The Case for American Power

A provocative case for why a better world is only possible with American power by Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid.

From acclaimed author Shadi Hamid comes an urgent and deeply personal argument for why American dominance, despite its many flaws, remains the world’s best hope. Hamid traces his journey from opposing America’s role in the world to reluctantly embracing it—while grappling with how recent events, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, have challenged his convictions.

Drawing on his unique perspective as both an American and a Muslim who came of age in the shadow of the September 11 attacks, Hamid contends with the contradictions of American power: how a nation founded on moral purpose so often fails to live up to its ideals. Hamid confronts head-on America’s failures, from the war in Iraq to support for authoritarian regimes across the Middle East. Yet, he argues that in a world where power is a fact and someone must wield it, the alternative to American leadership isn’t a morally perfect superpower—it’s the brutal authoritarianism of countries like China and Russia.

At once idealistic and pragmatic, this is a book about embracing our power as the only moral option in a world beset by tragedy. Because America is a democracy, it retains the potential to correct past mistakes and change for the better. That part is up to us. Bracing and timely, The Case for American Power is an ambitious work on what may be the most fundamental question facing America today: how should we think about the power we have—while we still have it?

About the Author :
Shadi Hamid is a columnist at The Washington Post and a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. From 2023 to 2024, he served on the Post’s edi­torial board. Hamid is the author of several books, including The Problem of Democracy and Islamic Exceptionalism, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Lionel Gelber Prize for the best nonfiction book on foreign affairs. In 2019, he was named one of the world’s top fifty thinkers by Prospect magazine. Hamid lives in Washington, DC.

Review :
"Hamid is a patriot — in the self-critical, hopeful tradition of Baldwin and King.  Fueled by a deep and well-founded hatred of autocracy, he argues that American power is better than the alternatives, because America has the capacity to transmute our errors and hypocrisy through the better angels of our nature.  In this intensely personal book, Hamid wills himself to optimism, realism, and reason, and calls for an America worthy of its ideals." — Noah Feldman, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard University 

"Hamid makes the case for democracy as a political system despite its recent setbacks, and for dominant American power despite the hypocrisies and mistakes of those who wielded it, in a clear-eyed assessment of the current global situation. Highly recommend." — Francis Fukuyama, author of Liberalism and its Discontents

"At a time when U.S. decline has become conventional wisdom around the world, Hamid offers a clear and compelling rebuttal. He marshals sweeping evidence and powerful logic to make his case for American power. Hamid has persuaded me what side I’m on!" — Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, and author of Autocrats vs. Democrats

"A surprising and valuable book. Hamid poses tough questions both for those who believe that the United States can be a force for good in the world and for those who don't." — Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America and author of The Idea That Is America