The US moved from being a British colony to
being a major international actor in less than a century. After a further fifty
years in which the US played a decisive role in securing allied victories in
two world wars, the new republic was the number one power in the world. Unlike
post-1918, when it turned its back on the world, the US became actively engaged
in world politics after 1945. It became the principal opponent of communism, engaged
in a continuing ideological battle with the Soviet Union (and communist China),
and built up a massive national security apparatus to deal with the threat.
With
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the US had clearly won the Cold War.
But
could it change the mindset developed during these four decades? What kind of world
would await the sole remaining superpower? Would the end of the Soviet threat usher
in a ‘‘new world order’’ or would the end of bipolarity lead to more conflict in
the world? Throughout its history, the US had veered between isolationism and
inter-nationalism, between idealism and realism, between protectionism and free
trade. How would it respond to the challenges of the post-Cold War world,
especially terrorism?
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