American Exceptionalism Reconsidered

This book takes on the myths surrounding US foreign policy and the future of world order. Weighing impulses toward parochial nationalism against the ideal of cosmopolitan internationalism, the authors posit that what may be emerging is a new brand of American foreign policy that gives primacy to national self-interest but with considerable interest in universal human rights. Exceptions like Libya and Syria provide case studies for critical analysis and allow the authors to look to emerging dominant powers for indicators of new challenges to the commitment to universal human rights and humanitarian affairs in the context of the ongoing clash between liberalism and realism.