Haunted by History
Haunted by History

Author: Cyril Buffet

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 9781571819406

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This book explores the origin and propagation of myths in international relations. The 16 contributions demonstrate how formative historical events are often transformed into handy cliche s which are subsequently drawn on by politicians and journalists who apply these simplistic patterns to current events. Myths discussed include the Spanish Civil War, Yalta, British difference, and the German Sonderweg. The book focuses on the relationship of these myths to current policy-making. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Churchill Complex
The Churchill Complex

Author: Ian Buruma

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2020-09-01

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0525522204

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"From one of its keenest observers, a brilliant, witty journey through the "special relationship" between England and America which has done so much to shape the world, from World War 2 to Brexit, through the lens of the fateful bonds between President and Prime Minister"--

Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship
Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship

Author: Richard Aldous

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2012-03-19

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 0393083152

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An iconic friendship, an uneasy alliance—a revisionist account of the couple who ended the Cold War. For decades historians have perpetuated the myth of a "Churchillian" relationship between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, citing their longtime alliance as an example of the "special" bond between the United States and Britain. But, as Richard Aldous argues in this penetrating dual biography, Reagan and Thatcher clashed repeatedly—over the Falklands war, Grenada, and the SDI and nuclear weapons—while carefully cultivating a harmonious image for the public and the press. With the stakes enormously high, these political titans struggled to work together to confront the greatest threat of their time: the USSR. Brilliantly reconstructing some of their most dramatic encounters, Aldous draws on recently declassified documents and extensive oral history to dismantle the popular conception of Reagan-Thatcher diplomacy. His startling conclusion—that the weakest link in the Atlantic Alliance of the 1980s was the association between the two principal actors—will mark an important contribution to our understanding of the twentieth century.

The Myth of American Exceptionalism
The Myth of American Exceptionalism

Author: Godfrey Hodgson

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780300125702

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The idea that the United States is destined to spread its unique gifts of democracy and capitalism to other countries is dangerous for Americans and for the rest of the world, warns Godfrey Hodgson in this provocative book. Hodgson, a shrewd and highly respected British commentator, argues that America is not as exceptional as it would like to think; its blindness to its own history has bred a complacent nationalism and a disastrous foreign policy that has isolated and alienated it from the global community. Tracing the development of America’s high self regard from the early days of the republic to the present era, Hodgson demonstrates how its exceptionalism has been systematically exaggerated and—in recent decades—corrupted. While there have been distinct and original elements in America’s history and political philosophy, notes Hodgson, these have always been more heavily influenced by European thought and experience than Americans have been willing to acknowledge. A stimulating and timely assessment of how America’s belief in its exceptionalism has led it astray, this book is mandatory reading for its citizens, admirers, and detractors.

White Fragility
White Fragility

Author: Dr. Robin DiAngelo

Publisher: Beacon Press

Published: 2018-06-26

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 0807047422

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The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality. In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’ (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

American Big Business in Britain and Germany
American Big Business in Britain and Germany

Author: Volker R. Berghahn

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-05-04

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 1400850290

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While America's relationship with Britain has often been deemed unique, especially during the two world wars when Germany was a common enemy, the American business sector actually had a greater affinity with Germany for most of the twentieth century. American Big Business in Britain and Germany examines the triangular relationship between the American, British, and German business communities and how the special relationship that Britain believed it had with the United States was supplanted by one between America and Germany. Volker Berghahn begins with the pre-1914 period and moves through the 1920s, when American investments supported German reconstruction rather than British industry. The Nazi seizure of power in 1933 led to a reversal in German-American relations, forcing American corporations to consider cutting their losses or collaborating with a regime that was inexorably moving toward war. Although Britain hoped that the wartime economic alliance with the United States would continue after World War II, the American business community reconnected with West Germany to rebuild Europe’s economy. And while Britain thought they had established their special relationship with America once again in the 1980s and 90s, in actuality it was the Germans who, with American help, had acquired an informal economic empire on the European continent. American Big Business in Britain and Germany uncovers the surprising and differing relationships of the American business community with two major European trading partners from 1900 through the twentieth century.

