This timely study analyses the ways in which competing ideologies and cultural narratives have influenced the Obama administration's decision-making on Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, situating these decisions within the broader history of American foreign policy.

This volume discusses the presidential foreign policies of the post–Cold War era, beginning with George H. W. Bush and ending with the first 17 months of Donald Trump’s presidency. During this period, the United States emerged from the Cold War as the world’s most powerful nation. Nevertheless, the presidents of this era faced a host of problems that tested their ability to successfully blend realism and idealism. Some were more successful than others.

Offers essential perspectives on the Cold War and post-9/11 eras and explores the troubling implications of the American tendency to fight wars without end. “Featuring lucid and penetrating essays by a stellar roster of scholars, the volume provides deep insights into one of the grand puzzles of the age: why the U.S. has so often failed to exit wars on its terms.”— Fredrik Logevall, Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Harvard University Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan: Taken together, these conflicts are the key to understanding more than a half century of American military history. In addition, they have shaped, in profound ways, the culture and politics of the United States—as well as the nations in which they have been fought. This volume brings together international experts on American history and foreign affairs to assess the cumulative impact of the United States’ often halting and conflicted attempts to end wars. From the introduction: The refusal to engage in historical thinking, that form of reflection deeply immersed in the US experience of war and intervention, means that this cultural amnesia is related to a strategic incoherence and, in these wars, the United States has failed in its strategic objectives because it did not define, precisely, what they were. If Vietnam was the tragedy, Iraq and Afghanistan were repeated failures. The objectives and the national interests were elusive beyond issues of credibility, identity, and revenge; the end point was undefined because it was not clear what the point was. What did the United States want from these wars? What did it want to leave behind?

While domestic issues loom large in voters' minds during American presidential elections, matters of foreign policy have consistently shaped candidates and their campaigns. From the start of World War II through the collapse of the Soviet Union, presidential hopefuls needed to be perceived as credible global leaders in order to win elections—regardless of the situation at home—and voter behavior depended heavily on whether the nation was at war or peace. Yet there is little written about the importance of foreign policy in US presidential elections or the impact of electoral issues on the formation of foreign policy. In US Presidential Elections and Foreign Policy, a team of international scholars examines how the relationship between foreign policy and electoral politics evolved through the latter half of the twentieth century. Covering all presidential elections from 1940 to 1992—from debates over American entry into World War II to the aftermath of the Cold War—the contributors correct the conventional wisdom that domestic issues and the economy are always definitive. Together they demonstrate that, while international concerns were more important in some campaigns than others, foreign policy always matters and is often decisive. This illuminating commentary fills a significant gap in the literature on presidential and electoral politics, emphasizing that candidates' positions on global issues have a palpable impact on American foreign policy.

As American interests assumed global proportions after 1945, policy makers were faced with the challenge of prioritizing various regions and determining the extent to which the United States was prepared to defend and support them. Superpowers and developing nations soon became inextricably linked and decolonizing states such as Vietnam, India, and Egypt assumed a central role in the ideological struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. As the twentieth century came to an end, many of the challenges of the Cold War became even more complex as the Soviet Union collapsed and new threats arose. Featuring original essays by leading scholars, Foreign Policy at the Periphery examines relationships among new nations and the United States from the end of the Second World War through the global war on terror. Rather than reassessing familiar flashpoints of US foreign policy, the contributors explore neglected but significant developments such as the efforts of evangelical missionaries in the Congo, the 1958 stabilization agreement with Argentina, Henry Kissinger's policies toward Latin America during the 1970s, and the financing of terrorism in Libya via petrodollars. Blending new, internationalist approaches to diplomatic history with newly released archival materials, Foreign Policy at the Periphery brings together diverse strands of scholarship to address compelling issues in modern world history.

Community development has lately gained much prominence, but the emphasis has remained on the economic and social welfare of communities, rather than the environment. By focusing on 'sustainable' development in Kenya, this study shows the importance of integrating ecological concerns in socio-economic and cultural development processes.

Donald J. Trump's presidency has delivered a seismic shock to the American political system, its public sphere, and to our political culture worldwide.

This book examines Winston Churchill’s role in the creation and development of the Anglo–American special relationship. Drawing together world leading and emergent scholars, this volume offers a critical celebration of Churchill’s contribution to establishing the Anglo–American special relationship. Marking the seventieth anniversary of Churchill’s pronouncement in 1946 of that special relationship in his famous Iron Curtain speech, the book provides new insights into old debates by drawing upon approaches and disciplines that have hitherto been marginalised or neglected. The book foregrounds agency, culture, values, ideas and the construction and representation of special Anglo–American relations, past and present. The volume covers two main themes. Firstly, it identifies key influences upon Churchill as he developed his political career, especially processes and patterns of Anglo–American convergence prior to and during World War Two. Second, it provides insights into how Churchill sought to promote a post-war Anglo–American special relationship, how he discursively constructed it and how he has remained central to that narrative to the present day. From this analysis emerges new understanding of the raw material from which Churchill conjured special UK–US relations and of how his conceptualisation of that special relationship has been shaped and re-shaped in the decades after 1946. This book will be of much interest to students of Anglo–American relations, Cold War Studies, foreign policy, international history and IR in general.

The nation-state is seen by many today as the key unit of analysis for international organization and cooperation in the modern age, but not all groups that want to make up and control their own nation-state are able to do so: historical factors, domestic politics, and international relations often prevent them from obtaining sovereign power. Groups that have tried to create a nation-state and failed to do so can be referred to as being "frustrated." Frustrated Nationalism offers case studies by an international collection of scholars who describe the efforts of many of those groups to achieve sovereign status, or at least to obtain greater control over the policies that affect them, their strategies, and their outcomes.

Now in its 152nd edition, The Statesman's Yearbook continues to be the reference work of choice for accurate and reliable information on every country in the world. Covering political, economic, social and cultural aspects, the Yearbook is also available online for subscribing institutions: www.statesmansyearbook.com .