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

Robert J. Lieber

Sep 2005 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

The American Era makes a provocative argument about America's world role. It sets out the case for a grand strategy that recognizes American preponderance as necessary and desirable for coping with the perils of the post-9/11 world. The book argues firstly that, Militant Islamic terrorism and weapons of mass destruction pose a threat which requires us to alter the way we think about the pre-emptive and preventive use of force. Secondly, the UN and other international bodies are incapable of acting on these urgent problems. Thirdly, in an international system with no true central authority other countries will inevitably look for leadership to the US. The book argues that if America does not respond actively to terrorist threats, no one else will take the initiative.

About the author

Robert J. Lieber is a Professor of Government and International Affairs at Georgetown University. He is an expert on American foreign policy and US relations with the Middle East and Europe and the author or editor of thirteen books on international relations and US foreign policy. He has held fellowships from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. His most recently published book is an edited volume, Eagle Rules? Foreign Policy and American Primacy in the 21st Century (Prentice-Hall and the Wilson Center, 2002). His numerous authored works include No Common Power: Understanding International Relations (4th edition, Prentice-Hall, 2001) and The Oil Decade (1986). His articles have appeared in scholarly and policy journals including International Security, American Political Science Review, Foreign Policy, Washington Quarterly, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Commentary, Orbis, The International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, British Journal of Political Science, International Affairs (London), Politique Etrangere (Paris), and Internationale Politik (Berlin), among others.