America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and the Global Order (Hardcover)

~ Stefan Halper (Author), Jonathan Clarke (Author) "The neo-conservatives have become a cause celebre in both American and international politics..." (more)
Key Phrases: knowledgeable ignorance, uranium claim, transatlantic relations, United States, New York, Middle East (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Halper and Clarke's] thoughtful, insightful work spans ideological and partisan differences, a rare phenomenon in these times..the argument never has been put together so persuasively, so conclusively and so effectively." Washington Post

"Halper and Clarke document in detail the origins, history, near disappearance, and recent ascension of the neoconservative 'interest group' in dominating the decisions and discourse surrounding US foreign policy decision-making since the 9-11 terrorist attacks." E.A. Turpen, Henry L. Stimson Center, CHOICE

"[The authors] have done the near-impossible...they offer convincing, powerful, new insights on a crucial and widely-discussed development in America's relations with the world. The book is fair-minded...fascinating...full of valuable guidance for the next phase in U.S. foreign policy. Its analysis is the more trenchant for coming from two bona fide conservatives." James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic Monthly

"Its thesis is that an unelected group of right-wing intellectuals have taken over U.S. foreign policy, to the detriment of the United States and the world as a whole." Providence Journal

"[Halper and Clarke's] thoughtful, insightful work spans ideological and partisan differences, a rare phenomenon in these times...the argument never has been put together so persuasively, so conclusively and so effectively." Washington Post

"America Alone is a sobering critique of U.S. foreign policy by two very serious conservatives. What makes their book so powerful is that their conclusion appears to be right." Washington Times

HB ISBN (2004) 0-521-83834-7

"...an engrossing tale about the roots and impact of neo-conservatives on American policy...must reading not only for what it says about how they did it, but also for documenting the paucity - in the U.S. government and beyond --of meaningful debate about the potential risks as well as benefits of mounting 'preventive' war in response to the events of September 11, 2001." Chester A. Crocker, Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, 1981-89, and James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies, Georgetown University

"This book dissects the American neo-conservatives and their ideology...You do not need to agree with the authors' every word to find this powerful critique of an important contemporary stream in American thinking enlightening and thought provoking." Dame Pauline Neville Jones, Former Political Director of the British Foreign Office, 1993-96

"America Alone is a sobering critique of U.S. foreign policy by two very serious conservatives. What makes their book so powerful is that their conclusion appears to be right." Washington Times

Product Description

This book explores how George W. Bush's election, and the fear and confusion of September 11th combined to allow a small group of radical intellectuals to seize the reins of US national security policy. It shows how, at this 'inflection point' in US history an inexperienced president was persuaded to abandon his campaign pledges and the successful consensus-driven, bi-partisan diplomacy that managed the lethal Soviet threat over the past half century, and adopt a neo-conservative foreign policy emphasizing military confrontation and 'nation-building.' To date, the costs - in blood, money and credibility - have been great, and the benefits few. Traditional conservatives deplore this approach. This book outlines the costs in terms of economic damage, distortion of priorities, rising anti-Americanism, encroachment on civil liberties, domestic political polarization and reduced security. Then, it sets out an alternative approach emphasizing the traditional conservative principles of containing risk, consensus diplomacy and balance of power.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (June 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521838347
• ISBN-13: 978-0521838344
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #745,475 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful study of current US foreign policy, September 16, 2004

By	William Podmore (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Stefan Halper, a White House and State Department official during the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations, and Jonathan Clarke, a Counselor in the British Diplomatic Service, have written a scathing denunciation of current US foreign policy.

They show how Bush illegitimately extended the USA's war from counter-attacking Al Qa'ida to attacking terrorists in general, then to attacking `those who harbour them', meaning a state like Afghanistan, and then to attacking states that don't harbour them, like Iraq. The US ruling class hijacked the war on terrorism and aimed it at `universal dominion'. The authors describe this as `a highly imprudent trajectory of missionary imperialism and international confrontation'. They ask whether the US's policy "distracts the United States from the pursuit of terrorism and whether it may indeed aggravate the threat" and conclude that it does.

Rupert Murdoch's Fox News helped Bush: its watchers were three times more likely to believe the government's three big lies - that Al Qa'ida and Iraq were linked, that WMD had been found, and that the world approved of the US attack. These misperceptions `arose as the direct result of deliberate government action'; administration speeches showed `a pattern of deceit'.

Now the US government is bogged down in the quagmire of Iraq, dragging British troops down with it. It said that just 75,000 troops could occupy Iraq, and only `several thousand after a year or two'. It told Congress that Iraq's oil, not the US taxpayer, would pay for the occupation.

However, the US army is not geared to occupying a country, still less to nation-building; it is designed to carry out the old imperial practice of `Butcher and bolt'. Not too surprising then, that the USA's occupation of Iraq is failing, just like earlier British occupations in the Middle East, in Iraq, Palestine, Aden, etc.

