Justyna Janicka

Janicka, Justyna

Università del Salento: ESE - Salento University Publishing

  Interdisciplinary Political Studies http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/idps  ISSN: 2039-8573 (electronic version) IdPS, Issue 4(1) 2018: 229-231 DOI: 10.1285/ i20398573v4n1p229 Published on July 15, 2018 BOOK REVIEW The Making Of Unipolar Moment: U.S. Foreign Policy And The Rise Of The Post‐Cold War Order, by Hal Brands. Itha-ca: Cornell University Press, 2016, p. 480. Justyna Janicka  Bournemouth University The unipolar moment is the rise of the United States to sole superpower of the world after the end of the Cold War. The U.S. dominated the world as no state did. Brands’ book becomes a remarkable reflection on the United States’ standing in the world and an eye-opening account that challenges the pervasive and now tired notion that America is on the decline. In Making the Unipolar Moment: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Rise of the Post–Cold War Order, Hal Brands presents an impressive and comprehensive analysis to better understand the unipolar moment in the 1990s and explains why it is necessary to trace America's ascent back to historical phenomena in the 1970s. It challenges many widespread notions about the lead-up to the collapse of the Soviet Union, particularly the deep structural shifts within global politics occurring in the 1970s and the role of President Jimmy Carter.  At the heart of Brands’ analysis is an examination of three-decades, where he argues that U.S. foreign policy rebounded from a disastrous war in Vietnam, oil-price shocks, and increasing volatility in the Middle East. In the shadow of the third Work licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non commercial-Share alike 3.0 Italian License  IdPS, ISSN: 2039-8573 - Copyright © 2017 - University of Salento, SIBA: http://siba-ese.unisalento.it Interdisciplinary Political Studies, 4(1) 2018: 229-231, DOI: 10.1285/ i20398573v4n1p229 wave of democratization, Brands notes that the decline of the Soviet system, the globalisation and a free market strategy revitalised the U.S. economy and enlarged its global dominance. U.S. policymakers embraced them to U.S. advantage. For ex-ample, the Carter Administration lacked a consistent and coherent foreign policy orientation. By contrast, Reagan helped bring an end to the 46-year-old Cold War, through a combination of hostile, anti-communist rhetoric and a massive arms buildup followed by skillful diplomacy and disarmament. Finally, Brands acknowl-edges George H.W. Bush’s achievements in foreign policy issues such as negotiating the reunification of Germany, helping to ease the end of the Soviet domination, prosecuting the Persian Gulf war.  “Making the Unipolar Moment” also explains about Soviet decline, nuclear competition, culmination of neoliberal economic policies, and Third World con-flicts. Brands stresses the use of economic, military and political power and the ex-ercise of diplomacy. However, Brands recognises that United States foreign policy encompasses many failures and shortcomings. For example, he argues that Reagan left a complicated arms control legacy behind and systematically disregarded human rights and democracy in his policies.  Central to Brands’s account is that it was a combination of structure - that turned global affairs sharply to U.S. advantage - , and strategy that ultimately led to an era of American supremacy. Herein lies the importance of the book. He demon-strates how external international factors influence foreign policy and provides a de-tailed account of the role and effect that foreign policy has on decision-making. Brands confirms that America has pursued an ambitious and deeply engaged grand strategy meant to shape the global order during and post-Cold War period.  American domination is based on the fact that it is the only country with the military, diplomatic, political and economic assets to be a decisive player in any conflict in whatever part of the world it chooses to involve itself.  230  Justyna Janicka, The Making Of Unipolar Moment  Overall, Brands’ research and sound analysis produce a very valuable study that fills an important gap in the historical knowledge of American foreign policy and the emergence of US preponderance during the latter half of the twentieth cen-tury throughout all six chapters. At a time when American grand strategy often seems consumed by crisis, this books provides an invaluable guide to thinking about both the recent past and the future of America’s role in the world. Justyna Janicka   231  

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The Making Of Unipolar Moment: U.S. Foreign Policy And The Rise Of The Post‐Cold War Order, by Hal Brands. Itha-ca: Cornell University Press, 2016, p. 480

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The Making Of Unipolar Moment: U.S. Foreign Policy And The Rise Of The Post‐Cold War Order, by Hal Brands. Itha-ca: Cornell University Press, 2016, p. 480

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Università del Salento: ESE - Salento University Publishing

ESE - Salento University Publishing

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