The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (50th Anniversary Edition) [Paperback]

William Appleman Williams (Author), Andrew J. Bacevich (Afterword), Lloyd C. Gardner (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 2009

“A brilliant book on foreign affairs.”—Adolf A. Berle Jr., New York Times Book Review

This incisive interpretation of American foreign policy ranks as a classic in American thought. First published in 1959, the book offered an analysis of the wellsprings of American foreign policy that shed light on the tensions of the Cold War and the deeper impulses leading to the American intervention in Vietnam. William Appleman Williams brilliantly explores the ways in which ideology and political economy intertwined over time to propel American expansion and empire in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The powerful relevance of Williams’s interpretation to world politics has only been strengthened by recent events in Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. Williams allows us to see that the interests and beliefs that once sent American troops into Texas and California, or Latin America and East Asia, also propelled American forces into Iraq.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The influence of Williams's The Tragedy of American Diplomacy . . . is beyond challege. An iconoclastic attack upon conventional wisdom, it is equally important because it framed arguments about its subject. . . . No comprehensive scheme, no broad generalizations, and few but the narrowest studies of episodes in American foreign relations will be written, if they are to shine, without an awareness of and an accommodation to [this book]. (Bradford Perkins, University of Michigan, in Redefining the Past: Essays in Diplomatic History in Honor of William Appleman Williams )

Stimulating and provocative. . . . A highly interesting contribution to today's great foreign policy debate. (American Historical Review ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

A former president of the Organization of American Historians, William Appleman Williams taught for many years at the University of Wisconsin and Oregon State University. His books include The Contours of American History, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy, and Empire as a Way of Life.

Andrew J. Bacevich is a professor of international relations and history at Boston University.

Lloyd C. Gardner is the Charles and Mary Beard Professor of History at Rutgers University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 50th Anniversary Edition edition (April 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393334740
• ISBN-13: 978-0393334746
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revisionist Trailblazer, April 4, 1998

By 

Tyson D. Rahmeier - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (New Edition) (Paperback)

The term "revisionist historian" has come lately to describe one who conforms to an ideology of "politically correctness". William Appleman Williams, however, embodies the true definition of a revisionist: one who examines the evidence from a new angle and breaks with the traditional interpretations. "The Tragedy of American Diplomacy" is such a text. Beginning with the Spanish-American War of 1898, Williams presents the United States as a tough and, at times, ruthless aggrandizer of its economic power and expansion. The traditional teaching of US history involves emphasis on American isolationist tendencies and stress on the nonexistence of an "American Empire." Williams challenges that presentation. While acknowledging that the US has never really had an empire on the model of the British or French empires, Williams argues that the US empire has always been economical. The Open Door Policy, generally associated with US-Chinese relations, actually formed a larger US economic philosophy adhered to in US relations everywhere. The American opposition and responses to Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba (the culminating event in the book) stemmed largely from the loss of economic privileges, rather than the nebulous ideology of anti-Communism. Williams provocative analysis goes a long way toward altering traditional portrayals of US foreign policy and its goals, and inspired the careers of a whole generation of truly revisionist historians.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tragedy of American Diplomacy, June 7, 2004

By 

J. Lindner (Gem Lake, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (New Edition) (Paperback)

In the Tragedy of American Diplomacy, William Appleman Williams illustrates how America fails to honor its own principles when it approaches foreign policy. America believes in self-determination and the right to develop its own brand of democracy. Unfortunately, no other nation is afforded the luxury of self discovery. Other nations must conform to America's vision of democracy or face the terror of America?s military might. This, to Williams, is the tragedy.

Cuba is his first case. America wanted Cuba to adhere to American visions which meant wealth for the sugar planters and their American backers. When Cuba sought its own course and threw off a repressive regime, America objected. The rift has existed ever since as no American administration will ever acknowledge Cuba's right to govern its own affairs so long as Castro is in power.

