Abiding Influence: Presidents, Nationalist Beliefs, and US Policy in the Asia Pacific, 1898–1972(Studies in Asian Security)

How do nationalist beliefs shape and influence American foreign policy? What are the contemporary implications of America's long-standing engagement in the Asia Pacific? This book unearths the varied processes underpinning the relationship between nationalism and the formulation of foreign policy, highlighting the central function of leaders' nationalist beliefs in the history of America's international behavior. By developing a novel theoretical framework and drawing on original archival research and methods of process-tracing, Paparella shows how presidents' nationalist beliefs can influence distinct foreign policy attitudes that have underpinned important foreign policy decisions and turning points in the Asia Pacific. By putting nationalism back on center stage, Paparella makes a strong case for looking at this history as a complex succession of interactions—between states, but also between leaders—that are highly contingent and shaped by the nationalist views of the leading US decision-makers over time. This thoughtful study provides scholars and students with an interpretative key to understand the multifaceted role of the United States in the Asia Pacific, as well as policy recommendations to overcome the security and the credibility challenges posed by the rise of China in the region today.

About the Author :
Giuseppe Paparella is Research Fellow at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Review :
"The Asia Pacific has been vital to understanding American ideas of nation and nationalism for over a century.Using archival evidence and IR theory, Giuseppe Paparella's excellent book shows that the views of US presidents were shaped by the changing relationship with crises and changes with the region. This book gives the deep background that helps us understand why Asia remains crucial to US policymaking today." --Rana Mitter, Harvard University "Giuseppe Paparella has produced a stimulating and significant book. Ambitious in scope and based on an impressive amount of research, this book examines a series of key moments spanning seventy-five years to cogently show how four very different presidents' national beliefs shaped their policy toward the Asia Pacific region. A must-read for both historians and theorists." --Steven Casey, London School of Economics "In Abiding Influence, Giuseppe Paparella applies psychological and sociological principles to articulate his novel nationalist beliefs theory for a new interpretation of US foreign policy patterns in the Asia Pacific. This book will contribute to a more thought-provoking debate over the past and present frameworks of US engagement in this region." --Simei Qing Michigan State University