The Superpower Myth: The Use and Misuse of American Might [Hardcover]

Nancy Soderberg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471656836 | ISBN-13: 978-0471656838 | Publication Date: February 11, 2005 | Edition: 1

"For eight years, Nancy Soderberg served with distinction and creativity at the highest levels of American government. She is uniquely positioned to explain how the world works in this new era-and when it's in danger of breaking down."
—Dr. Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State

Are there limits to American power? The neoconservative brain trust behind the Bush administration's foreign policy doesn't seem to recognize any. For the first time, we have people in power who believe that as the world's reigning superpower, America can do what it wants, when it wants, without regard to allies, costs, or results. But as events in Iraq are proving, America may be powerful, but it is not all-powerful.

In practice, no country could ever be strong enough to solve problems like Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq through purely military means. In the future, America's power will constantly be called up to help failed and failing states, and it is becoming clear that the complex mess of Somalia has replaced the proxy war of Vietnam as the model for what future military conflicts will look like: a failed state, a power vacuum, armed factions, and enough chaos to panic an entire region. Using vivid examples from her years in the White House and at the United Nations, Nancy Soderberg demonstrates why military force is not always effective, why allies and consensus-building are crucial, and how the current administration's faulty world view has adversely affected policies toward Israel, Iraq, North Korea, Haiti, Africa, and Al-Qaeda. Powerful, provocative, and persuasive, this timely book demonstrates that the future of America's security depends on overcoming the superpower myth.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and Clinton foreign policy adviser, Soderberg offers this cogent study of the unilateralism that she believes has taken over American foreign policy and military intervention. The argument that ignoring U.S. allies (and even neutrals) interferes with the administration's own stated goals of peace and increased democracy is familiar, but Soderberg's deep knowledge of the mechanics of diplomacy, as well as of the players and issues, allows her to assess recent moves in depth: the book carries more than 1,150 footnotes. Along the way, we get a defense of Clinton's actions toward bin Laden (and other Clintonian policies) and various swipes at neoconservatives and neoconservative doctrine). Some readers will feel that Soderberg's rehashing of interventions in Somalia and the Balkans do not argue for multilateralism as a guarantee of improved politicomilitary outcomes. And the negative views of the "New Europe" on the aspirations of the Franco-German-Russian axis are not much taken into account—though everything from the Oslo accords to troubles in Haiti is. But as a file from the opposition on the current administration's tactics, this is a satisfying document.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Commentators from both red and blue sides of the best-seller lists have occasionally found common ground in criticizing, albeit for different reasons, the Clinton administration's attempt to recast the U.S. role in the post-cold war world. Clinton wielded American influence with either too much ambivalence (leading to terrorism) or too much arrogance (leading to terrorism). This book by one of Clinton's foreign policy advisors, is a cogent critique of the current administration's hyperpower hubris and a vigorous vindication of the Clinton team's pursuit of elagant solutions to impossible situations. The U.S. may be the most powerful nation, Soderberg argues, but subscribing to the "superpower myth" of American omnipotence has led to dangerous miscalculations in Iraq and antipathy worldwide. Clinton, restrained as he was by American voters' limited tolerance of fights in which they "had no dog," understood the global equation and the limits of American power. But Soderberg neither whitewashes Clinton's failures nor looks entirely backward; rather, she advocates a humble and realistic foreign policy. Brendan Driscoll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471656836
• ISBN-13: 978-0471656838
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,918,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Foreign Policy at Work, March 8, 2005

By 

T. Baldwin (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Superpower Myth: The Use and Misuse of American Might (Hardcover)

Forget the partisan diatribes; what really makes this book a fascinating and compelling read is the level of detail and dramatic realism of the daily world of passionate people taking ideology from policy to action. This is a thriller. Whenever you get people who care deeply about their country and how we relate to the rest of the world, you risk offending the isolationists. It's a risk I'm glad the author took.

32 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What the Bushies don't get and don't want you to know, March 2, 2005

By 

Plotz (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Superpower Myth: The Use and Misuse of American Might (Hardcover)

Bush was fortunate to have 9/11 on his watch, which he turned into a platform for his war of lies in Iraq, his heinous approval of torture and Kafka-esque dententions, and his attack on the most basic human rights in the U.S and abroad. Bush was fortunate that Arafat died on his watch so he could take credit for the latest attempts at peace in Israel, which he had nothing to do with. He was fortunate to have the former prime minister of Lebanon blown up on his watch so he could claim it was in his war in Iraq that led to the ouster of the Syrian puppet regime, not the Lebanese people's outrage at the assassination.

What he has not taken credit for are all his foreign policy mistakes--or "catastrophic successes," to use his phrase--which have led to warlord rule in Afghanistan, the soon-to-be Iranian puppet state of Iraq, the increasing nuclear threat from Iran and North Korea, and the general loathing of the US the world over, all of which could have been avoided had Bush and his Neocon backers read a book such as Soderberg's SUPERPOWER MYTH and followed its advice.

19 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for responsible Americans, March 25, 2005

By 

Thomas M. Carpenter (Little Rock, AR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Superpower Myth: The Use and Misuse of American Might (Hardcover)

This work is a must read for reponsible and interested Americans. We need to know what role the U.S. can and should play in international affairs, particularly since the U.S. is the only economic, military, naval, and political superpower. This role is unprecedented in world history and while it can be the source of great promise for the U.S., it can also be the cause of great suspicion.
Despite what we learn from news sources and talking heads, many issues are complex. Ms. Soderberg makes them approachable and provides insights into how elected leaders and experts in foreign policy approach, or should approach, issues.
For a reader who would like to know just what the issues are with North Korea, global warming, terrorism, Iraq, and the Middle East, Ms. Soderberg provides a concise and understandable starting point. This book should be highly recommended to friends who are willing to ask questions instead of just accepting pablum from political spin doctors.