Abstract

John Quincy Adams warned Americans not to search abroad for monsters to destroy, yet such figures have frequently habituated the discourses of U.S. foreign policy.  This collection of essays focuses on counter-identities in American consciousness to explain how foreign policies and the discourse surrounding them develop.  Whether it is the seemingly ubiquitous evil of Hitler during World War II or the more complicated perceptions of communism throughout the Cold War, these essays illuminate the cultural contexts that constructed rival identities.  The authors challenge our understanding of “others,” looking at early applications of the concept in the eighteenth century to recent twenty-first century conflicts, establishing how this phenomenon is central to decision making through centuries of conflict.

Michael Patrick Cullinane is Reader in U.S. history at Northumbria University. He is the author of Liberty and American Anti-Imperialism, 1898-1909 (2012) and numerous articles on diplomatic history in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

“…the book is a valuable contribution to the field of U.S. foreign policy literature. Its greatest contribution will be in its elucidation of the symbiotic relationship between U.S. identity and the identification of U.S. adversaries, with the recognition that a nuanced understanding of its adversaries may facilitate the drafting of more successful foreign policies… The book should find a wide audience within the foreign policy analysis field and become a valuable addition to many libraries.” · International Social Science Review

“The ambitious scope of this book could make it a profitable addition to an advanced undergraduate or graduate seminar. Because each essay is brief, the collection could be assigned with complementary texts to encourage students to put scholars into conversation with each other.” · Journal of American History

“…[a] superb, nuanced, and sophisticated discussion of how U.S. foreign policy and processes of Othering have been intertwined in American history that Cullinane's and Ryan's edited book provides.” · H-Soz-Kult

“This is an outstanding collection of essays, organized around questions of identity and ‘othering’. The editors are themselves prominent scholars of United States foreign policy. They have assembled an impressive collection of scholars to examine the interplay of identity and policy from colonial times to the 21st century. The combination of social constructivist methodology and historically rigorous scholarship gives this collection an original and distinctive quality.” · John Dumbrell, Durham University

“This is a terrific work, one that would be used very profitably by any faculty member teaching a U.S. diplomatic survey course. This manuscript provides an important and engaging counterpoint to triumphalist notions about the great American progress, and as such, it will engender lively classroom discussion.” · Christopher Jespersen, University of North Georgia

David Ryan is Professor and Chair of Modern History at University College Cork, Ireland.  He is the author of US Foreign Policy in World History (2000) and Frustrated Empire:US Foreign Policy, 9/11 to Iraq (2007), and he has co-edited Vietnam in Iraq: Tactics, Lessons, Legacies and Ghosts (2007, with John Dumbrell) and America and Iraq: Policy-Making, Intervention, and Regional Politics (2009, with Patrick Kiely).