The Empire Has No Clothes: U.S. Foreign Policy Exposed (Hardcover)

by Ivan Eland (Author) "Americans don't think of their country as having an empire..." (more)
Key Phrases: security through expansion, offshore balancer, military restraint, United States, Soviet Union, Persian Gulf (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A sober, hard-hitting critique and a cogent brief for why liberals and conservatives should reject an imperial role for America." -- Richard Betts, Director, Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University

"Deserves the thoughtful attention of all Americans disturbed by the imperial pretensions evident in Washington since the Cold War." -- Andrew J. Bacevich, Professor of International Relations, Boston University

"Dr. Eland makes a persuasive case that current U.S. national security policy is actually undermining our security and civil liberties." -- Lawrence J. Korb, former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Defense

"Impressively lucid, filled with careful research and highly insightful commentary, certain to satisfy concerned readers across the political spectrum." -- Ambassador Edward L. Peck, former Chief of U.S. Mission in Iraq

"The sobering antidote for the imperial wine that has impaired the judgment of American politicians since the Cold War." -- Harvey M. Sapolsky, Director of Security Studies, MIT

"Think a U.S. empire is desirable and viable? Read Ivan Eland’s insightful, essential book, and you will change your mind." -- Edward A. Olsen, Professor of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School

"[This] should greatly influence the debate in this country about how to restore a Constitutional foreign policy. Read this book." -- Chalmers Johnson, Author,

Product Description
Most Americans don't think of their government as an empire, but in fact the United States has been steadily expanding its control of overseas territories since the turn of the twentieth century. Now, through political intimidation and over 700 military bases worldwide, the U.S. holds sway over an area that dwarfs the great empires of world history.

In "The Empire Has No Clothes", Ivan Eland, a leading expert on U.S. defense policy and national security, examines American military interventions around the world from the Spanish-American War up to the invasion of Iraq.

Eland shows that the concept of empire is wholly contrary to the principles of both liberals and conservatives and that it makes a mockery of the Founding Fathers' vision for a free republic. Eland also warns that in recent years, "blowback" and the enormous expansion of domestic federal power resulting from this overextended empire have begun to threaten the American homeland itself and curtail the very liberties these interventions were supposed to protect.

Public debate of the United States' role in the world has finally begun in earnest, and Ivan Eland delivers a penetrating argument in this landmark book, exposing the imperial motives behind interventionist U.S. policy, questioning the historical assumptions on which it is based and advocating a return to the Founding Fathers' policy of military restraint overseas.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Independent Institute (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0945999984
• ISBN-13: 978-0945999980
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #705,385 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-researched insights, November 26, 2004

By	book reader (VA) - See all my reviews

Eland challenges conventional wisdom about why so many people around the world dislike Americans--it's not who we are or what we believe, but how our government behaves. With specific chapters directed at both conservatives and liberals explaining how over-reaching US interventionism goes against their principles, there is something in this book for everyone.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to dismantle an Empire, December 8, 2005

A Kid's Review

A direct, educated antithesis to the imperial warmongering of Kaplan and the like. A read that will interest anyone who is interested in preserving our declining democratic republic.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars well structured arguments against empire, May 3, 2007

By	the brown hornet (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

eland does a unique thing with this book - he deconstructs the imperialism argument from every perspective. so it really feels like he's not preaching to the choir. by doing so, he strengthens his argument. no matter what your political philosophy is, this book finds a way to address you and dissuade you from supporting the american empire (it may or may not technically be one, depending on how you define it, but you know what he's talking about here). admittedly, eland is a bit more of an isolationist than i'd like, but hey, people with different political views coming to similar conclusions is a good thing! it's also a pretty easy read - you don't need to have coursework in international security or international political economy to get what he's saying.