Examines patterns of change and continuity in American foreign policy strategy by looking at four major turning points: the periods following World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

While liberal internationalists argue that the United States should promote an international system characterized by democratic governments and open markets, Dueck contends, these same internationalists tend to define American interests in broad, expansive, and idealistic terms, without always admitting the necessary costs and risks of such a grand vision. The outcome is often sweeping goals, pursued by disproportionately limited means.

Acknowledgments ix
INTRODUCTION: Change and Continuity in American Grand Strategy 1
CHAPTER ONE: Power, Culture, and Grand Strategy 9
CHAPTER TWO: Strategic Culture and Strategic Adjustment in the United States 21
CHAPTER THREE: The Lost Alliance: Ideas and Alternatives in American Grand Strategy, 1918-1921 44
CHAPTER FOUR: Conceiving Containment: Ideas and Alternatives in American Grand Strategy, 1945-1951 82
CHAPTER FIVE: Hegemony on the Cheap: Ideas and Alternatives in American Grand Strategy, 1992-2000 114
CONCLUSION: The American Strategic Dilemma 147
Notes 173
Index 215