A Faustian Foreign Policy from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush
Dreams of Perfectibility

This book critiques U.S. foreign policy since 1920 by showing how moralistic diplomacy has increasingly assumed Faustian overtones.

Joan Hoff (Author)

9780521879057, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 December 2007

316 pages
24.1 x 16 x 2.1 cm, 0.566 kg

'Hoff has made a valuable contribution to our understanding of American foreign policy. This is a book that should be read widely, not only discussed among academics. … Hoff presents a 'more positive legacy' that could be achieved if the United States followed a different path. … many readers will be looking forward to her next effort.' The Review of Politics

A Faustian Foreign Policy from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush critiques U.S. foreign policy during this period by showing how moralistic diplomacy has increasingly assumed Faustian overtones, especially during the Cold War and following September 11. The ideological components of American diplomacy, originating in the late 18th and 19th centuries, evolved through the 20th century as U.S. economic and political power steadily increased. Seeing myth making as essential in any country's founding and a common determinant of its foreign policy, Professor Joan Hoff reveals how the basic belief in its exceptionalism has driven America's past and present attempts to remake the world in its own image. She expands her original concept of 'independent internationalism' as the modus operandi of U.S. diplomacy to reveal the many unethical Faustian deals the United States entered into since 1920 to obtain its current global supremacy.

Introduction: foundations of U.S. Faustian foreign policy
1. America forms and refines its diplomacy
2. The impact of World War I on U.S. diplomacy
3. Faustian aspects of prosperity, depression, and war
4. Faustian aspects of U.S. Cold War foreign policy
5. Cold War transformation of the American presidency
6. The United States adrift in the post-Cold War world
7. Flaunting U.S. Faustian foreign policy
Epilogue: the legacy of George W. Bush.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], General & world history [HBG]