sweep of US foreign policy, Mandelbaum explores a paradoxical question: why, as American power has increased over the centuries, has the United States ultimately become less able to achieve its foreign policy goals? Sure to provoke spirited debate, his answers to this critical question will interest specialists and the general reader alike. * Mary Elise Sarotte, author of Not One Inch *
In this imaginative book, Michael Mandelbaum brings his formidable energy and talents to bear on the history of American foreign policy. An incisive volume well worth reading and pondering. * David Hendrickson, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Colorado College, and author of Republic in Peril *
Mandelbaum has written probably the best and the most comprehensive study ever published on American foreign policy. [...] a truly superb synthesis of both theory and history... With this magisterial volume, Mandelbaum's greatest contribution is the placement of many dramatic and significant historical and contemporary events within a theoretical and historical context. [...] The systematic analysis of such a long period in the history of American foreign policy yields new and compelling perspectives on events, peoples, and processes. * Eytan Gilboa, Professor of International Relations and Communications, Bar-Ilan University *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197621790
Author Michael Mandelbaum
Format Hardback
Page Count 624
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 160mm * 241mm * 44mm