In this, his latest book, Ernest Lefever, well-known conservative, theologian, and policy practitioner, argues passionately that America must, as we approach the new millennium, accept its imperial burden.. Where does Americas role in the world begin and end? What are our responsibilities to ourselves and other nations? How has Americas relationship to other nations changed over the course of the twentieth century? According to Ernest Lefever, one of Americas most well-regarded conservatives, America has a responsibility commensurate with its capacity to influence the outside world. This is the imperial burden. In this book, Lefever addresses those who see the United States in moral crisis within its own borders and believe, therefore, that the nations ability to remain an imperial world power is jeopardized. He also confronts those who believe America is suffering from imperial overstretch. Lefever presents these conflicting views and offers his perspective, one based primarily on his Judeo-Christian moral ethics, which developed over decades of experience and study.
*On the cusp of a new millennium, are we Americans prepared to accept the imperial burden that history has trust upon us? * Will America be the leading force for peace and freedom in the next century like it was in the present one? * Are we suffering from imperial overstretch or are we too divided or morally exhausted to be Lincolns last best hope of earth?. Ernest Lefever addresses these provocative questions with vigor and shrewd sense of history. His point of reference is the American idea embodied in the Founders and rooted in the Judeo-Christian moral tradition. Drawing on political thinkers from Aristotle and Thucydides to Edmund Burke and Tocqueville, he describes himself as a humane realist.After a brief review of Americans encounter with the external worldfrom Manifest Destiny to Pearl HarborLefever focuses on World War II, the Cold War, The Persian Gulf crisis, and beyond. Attentive to the issues of tyranny and freedom, he reviews the foreign polices of presidentsfrom Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. He also comments on their critics, especially academics and religious leaders.Looking back, the author argues that writ large, America, despite its internal flaws and external blunders, has borne its imperial burden with a singular sense of responsibility.
America has not sought to dominate other peoples and has treated its former adversaries with compassion.As the preeminent world power, says Lefever, America has an inescapable responsibility. He takes on assorted isolationists, declinists, multilateralists, and neo-Wilsonian interventionists, all of whom, in his view, fail to recognize this responsibility.Can we accept our heavy burden with courage and without hubris? Is America living in the last days of Rome or the twilight of the British Empire?Lefever is guardedly hopeful. If we return to our roots and replicate our performance since Pearl Harbor, America stands a good chance of remaining the chief guardian of liberty and decency well into the twenty-first century.
- ISBN10 0813399998
- ISBN13 9780813399997
- Publish Date 24 September 1998
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Out of Print 25 May 2000
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc
- Imprint Westview Press Inc
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 208
- Language English