The American Era: Power and Strategy for the 21st Century [Hardcover]

This controversial book addresses America's role in light of recent terrorist events.This controversial book addresses the world role America has begun to undertake in light of recent terrorist events. If America does not respond actively to terrorist threats, no one else is likely to take the initiative. In such a time when threats from terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction are a reality, and when human rights, peace, and stability cannot be assured by institutions like the U.N. and European Union, global activism on the part of the U.S. becomes a necessity, not something about which to be apologetic.This controversial book addresses the world role America has begun to undertake in light of recent terrorist events. If America does not respond actively to terrorist threats, no one else is likely to take the initiative. In such a time when threats from terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction are a reality, and when human rights, peace, and stability cannot be assured by institutions like the U.N. and European Union, global activism on the part of the U.S. becomes a necessity, not something about which to be apologetic.The American Era makes a provocative argument about America's world role. It establishes the rationale for a grand strategy that recognizes American preponderance as necessary and desirable for coping with the perils of the post-9/11 world. First, militant Islamic terrorism plus weapons of mass destruction pose a threat of an entirely new magnitude and require us to alter the way we think about the preemptive and even preventive use of force. Second, the UN and other international bodies are habitually incapable of acting on the most urgent and deadly problems. Third, in an international system with no true central authority, other countries will inevitably look for leadership to the U.S. If America, as the world's foremost power, does not take the lead in confronting the most dangerous threats, no one else is likely to have the ability or tlã¼