Williams then systematically follows the years from 1898 through 1961 and paints a similar picture. It does not take the reader long to get the idea and carry the argument beyond Williams' parameters and show that everything from Grenada to Lebanon to Afghanistan to Iraq can be shown in the same light. American puppet governments are not granting freedom and democracy to their constituents as much as they are part of a ruling class dominated by the business interests that exploit their workforce and deny requests for reform until the entire population is ripe for rebellion (remember the Shah of Iran). One wonders if the Saudi government is the next great western ally to fall victim to a popular revolt of Muslim fundamentalists.

Williams is a master of detail and works his arguments creatively in an entertaining fashion. Neoconservatives of today will have the same objections as their predecessors from the 1950s in acknowledging Williams as a valid author. But Williams makes a strong case and if more people were exposed to his writing, our country might even find a way to avoid the same pitfalls. A Saudi revolution would disrupt oil markets and jeopardize world economies. Perhaps if some thought is put into policy such a scenario is avoidable and preventable. If people are willing to give Williams a chance American foreign policy might eventually reflect a broader American vision rather than the interests of a few.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Erudite, splendidly crafted, fine piece of scholarhip, April 8, 2006

By 

Karun Mukherji (Calicut,, India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (New Edition) (Paperback)

Williams book explores paradoxical nature of US Foreign Policy.

Firstly author refutes orthodox view that accidental,inadvertent turn of events transformed America into a global power.Williams has argued market forces unleashed by private free enterprise economy dictated the growth of American power;it has also molded country's foreign policy and continues to do so.To comprehend this fully one has to understand the intricacies of Capitalism.

It goes without saying that Capitalism carries within it the seed of self destruction.Late 19th century American economy was convulsed by frequent bouts of economic depression which led to wide spread social unrest.Home markets saturated with goods which people find difficult to absorb as they had only limited purchasing power.'Frontier' had close down and country's leading intellectuals [William Jackson Turner,Brooke Adams,Alfred Thayer Mahan] frantically called for overseas expansion avert an impending economic doom

Thus economic considerations compelled successive American Presidents[Grover Clevland,William Mckinley,Thedore Roosevelt,Woodrow Wilson]to remake the world in America's image.Unfortunately this policy boomeranged because Afro,Asian,Latin American world refused to share American view
Iniquitous,unfair trade practised by US helped Washington to enrich in detriment to welfare of latter economies.This was closely followed by American tendency to externalise evil.It posits the view that other nations have a stake in America's continued,prosperous existence.This preposterous notion,according to the author, has been the starting point America's troubles.Actually problem lay in funamental nature of capitalist economy.Attempts to reverse this trend triggered counter revolutionary wars in Asia,Latin America.The above feature forms essence of this book;this idea continues to permeate the book.

Williams provide fresh interpretation on the onset of Cold WarHe holds Truman administration accountable for the coming of iron curtain in Eastern Europe.Firstly in immediate postwar years US taking advantage of its economic might tried to extend its 'open door'policy into Eastern Europe.Further exploiting atomic monopoly the President tried to reverse political order which emerged in areas under Soviet control.

We may pause here try to establish reasons behind America's post war hostility toward Soviet Union.Unlike Britain which during the days of the empire could invest and dominate worldwide, America upon the end of World War II inherited a divided world
Soviet economy wth its emphasis on industrial self sufficency apart from shutting the door US investment was in the process of curtailing imports substantially.With the success of Communist revolution 1/3rd of world's population had wrenched free from capitalist sphere influence.With so much production capacity lying idle,US by the end of World War II was haunted by a spectre of another depression.Challenge before America -challenges her still-wheather market will shrink.

Marshall plan leading to massive post war reconstruction Western Europe must be seen from this angle.Rebuilding war-ravaged economies stimulated economic growth in US.Thus in my opinion Marshall plan must not be construed as a manifestation of American altruism;it was motivated by economic self interest.

Author's stress upon market forces dictating the American destiny
broadly agrees with Marxian interpretation of History.Perhaps this was reason why Williams was dubbed Marxist,Stalinist by conservative,liberal elite of his country.This book deserves to be read by those whio believe current anti American sentiment sweeping the world stems from sheer envy for American prosperity.