Power, Profit and Prestige: A History of American Imperial Expansion

Power, Profit and Prestige applies incisive historical and sociological analysis to make sense of the United States' post-Cold War imperial behavior. Philip Golub studies imperial identity formation and shows how an embedded culture of force and expansion has shaped American foreign policy. He argues that the US logic of world power and deeply rooted assumptions about American primacy inhibits democratic transformation at domestic and international levels. This resistance to change may lead the US empire into a crisis of its own making. This enlightening book will be particularly useful to students of history and international relations as they explore a world where America is no longer able to set the global agenda

Cover -- Contents -- List of Tables -- List of Figures -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- 1. Introduction -- EXPANSIONIST BEHAVIOUR -- A HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH -- THEORISING AMERICAN EMPIRE -- AN INDETERMINATE FUTURE -- STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK -- 2. The American Empire in its World Historical Setting -- A PLURAL AND POLYCENTRIC WORLD ECONOMY -- THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF WESTERN GLOBAL EXPANSION -- GLOBALISATION AND WAR -- THE UNITED STATES IN THE TRANSATLANTIC IMPERIAL SYSTEM -- 3. A Taste of Blood in the Jungle: The Late Nineteenth Century -- THE US: AN 'ACTIVE UNIT' -- OVERSEAS IMPERIALISM -- INTER-IMPERIAL LINKS AND RIVALRIES -- WILSON, LIBERAL INTERNATIONALISM AND ULTRA-IMPERIALISM -- 4. The Hierarchies of Pax Americana -- SUPPLANTING BRITAIN -- THE TRIPARTITE IMPERIAL SYSTEM -- EUROPE: THE HEGEMONIC FRONTIER -- AUTHORITARIAN MERCANTILISM: THE EAST ASIAN FRONTIER -- DISCIPLINING THE FAR EMPIRE -- 5. Power and Plenty in the Post-Cold War -- THE IMPERIUM BELLICUM AMERICANUM -- AVERTING DECLINE -- ACTOR DESIGNS AND STRUCTURAL CONSTRAINTS -- POST-COLD WAR OPTIONS -- THE LIBERAL INTERLUDE -- 6. Striving for Global Monopoly -- A BROAD IDEATIONAL TREND -- GLOBAL EXPANSIONISM AND NATIONALISM -- LIMITLESS GOALS -- LIBERAL IMPERIALISM, COLONIAL REPRESENTATIONS -- 7. Losing Control -- WAR AND GLOBALISATION -- THE CRISIS OF AMERICAN POWER -- ACCENTUATING CENTRIFUGAL TRENDS -- CHINA'S EMERGING ROLE -- CHALLENGE TO US DOMINANCE -- 8. Conclusion: Order, Hierarchy and Pluralism -- IMPERIAL COSMOLOGIES -- LOGIC OF WORLD POWER -- PATHWAYS OF CHANGE -- LONG EXIT FROM EMPIRE -- PLURALIST COOPERATION -- Notes -- Select Bibliography -- Index.