The Great League of Peace and Power: 250 Years of American Foreign Policy (American Political Thought)

An authoritative history of American foreign policy-published for the nation’s 250th anniversary-from a veteran scholar and teacher. The Great League of Peace and Power provides a lucid history of American foreign policy and international affairs from the Declaration of Independence in 1776 to its 250th anniversary in 2026.In this concise overview, David C. Hendrickson explores the principal ideas, debates, and strategic challenges that continue to shape today’s wars, alliances, and global commitments. Hendrickson rejects the idea that America’s traditional policy of independence was “isolationist,” as it had internationalist elements from the beginning.The Founders wanted a new order in North America that would be the antitype of the European system of venomous rivalry among states.Twentieth-century leaders built a system of collective defense that, after the end of the Cold War, morphed into a universal empire, often with disastrous results. At the heart of this story are fierce dome