The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy

Weak Power, Great Power, Superpower, Hyperpower

By: Michael Mandelbaum

Narrated by: Lyle Blaker

In The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy, Michael Mandelbaum offers a new framework for understanding the evolution of the foreign policy of the United States. He divides that evolution into four distinct periods, with each defined by the consistent increase in American power relative to other countries. His history of the four periods features engaging accounts of the major events and important personalities in the foreign policy of each era. Throughout, Mandelbaum highlights fundamental continuities in the goals of American foreign policy and in the way that policy was adopted and implemented. He portrays the United States, in its ascent, first as a weak power, from 1765 to 1865, then as a great power between 1865 and 1945, next as a superpower in the years 1945 to 1990, and finally as the world's sole hyperpower, from 1990 to 2015. He also presents three features of American foreign policy that are found in every era: first, the goal of disseminating the political ideas Americans have embraced from the first; second, the use of economic instruments in pursuit of the country's foreign policy goals; and third, a process for formulating policy and implementing decisions shaped by considerable popular influence. American foreign policy, as he puts it, has been unusually ideological, unusually economic, and unusually democratic.

©2022 Oxford University Press (P)2022 Tantor

fairly standard

For an introductory summary of Ameican foreign policy, it's quite good. Nothing revolutionary or particularly novel for anyone well read, but still worth a read/listen.

Expectations are everything

I heard about this book through an excellent presentation by Mandelbaum in a Council of Foreign Relation podcast (summer 2022). It was an engaging conversation and made me eager to read/hear the book. So I was surprised to read some reviews that said the book was good chiefly as an introductory textbook. I have to agree. How many stars one gives it depends on the reader's background. If you are interested in American history but don't have a background in foreign affairs, this book will be really informative. It is clearly and engagingly written. If, however, you are a specialist in foreign policy or a layperson who regularly reads about foreign affairs orAmerican history, you probably won't hear anything new. Expectations are everything. I had hoped Four Ages would be the sort of meta-history, like Kissinger's Diplomacy (five stars), or have the analysis of Mandelbaum's Frugal Superpower. Alas, it did not meet my expectations. So for me the content was three stars. However, were I new to diplomatic history it would merit four or possibly five stars.