Isolationism Reconfigured : : American Foreign Policy for a New Century / / Eric Nordlinger.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Archive 1927-1999
• VerfasserIn: Nordlinger, Eric,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [1996]; ©1996
• Year of Publication: 1996
• Edition: Course Book
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (352 p.) :; 2 line illus.

This iconoclastic and fundamental work, Eric Nordlinger's last, advocates a new variant of isolationism, a "national strategy" confining U.S. military actions largely to North America and to neighboring sea-and air- lanes but encouraging international activism and engagement in nonsecurity realms. In Nordlinger's view, disengaging from security commitments on distant shores would liberate the United States to use its resources and decision-making powers to act more effectively abroad in matters of economic policy and human rights. A national strategy would then become a powerful new method of encouraging international ideals of democracy, and isolationism would be freed of its previous associations with appeasement, weakness, economic protectionism, and self-serving nationalism. Nordlinger draws on the recent historical record to show that a national strategy would have lessened the perils of earlier decades, including those of the Cold War. While real dangers did exist during this period, engaged strategies, such as containment, too often exacerbated them. The United States could have effectively and far less expensively helped to deter Communist aggression in Europe and Asia by encouraging other nations to make larger investments in their own protection. Marshaling impressive empirical evidence in defense of a controversial position, this final work by a leading scholar of international affairs is essential reading for scholars, practitioners, and lay readers alike.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Foreword and Acknowledgments -- CHAPTER I. Introduction -- PART ONE: America's Security -- Chapter II. A NATIONAL STRATEGY: CONTEMPORARY CONTOURS AND THE HISTORICAL RECORD -- Chapter III. AMERICA'S STRATEGIC IMMUNITY -- Chapter IV. TAILORING POLICIES TO INTENTIONS: PROBLEMATICS AND HAZARDS -- Chapter V. MAXIMIZING DETERRENCE, DEFENSE, AND ECONOMIC SECURITY -- Chapter VI. MAXIMIZING CONCILIATION: REASSURING THE CHALLENGER -- Chapter VII. MINIMIZING STRATEGIC MISMANAGEMENT: AVOIDING INADVERTENT SECURITY DEFLATIONS -- PART TWO: Beyond the Security Realm -- Chapter VIII. AMERICA'S INTERNATIONAL IDEALS -- Chapter IX. THE NATIONAL WELFARE -- Chapter X. LIBERAL, CONSTITUTIONAL, AND LEGAL IDEALS -- Chapter XI. AN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY -- NOTES -- Index