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American Imperatives - by  Anders Stephanson (Paperback) - 1 of 1

American Imperatives - by Anders Stephanson (Paperback)

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Highlights

  • A radical reinterpretation of the Cold War by its most iconoclastic historian.
  • About the Author: Anders Stephanson, Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University, is the author of Kennan and the Art of Foreign Policy and Manifest Destiny.
  • 384 Pages
  • Philosophy, Political

Description



About the Book



"What was the Cold War? Conventional wisdom makes it coextensive with an epoch stretching from the end of the Second World War to the collapse of the Soviet Union, a geopolitical period dominated by the confrontation between the United States and the USSR. In a fundamental challenge to prevailing orthodoxy, Anders Stephanson explodes this misconception, which has misled historians and obscured the US-centered nature of the entire process"--



Book Synopsis



A radical reinterpretation of the Cold War by its most iconoclastic historian.

What was the cold war? Conventional wisdom makes it coextensive with an epoch stretching from the end of the Second World War to the collapse of the Soviet Union, a geopolitical period dominated by the confrontation between the United States and the USSR. In a fundamental challenge to prevailing orthodoxy, Anders Stephanson explodes this misconception, which has misled historians and obscured the US-centered nature of the entire process. He argues that "the cold war" is better understood as the frame that made the global role of the US after 1947 not only possible but imperative, and that in its classic form it ended in 1963, after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

American Imperatives does not assume that the causes of the great superpower rivalry rest solely with the United States. But the frame was unmistakably and ineradicably American. Without it, there would not have been, properly speaking, a cold war.



Review Quotes




"An indispensable book on the historical guises of the indispensable nation."
--Stephen Wertheim, author of Tomorrow, the World



About the Author



Anders Stephanson, Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University, is the author of Kennan and the Art of Foreign Policy and Manifest Destiny.
Dimensions (Overall): 9.2 Inches (H) x 6.0 Inches (W) x .9 Inches (D)
Weight: 1.0 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 384
Genre: Philosophy
Sub-Genre: Political
Publisher: Verso
Format: Paperback
Author: Anders Stephanson
Language: English
Street Date: July 15, 2025
TCIN: 1004182279
UPC: 9781784780562
Item Number (DPCI): 247-00-5185
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
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Estimated ship dimensions: 0.9 inches length x 6 inches width x 9.2 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 1 pounds
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