NYT book reviews: Summoning History as a Weapon against the Iraq War

[DeepModem Mom]

BOOKS OF THE TIMES
Summoning History as a Weapon Against the Iraq War
By CHARLES A. KUPCHAN

Published: September 24, 2004

With the presidential election approaching, American bookstores are fully stocked with harsh assessments of the Bush administration's foreign policy. The historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and John B. Judis, a senior editor of The New Republic, have now contributed to the mix, offering books distinguished from the rest by their astute use of American history to illuminate the shortcomings in Washington's approach to global politics.

Mr. Schlesinger's "War and the American Presidency" is a collection of historical reflections that deftly challenge the political and ideological foundations of President Bush's foreign policy. Mr. Schlesinger begins by tracing the roots of the administration's go-it-alone tendencies, noting that "through most of its history, America has been stubbornly unilateralist in foreign relations." It took World War II and Franklin D. Roosevelt's tireless public diplomacy to persuade Americans to embrace allies and a centrist brand of international leadership, a new course that outlasted the cold war — but not the Bush administration....

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In "The Folly of Empire," Mr. Judis explores the Bush administration's imperial impulse, drawing links to America's founding era and the country's self-perception as a "city on the hill" that would be an exemplar of liberal democracy for the world. During the 19th century the imperial urge accompanying this millennial vision made itself felt largely in North America, helping fuel westward expansion and the Indian wars. Beyond America's own hemisphere, the founding fathers and their immediate successors were adamant that the United States avoid entangling commitments....

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"War and the American Presidency" and "The Folly of Empire" both have a hurried feel to them, containing analysis that is at times cursory and claims that go unsubstantiated. Presumably, their authors were rushing to ensure publication before the November election. Nonetheless both volumes constitute valuable appraisals of the Bush presidency, bringing to bear the weight of United States history to make a convincing case that the administration has led the country woefully off course.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/24/books/24BOOK.html