THE IMPERIAL TEMPTATION

A polemic harshly critical of the Bush Administration's ``New World Order'' for the post-cold-war era. Tucker (American Foreign Policy/Johns Hopkins Univ.) and Hendrickson (Political Science/Colorado College) propose that the end of the cold war has, ironically, led the US to feel far freer to use its awesome military might than in the days of balance of power between the Soviet Union and America. The authors contend that the Soviet Union's disintegration has removed the major threat to our nation's security, and they are alarmed by what they see as the Bush Administration's eagerness to use armed force rather than diplomacy to solve world crises. Tucker and Hendrickson score Bush for having waged war against Iraq rather than continuing sanctions, and they further argue that, once the US was committed to battle, Saddam Hussein should have been ousted from power. Excoriating the notion of ``preventive war,'' the two political scientists interpret Bush's alleged bellicosity as a threat to the ``soul'' of America and the democratic ideals established by the Founding Fathers. They conclude that America needs to return to these original ideals. Tucker and Hendrickson write in an easy, cogent style rare among political scientists, but their idealism may overrun their pragmatism in applying to today's nuclear world principles elaborated in a simpler, safer time.