The Special Relationship Between Great Britain and the USA - Myth Or Reality?
The Special Relationship Between Great Britain and the USA - Myth Or Reality?

Author: Jan Fichtner

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2007-06

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 3638652491

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Intermediate Examination Paper from the year 2003 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Miscellaneous, grade: 2,3 (B), University of Göttingen, language: English, abstract: Winston Churchill coined the term Special Relationship in his famous speech in Fulton, Missouri in 1946. This term characterises the unparalleled close Anglo-American relations during the Second World War and in the time thereafter. The shared perception that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union constituted major external threats to their well-being bound the societies and leaderships of Great Britain and the United States together. The looming menace ceased to exist after the break-up of the Soviet Union and the demise of Communism, and for several authors so did the raison d ́être of the Special Relationship as well. It was more however that brought these two countries together than the shared perception of a communist threat. Why is it that "neither country has fully adjusted its mind to thinking of the members of the other society as foreigners", and that Americans still refer to Britain as the "mother country" every now and then? Why do certain authors call Britain the "fortified outpost of the Anglo-Saxon race" or the "unsinkable aircraft carrier"? And is it just by chance that fictional author George Orwell calls Britain "Airstrip One" and associates it with North America in his novel "1984"? Is it a coincidence or are these - admittedly vague - expressions signs of subtle yet overarching bonds between the two countries? This work will analyse and discuss various aspects of Anglo-American relations. The apparent cooperation in the fields of foreign and security policy will be assessed, as well as the more disguised realm of military and intelligence collaboration. Following is a chapter about two aspects that dominate our time, economy and business in the Anglo-American relationship. The last chapter attempts to illuminate the obscure field of "private" relations between th

Grand Strategy and Military Alliances
Grand Strategy and Military Alliances

Author: Peter R. Mansoor

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2016-02-09

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 1107136024

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A broad-ranging study of the relationship between alliances and the conduct of grand strategy, examined through historical case studies.

The Prodigal Tongue
The Prodigal Tongue

Author: Lynne Murphy

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2018-04-10

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1524704881

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CHOSEN BY THE ECONOMIST AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR An American linguist teaching in England explores the sibling rivalry between British and American English “English accents are the sexiest.” “Americans have ruined the English language.” Such claims about the English language are often repeated but rarely examined. Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, Murphy unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language. With great humo(u)r and new insights, Lynne Murphy looks at the social, political and linguistic forces that have driven American and British English in different directions: how Americans got from centre to center, why British accents are growing away from American ones, and what different things we mean when we say estate, frown, or middle class. Is anyone winning this war of the words? Will Yanks and Brits ever really understand each other?

The 9.9 Percent
The 9.9 Percent

Author: Matthew Stewart

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2021-10-12

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1982114207

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A “brilliant” (The Washington Post), “clear-eyed and incisive” (The New Republic) analysis of how the wealthiest group in American society is making life miserable for everyone—including themselves. In 21st-century America, the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution have walked away with the big prizes even while the bottom 90% have lost ground. What’s left of the American Dream has taken refuge in the 9.9% that lies just below the tip of extreme wealth. Collectively, the members of this group control more than half of the wealth in the country—and they are doing whatever it takes to hang on to their piece of the action in an increasingly unjust system. They log insane hours at the office and then turn their leisure time into an excuse for more career-building, even as they rely on an underpaid servant class to power their economic success and satisfy their personal needs. They have segregated themselves into zip codes designed to exclude as many people as possible. They have made fitness a national obsession even as swaths of the population lose healthcare and grow sicker. They have created an unprecedented demand for admission to elite schools and helped to fuel the dramatic cost of higher education. They channel their political energy into symbolic conflicts over identity in order to avoid acknowledging the economic roots of their privilege. And they have created an ethos of “merit” to justify their advantages. They are all around us. In fact, they are us—or what we are supposed to want to be. In this “captivating account” (Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone), Matthew Stewart argues that a new aristocracy is emerging in American society and it is repeating the mistakes of history. It is entrenching inequality, warping our culture, eroding democracy, and transforming an abundant economy into a source of misery. He calls for a regrounding of American culture and politics on a foundation closer to the original promise of America.