The New Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations: Volume 4, Challenges to American Primacy, 1945 to the Present: (The New Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations)

Since their first publication, the four volumes of the Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations have served as the definitive source for the topic, from the colonial period to the Cold War. The fourth volume of the updated edition explores the conditions in the international system at the end of World War II, the American determination to provide leadership, and the security dilemma each superpower posed for the other. This revised and expanded edition incorporates recent scholarship and revelations, carrying the narrative through the years following the end of the Cold War into the administration of Barack Obama. The character of the American political system is explored, including the separation of political powers and the role of interest groups that prompted American leaders to exaggerate dangers abroad to enhance their domestic power. This new edition examines the conditions in the international system from the end of World War II to the present, focusing on the American determination to provide world leadership.

Table of Contents:
List of maps; General editor's introduction; Acknowledgments; Part I. The Cold War: 1. At war's end: visions of a new world order; 2. Origins of the Cold War; 3. The Korean War and its consequences; 4. New leaders and new arenas in the Cold War; 5. Crisis revolution; 6. America's longest war; 7. The rise and fall of détente; 8. In God's country; 9. America and the world, 1945–91; Part II. After the Cold War: 10. The new world order; 11. The 'war' against terrorism; Bibliographic essay; Index.

About the Author :
Warren I. Cohen is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Michigan State University, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Professor Cohen has published nineteen books, the best known of which is America's Response to China, 5th edition (2010). In addition to scholarly publications, Professor Cohen has written for Atlantic Monthly, the Baltimore Sun, the Christian Science Monitor, Dissent, Foreign Affairs, the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Nation, the New York Times, the Times Literary Supplement and the Washington Post. He has served as the president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations and chairman of the US Department of State Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation. Professor Cohen has also been a consultant on Chinese affairs to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the CIA, the Department of State, two governors of Michigan and three directors of the Michigan Department of Commerce.

Review :
'Warren I. Cohen qualifies as the dean of America's diplomatic historians. In this brilliant new volume, he brings to bear all his experience, perspective, and extraordinary insight to describe America's struggles for primacy in the world over the past seven decades. This book is a remarkable achievement.' James Mann, The Johns Hopkins University 'Few historians can match Warren I. Cohen's masterful ability to synthesize and analyze the complex trajectory of American international history. In this revised and updated history of American foreign relations since 1945, he deftly shows how U.S. policy makers dealt with an array of challenges from Stalin to bin Laden. We see how vision and ambition intersected with threat perception and domestic politics to shape America's role in the international arena. This is a terrific book to consider for our classes.' Melvyn Leffler, University of Virginia