In sum, the authors show that the costs of US foreign policy are huge, including economic damage, vast expense, reduced civil liberties and worse security. Unfortunately, they see this disastrous policy as due to the neo-conservatives' seizure of power, not as the inevitable result of capitalism's absolute decline.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for understanding neo-conservativism, August 5, 2005

By	E. David Swan (South Euclid, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Although George W. Bush has gotten credit for the new face of American foreign policy his is merely a reflection of an intellectual movement that's been around for decades, solidified in the early 90's and really took hold after September 11th. The ideology is known as neo-conservativism and its adherents litter the White House and Pentagon. They are marked by an intense hatred of international agreements and organizations, diplomacy and the State Department. The neo-cons preach a black and white, good and evil (with us or against us) worldview and frame their arguments in moralistic terms. To them military force is the catch all answer for international problems with some neo-cons going so far as to advocate continual war. Americans forget or perhaps don't realize that Iraq was intended to be just the first in a string of wars that included Syria, Libya, Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern and African counties.

Rather than an attack from the left `America Alone' is a measured criticism of neo-conservativism from the middle right. The authors point to an intellectual wattage drain in the second generation neo-conservatives. Whereas the first generation went through an evolution in thinking and prided themselves on intellectual experimentation the second generation seems to have been, as the author put it, born middle aged. Experimentation gave way to inflexibility to the point where neo-conservatives found themselves incapable of adapting to a new and increasingly open Soviet Union emerged. The new generation has by and large abandoned academia and moved straight into politics and policy making but operate like someone working from within a gated community. Almost to a man the neo-conservatives have spent no time in the military while continually choose the military route.

Conservatives have long railed against small groups of experts, intellectuals or `elites' setting policy contrary to popular will yet this is exactly what the neo-conservatives have done. They have cynically manipulated public opinion on the Iraqi war using time tested propaganda techniques and brazen lies. There is an arrogance among neo-conservatives that the general public is unprepared for the lofty neo-con goals so rather than articulate their true agenda they offer answers designed simply to placate the populace. This was particularly evident in the WMD sales pitch for an Iraqi invasion. In the case of foreigners the neo-cons feel it's their right, perhaps even duty to completely alter societies that don't conform to western democratic free market capitalism. Although the neo-conservatives claim to be realists their liberal idealism is most evident in Iraq where neo-cons like Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle made obscenely rosy predictions about the outcome of the invasion and the so called `domino effect'. The neo-conservatives believe America can literally reshape the entire Middle Eastern region through sheer brute force and no amount of monetary or human expense is too excessive.

The last few years have seen an unprecedented loss of American prestige and moral leadership. While the United States continues to operate Guantanamo base and refuses negotiations on international treaties like ABM and Kyoto a message is sent to the rest of world that the United States couldn't care less about world opinion. This may satisfy a certain jingoistic spirit but it does immeasurable damage to the United States standing in an increasingly connected world.

`America Alone' is an extremely well researched book filled with important information and fascinating analysis. It's a hefty 340 pages but I never grew bored reading it. I heartily recommend this book to anyone with concern or interest in the future of the United States.

73 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please read this. Please., July 22, 2004

By	Mandamus (Saint Louis) - See all my reviews

This book singlehandedly restored my confidence in the potential for reasoned political debate in our society, and by extentension the future of our republic.

In a country where the likes of Sean Hannity scream in your right ear, and the likes of Michael Moore scream in your left, it becomes difficult for a reasonable, neutral citizen to make sense of what's going on in these our troubled times. In our frighteningly polarized society, the truth is easily drowned out by the din of the polemicists.

Enter Halper and Clarke. These two self-proclaimed conservatives calmly and clinically dissect a perversion of their school known as neo-conservatism. Tracing their development from roots in Cold War liberalism to their apex in the Bush administration, Halper and Clarke's sober and authoratative analysis warns us of the dangers of neo-conservatives' proclivities to unilateralism, closed-minded self-righteousness, and brute military force. As a result, the American government has lost credibility both domestically and internationally, forfeited its moral high ground, and fanned--rather than extinguished--the raging fires of anti-Americanism and terrorism.

I cannot stress enough the impartiality of this book. While they completely disagree with neo-conservatives, they do not launch into endless ad hominem assaults, throw out red herrings, or get red in the face. Quite the contrary, Halper and Clarke think that neo-conservatives genuinely believe that their policies are best for America. I suppose, in a sense, that this is damning them with faint praise. In the end, their analysis is rationally argued and compelling.

This is an exceptionally important book for our times. The only qualm I have is that there are numerous typos--completely unacceptable and surprising coming from the CUP. Read this book though, please.

Post scriptum: Pay no mind to C. Cotten "SimpleSimon." The book mentions Democrats maybe three times (and then only in passing). Their point is that unilateralism is a BAD idea, not that the Dems brought down the USSR. "SimpleSimon" clearly did not read this book.