America in the Modern World: The Transcendence of United States Hegemony

226 Pages·1991·25.385 MB·English

by  Stephen Burman (auth.)

AMERICA IN THE
MODERN WORLD

AMERICA IN THE
MODERN WORLD
THE TRANSCENDENCE OF
UNITED ST A TES HEGEMONY
STEPHEN BURMAN
University 01 Sussex
Palgrave Macmillan
© 1991 Stephen Burman
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1991 978-0-312-01971-6
All rights reserved. For information, write:
Scholarly and Reference Division,
St. Martin's Press, Ine., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
First published in the United States of America in 1991
ISBN 978-1-349-60470-8 ISBN 978-1-349-60468-5 (eBook)
DOII0.1007/978-1-349-60468-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Burman, Stephen.
America in the modem world: the transcendence of United States
hegemony / Stephen Burman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Uni ted States-Foreign relations-1945-1989. 2. United States
Foreign relations-1989-- I. Tide.
E840.B88 1991 91-26387
327. 73----de20 CIP
For Candida and Eve

CONTENTS
Priface IX
CHAPTER ONE Theories of imperialism 1
CHAPTER TWO Imperialism and the Uni ted States 24
CHAPTER THREE The superpowers: politics, economics
and survival 46
CHAPTER FOUR The capitalist powers: discord and
harmony 67
CHAPTER FIVE America and the Third W orId 89
CHAPTER SIX The 1960s: the acme of American
power 111
CHAPTER SEVEN Nixon and Carter: responses to decline 131
CHAPTER EIGHT Reagan and the resurgence of America
in the 1980s 153
CHAPTER NINE America in the 1990s: dangers and
opportunities 175
Se/ect Bibliography 197
Index 211

PREFACE
In the past few years we have witnessed ehanges whieh will prove to
be of lasting signifieanee in international affairs. The revolutions in
Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, for example, are fundamental
not only for those soeieties but also in their implieations for the rest
of the world. They signal nothing less than the end of the international
order that has governed the post-war era. Sinee the United States was
the principal arehiteet of that order, its passing will have fundamental
implieations for Ameriea's role in the modern world.
It has been widcly suggested that this transformation will reduee the
USA to the status of an ordinary eountry, indeed that the signs of
decline are already everywhere apparent. And yet the euphoria
surrounding Ameriean-inspired and lcd vietory in the Gulf war has,
paradoxieally, given rise to visions, or nightmares, of aresurgent,
militaristie Ameriea dominating the new world order to an extent that
will make its hegemonie role in the post-1945 era look pale by
eomparison.
In this book I rejeet both extremes, but argue that the 1990s do offer
great opportunities for the USA to retain its status as the leading power
in the world. There are many dangers to the Ameriean position in a
transition of this magnitude, notably the weaknesses of its domestie
eeonomy, but the fundamental trends of the eollapse of eommunism
and the globalization of the market eeonomy favour eontinuing
Ameriean influenee. World polities will beeome more eomplcx as it
moves away from a system dominated by the bipolarity of superpower
eonfrontation and towards aglobai market system. Collaboration rather
than domination will have to beeome the mode of operation in inter
national affairs, and no single eountry will enjoy the unquestioned pre
eminenee that the USA aehieved after the Seeond World War. But the
inereasing interdependenee attendant on the globalization of eapitalism
will not obviate the need for politieal leadership if it is to produee a
stable and prosperous order rather than deseend into destruetive
lX