- Paperback: 216 pages
- Publisher: Princeton University Press; New edition edition (July 26 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0691010358
- ISBN-13: 978-0691010359
- Product Dimensions: 23.3 x 15.5 x 1.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 299 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #406,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Fareed Zakaria, the managing editor of Foreign Affairs, tries to understand why the United States decided in 1898 that it was time to start acting like a world power. His answer lies in the transference of the government's main power from Congress, which was concerned primarily with the needs of its individual constituencies, to a presidency occupied by dynamic leaders such as Benjamin Harrison and Theodore Roosevelt, who once declared that "when the interests of the American people demanded that a certain act should be done, and I had the power to do it, I did it unless it was specifically prohibited by law."
The lessons Zakaria learns from the example of America have useful applications to contemporary political science; one might consider, for example, the ways in which a politically unified Germany or a economically powerful Japan differs from the 19th-century America that was politically and economically strong; the presence of both qualities would appear to be required for a nation to flex its muscles on the international scene. Although it never quite completely answers the "why," From Wealth to Power does extremely well on the "how" and the even more important "so?" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
[From Wealth to Power's] tightly argued thesis addresses a question sure to be revisited.... Its conclusions are both provocative and full of implications for the world today. -- Walter A. McDougall, The New York Times Book Review
Mr. Zakaria persuasively illustrates [his] argument by examining America's emergence as a great power.... [His] account of turn-of-the-century American diplomacy is concise and insightful. -- Aaron L. Friedberg, The Wall Street Journal
A significant contribution to the study of international relations. -- "Choice
Mr. Zakaria persuasively illustrates [his] argument by examining America's emergence as a great power.... [His] account of turn-of-the-century American diplomacy is concise and insightful. -- Aaron L. Friedberg, The Wall Street Journal
A significant contribution to the study of international relations. -- "Choice
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First Sentence
WHAT TURNS rich nations into "great powers"? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
WHAT TURNS rich nations into "great powers"? Read the first page
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Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good realist perspective but...,
By
This review is from: From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role (Paperback)
Zakaria's insights seem relevant to the on-going debates on offensive/defensive realism. But he has very misguided views on defensive realism. "State-centered realism" is nothing new to the realists' general perspective on state-centered systemic determinism which even most of the defensive realists regard as essential. By combining US foreign policy history with his proclaimed theory - isn't he in fact making a case for defensive realism?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews) 38 of 41 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
a great overview of early U.S. foreign policy,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role (Hardcover)
the author has two separate agendas. One is to contribute to theoretical debates among academic political scientists; the other is to tell the story of America's rise to global power between the Civil War and World War I. The theoretical stuff seems right but is pretty arcane; the history, on the other hand, is very well told and intelligently structured. It'll definitely make you think. Plus, the whole thing is written beautifully.
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The growth of the American state, and of American power,
By N. Tsafos - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role (Paperback)
"What turns rich nations into great powers," asks Fareed Zakaria in his opening line; he attempts to answer that question by examining American foreign policy from 1865 to 1908 observing that the period from 1865 to 1889 featured few expansive ventures, though that from 1890 to 1908 saw plenty expansions.Mr. Zakaria, now the editor of Newsweek, wrote "From Wealth to Power" for his doctoral dissertation. Hence the tone of the work is largely academic, with plenty of references to academic debates and literature reviews. All the same, the text is accessible and hardly ever esoteric; the academic density is likely to add to rather than subtract from the enjoyment of reading the book. What of the thesis itself? Mr. Zakaria approaches his period of examination from two alternative angles, both of which are used in the international relations literature to explain why nations expand: realism and defensive realism. The former places emphasis on why and when states choose to expand by focusing on an innate drive to power, tempered by practicability and opportunity; the latter maintains that states expand when they are faced with threats. Mr. Zakaria, it turns out, is content with neither of the two propositions. What best explains this period of American foreign policy, he contends, is a variation of realism: state-centered realism (SCR). The important qualification of SCR is that it accounts for power conversion-the ability of the state apparatus to convert national resources into stated government objectives. This approach, Mr. Zakaria continues, applies to the American case because although the American nation was strong from 1865 to 1908, only when the state and its bureaucracy were streamlined was America able to pursue an ambitious foreign policy (from 1890 onward). The thesis is elegant, the argument tightly argued, and the prose clear and concise. Occasionally, Mr. Zakaria attacks defensive realism by refuting arguments that some defensive realists would rarely make; but this is rare and cannot distract from the convincingness of the his overall thesis: that it was the rise of the American state that helped America convert its vast national wealth into international influence. Anyone seeking to understand that period of American foreign policy, or the overall theoretical question, can hardly do better than read "From Wealth to Power." 25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A provocative retelling of American history,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role (Hardcover)
Zakaria explains why America became a world power in the "unusual," halting, delayed manner that it did. This book puts the events of 1898 and the diplomacy of Teddy Roosevelt in a fascinating light. He restores the fame and reputation of one of the great American statesmen -- William Henry Seward. And I agree with the other reviews -- it's *very* well written with interesting, well chosen anecdotes.
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