THE AMERICAN EMPIRE

by Amaury de Riencourt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 28, 1968

M. de Riencourt, a self-styled Tocqueville, has already projected America as the new Imperial Rome (The Coming Caesars-1957). Here he attempts to assess the universal significance of the American empire. With a hint of cultivated Gallic umbrage, the author examines the arenas of U.S. world power, reflecting on the ""other"" (holier?) empire at every turin After rapidly revealing the basic self-interest of American foreign policy, he sums up the stages of its success in replacing the power vacuums left by the European empires. The well-known tactic of this takeover is the simplistic division of the world into free and Communist spheres. Phases of their ""assisted destiny"" are outlined, and specific entanglements (Korea, Vietnam) are treated in more detail. The book becomes a general tract about world balance of power at this Empir-ical juncture. It predicts a ""Great Condominium"" in which Russia will control a secondary, only mildly antagonistic, power block. He remains fatalistic without being pessimistic, but only provides a survey of the reaches of American influence. Rather than real insight into the American Empire, one is left with only the reinforced knowledge that it exists.

Pub Date: Aug. 28, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dial

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION