American Adventurism Abroad: 30 Invasions, Interventions, and Regime Changes since World War II (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "President Harry S Truman presided over the shifting of American foreign policy from World War II to the Cold War..." (more)
Key Phrases: global hegemon, global capitalist system, United States, Cold War, United Nations (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Sullivan's book delivers one of the great cynical straight lines in the wicked comedy of human history.”–The Times Higher Education Supplement

Product Description

This book provides a comparative analysis of 30 American interventions into Third World countries. An historical approach is used to place the featured cases into a more general history of American Diplomacy. The author uses his assessments to prove that U.S. foreign policy has been driven by the goal of being the ultimate power in the global capitalist economic system. The author makes his work unique by giving a critical view of America's place in the world during an anticipated time of war and raised patriotism. He provides a scholarly look at U.S. diplomacy leading up to the era of "the War on Terror."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (August 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275972763
• ISBN-13: 978-0275972769
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,443,302 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars even-handed expose of U.S. trans-national capitalist security state, March 20, 2006

By	Michael L. Shoen (Arizona) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book builds on turncoat CIA histories (like Prouty, Marchetti, Stockwell), academic histories (like Nutter, Blum, Johnson) and uncontroverted mainstream histories (including government admissions) to establish the economic rationale for our present national security state. And the purpose of our national security state is -- to maintain our transnational system of economic domination (capitalism?). I give this book five stars because it is so even-handed and covers so many examples so succinctly and rationally. It is a unpleasant book in that the subject matter is repulsive -- like a study on a serial killer.

I don't entirely agree with Sullivan because I believe that the other purpose of the National Security State is, simply, it's own preservation and growth (Eisenhower's military/industrial/intelligence complex). I don't think a book like this will ever sell well because people don't want to know ugly truths about their government, but it is the best single succinct source I have seen for a college-level course on 20th Century U.S. international policy. Ultimately (years or decades?), academics will recognize this book as awesome, but for now the book's subject matter and price will keep it well-hidden. Be the first one on your block (in your city?) to know what's going on! Mainstream media would never cover a subject like this. But that's another story.