The fourth volume of The Cambridge History of America and the World examines the heights of American global power in the mid-twentieth century and how challenges from at home and abroad altered the United States and its role in the world. The second half of the twentieth century marked the pinnacle of American global power in economic, political, and cultural terms, but even as it reached such heights, the United States quickly faced new challenges to its power, originating both domestically and internationally. Highlighting cutting-edge ideas from scholars from all over the world, this volume anatomizes American power as well as the counters and alternatives to 'the American empire.' Topics include US economic and military power, American culture overseas, human rights and humanitarianism, third-world internationalism, immigration, communications technology, and the Anthropocene.
List of Figures; List of Maps; List of Contributors to Volume IV; General Introduction: What is America and the World? Mark Philip Bradley; Introduction to Volume IV David C. Engerman, Max Paul Friedman and Melani McAlister; Part I. Ordering a World of States: 1. Global Capitalist Infrastructure and US Power Vanessa Ogle; 2. Overseas Bases and the Expansion of US Military Presence Gretchen Heefner; 3. The Consolidation of the Nuclear Age Michael D. Gordin; 4. American Knowledge of the World Nick Dirks and Nils Gilman; 5. The American Construction of the Communist Threat Kenneth Osgood; 6. The Fractured World of the Cold War Mark Atwood Lawrence; 7. The US and the United Nations System David Bosco; 8. American Development Aid, Decolonization, and the Cold War Corinna Unger; 9. Decolonization and US Intervention in Asia Christopher Goscha; Part II. Challenging a World of States: 10. US Foreign Policy and the End of Development Brad Simpson; 11. Oil and the Resource Curse Chris Dietrich; 12. US Mass Culture and Consumption in Global Context Petra Goedde; 13. Imperial Visions of the World Penny Von Eschen; 14. Human Rights Barbara Keys; 15. Compassion and Humanitarianism in International Relations Michael Barnett; 16. Third World Internationalism and the Global Color Line Charisse Burden-Stelly and Gerald Horne; 17. Empire of Sex: The Queering of US Geopolitics Julio Capó, Jr.; 18. Migration, War, and the Transformation of the US Population Maddalena Marinari; 19. Christian and Muslim Transnational Networks Zareena Grewal; 20. Native Americans, Indigenity, and US Foreign Policy Paul Rosier; 21. Environment, Climate, and Global Disorder Stephen Macekura; 22. Reconfiguration of Superpower Relations Jussi M. Hanhimäki; Part III. New World Disorder?: 23. Soviet Collapse and Its Global Impact Fritz Bartel; 24. Neoliberalism as a Form of US Power Daniel Sargent; 25. The US Construction of 'Islam' as Ally and Enemy on the Global Stage Deepa Kumar; 26. Technology and Networks of Communication Stephanie Schulte; 27. Humanitarian Intervention and US Power Rajan Menon; 28. Refugees, Statelessness, and the Disordering of Citizenship Stephen R. Porter; 29. Liberty, Security, and America's War on Terror Karen J. Greenberg; 30. The Global Wars on Terror Aaron O'Connell; 31. America and the World in the Anthropocene Joshua Howe; Index.
David C. Engerman is the Leitner International Interdisciplinary Professor in the Department of History and Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University. A former president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, he is the author of The Price of Aid: The Economic Cold War in India (2018). Max Paul Friedman is Professor of History and International Relations at American University. Among his award-winning books are Nazis and Good Neighbors: The United States Campaign against the Germans of Latin America in World War II (2003) and Rethinking Anti-Americanism: The History of an Exceptional Concept in American Foreign Relations (2012). Melani McAlister is Professor of American Studies and International Affairs at the George Washington University. She is the author of The Kingdom of God Has No Borders: A Global History of American Evangelicals (2018) and Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and US Interests in the Middle East since 1945 (2001).
Reviews for The Cambridge History of America and the World: Volume 4, 1945 to the Present
'remarkable … this capacious volume enables the reader to absorb the latest scholarship on a multitude of topics within a domain that is becoming more multitudinous more swiftly and with more far-reaching analytic consequences than any other subfield of American history … Hence my advice: read it now.' David A. Hollinger, H-Diplo
