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Tracing The Eagle's Orbit: Illuminating Insights Into Major US Foreign Policies Since Independence

by Gautam Maitra

262 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #06-2428; ISBN 1-4251-0670-6; US$20.23, C$23.26, EUR15.77, £10.46

About the Book

Like the Eagle, the United States roves round a definite orbit defined by its foreign policies. It has its own set of values and principles, interests and goals that form the bedrock of its foreign policies guided by the Declaration of Independence. These values and principles, serve as lodestar that help keep the United States flying towards the furthest points in that orbit through the efforts towards the completion of the still unfinished jobs of the Declaration and the War of Independence.

The perimeters of these concentric circles happen to be those crucial phases that America attained through the successful conduct of its foreign policies at the various crossroads in that independent nation's journey towards the future.

The combined sagacity and 'burning will' of the American founding fathers triggered off a 'political' big bang that not only caused a great upheaval in the geopolitical foundations of European monarchic powers but also made American thoughts and ideals so powerful a 'religion' as to pervade the entire landmass of our planet for quite sometime to come.

With the abrupt termination of the bipolar world order in the early 1990s, the scepter of the dark and the chaotic Middle Age loomed. Instead of deciding to 'rule' the rest of the world by the power of sword that had characterized the Middle Age or instead of cornering the gains of modern scientific-technological inventions through colonial 'ploys' that had possessed several erstwhile European powers, ever-dynamic United States rather set on a post modern, neo-liberal course. As a result, 'non-imperial' United States now faces a dilemma in shaping the rest of the world in its own image. This book is unique in that it goes to the heart of that riddle.

Reviews

"Mr. Gautam Maitra's book is not only a learned interpretation of US foreign policy and its impact on the global arena during the last two hundred years but also a very interesting intellectual experiment. The reader has the chance to get an informed analysis of the nature and history of US foreign policy written by an author who, by his own account, is a "non-Westerner", who lives "far away from North America" and whose take on his topic is different from the standard interpretations popularized by the Western mass media and pundits. Even more remarkable, while avoiding the risk of being a mere echo of the standard Western rhetoric, the author also manages to circumvent the clichés associated with the non-Western, "Third-world" perspective's contrived interpretations of international affairs. The result is a truly fascinating document: a complex international relations analysis and at the same time a case study in non-orthodox thinking in foreign affairs analysis and commentary. The alert reader is surprised to discover a unique combination of original insights and reinterpretations of traditional themes in the literature. Yet, the author does not strive to be original for the sake of being original. He has an argument to make and he makes it with talent, insight, erudition, and much common sense. The assumption of his thesis is the notion that the emergence of independent America "triggered a tectonic shift in the geopolitical foundations of Europe and the reverberations and aftershocks still continue today on a global scale." We may say, writes Mr. Maitra, "that the 'American tide' generated by its founding fathers well over two centuries back through the Declaration of 4 July, 1776, and carried by the flood of subsequent events have, so far, led it into a position of world leadership. It remains to be seen where it ultimately leads America into: a permanent world leadership or its subsequent roll back into its own hemisphere." Built around this core argument are layers of interesting, original, or simply challenging observations that make Mr. Maitra's book a fascinating read for both the expert and the general public"

Paul Dragos Aligica
Hudson Institute and Mercatus Center at George Mason University

About the Author

The author, belonging to Calcutta, has made extensive studies stretching over decades on international relations. Based on various sources, the author has made every effort to ensure that the American foreign policies since independence are dealt with in an unbiased and incisive manner in this book.

Visit the author's personal website here: www.gautammaitra.com

Excerpts