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With the Cold War over, the United States found itself in a position of supremacy unmatched since the days of the Roman Empire. American power was supposed to stimulate the spread of liberalism, democracy, and capitalism, creating a world order embedded in the sanctity of individual rights. History didn’t quite turn out that way. ‘Hyperpower and its discontents’ describes how the end of the Cold War also revived a set of dormant tensions fuelled by race, religion, ethnicity, nation, and tribe. Globalization, long suppressed by Cold War tensions, reemerged with even greater force, creating a foundation for US dominance, but also new opportunities for America’s enemies to resist that dominance. ...Less

By the end of the nineteenth century, the United States had become the world’s preeminent economic power. Yet for such a large and wealthy country, by 1890 the United States was in a curious position: it was an economic colossus, but a diplomatic and military dwarf. In comparison to the great powers of Europe or Japan, America was a minor actor on the world stage. That would all soon change. ‘Global America’ explores two phenomena—globalization and world war—that brought America deeper into world affairs. By the end of the period, in 1919, the United States had become one of the greatest powers of the world—and yet refused to play its part. ...Less

The modern era was the American century, but it was also very much the communist century. Between them, the United States and the Soviet Union held the fate of the world in their hands. If there was to be a just and durable peace after 1945, an understanding between Washington and Moscow would have to be its foundation. Instead, in a conflict quickly dubbed “the Cold War,” the world suffered through four decades of existential tension between the Soviets and the Americans. ‘Superpower’ explains why the Soviets and Americans moved from cooperating in a world war to resisting each other in the Cold War, before exploring the events and ending of the Cold War in the 1980s. ...Less