Liberal Order and Imperial Ambition
Essays on American Power and International Order
1. Edition August 2006
312 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This book of essays by the a leading figure in the new generation of American IR theorists explores the theoretical, historical, and foreign policy implications of American power and postwar order. The first part of the book focuses on the origins and foundational logic of America's post-war order-building project - advancing ideas about 'liberal hegemony' and 'constitutional order'. The second part reflects on its evolving character and fate in the aftermath of the Cold War, the rise of unipolarity, and the post-9/11 threat of global terrorism.
In this unique study of a superpower, Ikenberry argues that though the American world order is now in upheaval, in the end, the United States still has powerful incentive to sponsor and operate within a liberal rules-based system.
Introduction
Part One: Constitutionalism and Liberal Hegemony
Chapter One: Rethinking the Origins of American Hegemony
Chapter Two: Socialization and Hegemonic Power
Chapter Three: The Nature and Sources of Liberal International Order
Chapter Four: Constitutional Politics in International Relations
Chapter Five: American Power and the Empire of Capitalist Democracy
Part Two: Unipolarity and Multilateralism
Chapter Six: The Myth of Post Cold-War Chaos
Chapter Seven: Getting Hegemony Right
Chapter Eight: American Grand Strategy in the Age of Terror
Chapter Nine: America's Imperial Ambition
Chapter Ten: The End of the Neo-Conservative Moment
Chapter Eleven: Is American Multilateralism in Decline?
Index
John Ikenberry explains how American power has not been so much
constrained by international institutions as embedded in them. The
Bush administration's attempt to break out of perceived
international straightjackets in fact misunderstands the nature of
hegemonic power and represents an important break with earlier
traditions of US foreign policy."
Francis Fukuyama
"The essays, taken one by one, constitute a fascinating journey
carrying the reader step by step through a scientific analysis of
the origin, nature and evolution of American power."
International Spectator
"Ikenberry's arguments are the product of deep
reflection and built through a structure that produces a clarity
and crispness often lacking in such literature ... these essays
will stand out as a fine articulation of this particular
interpretation of US policy and one that is likely to have
considerable influence in the coming years."
International Affairs
"While he ranges over a number of topics, Ikenberry
produces a powerful critique of the view that the post-war order
rested solely on material power. [His] assessment rests on
intellectual foundations that are marked by historical depth and
philosophical acuity."
Political Studies Review
"G. John Ikenberry is America's poet laureate of liberal
internationalism and the most gifted international relations
scholar of his generation."
Martin Walker, Editor, United Press International; World
Policy Institute at New York's New School
University
"This is a splendid collections of essays, remarkable for
the sure-footed way they have mapped both the normative and
explanatory challenges at the heart of the troubled American
engagement with the world."
Michael W. Doyle, Columbia University
"No other writer on international politics has done more
to advance our understanding of American power under conditions of
unipolarity than John Ikenberry. Never dull and always challenging,
he has carved out an intellectual niche that has become uniquely
his own over the past few years. With a clarity that is
commendable, and an intelligence that is obvious, he makes the case
in these essays for something that has been too readily forgotten
in our insecure age of terror: that for the United States,
cooperation with others is not merely the nice thing to do but the
smart thing to do as well. A tour de force by one American we
simply cannot afford to ignore."
Michael Cox, London School of Economics