National Security and Core Values in American History

Drawing upon themes from the nation's past, William O. Walker III presents a new interpretation of the history of American exceptionalism.

William O. Walker III (Author)

9780521740104, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 6 April 2009

366 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.48 kg

'Drawing from his masterful big picture of U.S. global expansionism over 400 years, and especially the past century, Walker clearly explains how Americans' unexamined belief that their own supposed exceptionalism (in both their economics and politics) propelled that expansionism – which climaxed with the tragic failures in the post-1960s era, particularly those of the George W. Bush administration.' Walter LaFeber, Cornell University

There is no book quite like National Security and Core Values in American History. Drawing upon themes from the whole of the nation's past, William O. Walker III presents a new interpretation of the history of American exceptionalism, that is, of the basic values and liberties that have given the United States its very identity. He argues that a political economy of expansion and the quest for security led American leaders after 1890 to equate prosperity and safety with global engagement. In so doing, they developed and clung to what Walker calls the 'security ethos.' Expressed in successive grand strategies – Wilsonian internationalism, global containment, and strategic globalism – the security ethos ultimately damaged the values citizens cherish most and impaired popular participation in public affairs. Most important, it led to the abuse of executive authority after September 11, 2001, by the administration of President George W. Bush.

Part I. The Origins of the Security Ethos, 1688–1919: 1. Commerce, expansion, and republican virtue
2. The first national security state
Part II. Internationalism and Containment, 1919–1973: 3. The postwar era and American values
4. The construction of global containment
5. Civic virtue in Richard Nixon's America
Part III. The Age of Strategic Globalism, 1973–2001: 6. Core values and strategic globalism through 1988
7. The false promise of a new world order
8. Globalization and militarism
Part IV. The Bush Doctrine: 9. The war on terror and core values
Conclusion: The security ethos and civic virtue.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], History of the Americas [HBJK]