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    The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris
    The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris
    The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris
    Audiobook18 hours

    The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris

    Written by Peter Beinart

    Narrated by John Morgan

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    About this audiobook

    “Peter Beinart has written a vivid, empathetic, and convincing history of the men and ideas that have shaped the ambitions of American foreign policy during the last century—a story in which human fallibility and idealism flow together. The story continues, of course, and so his book is not only timely; it is indispensable.” — Steve Coll, author of Ghost Wars

    Peter Beinart's provocative account of hubris in the American century describes Washington on the eve of three wars: World War I, Vietnam, and Iraq—three moments when American leaders decided they could remake the world in their image. Each time, leading intellectuals declared that the spread of democracy was inevitable. Each time, a president held the nation in the palm of his hand. And each time, a war conceived in arrogance brought tragedy.

    But each catastrophe also imparted wisdom to a new generation of thinkers. These leaders learned to reconcile the American belief that anything is possible with the realities of a world that will never fully conform to this country's will—and in their struggles lie the seeds of American renewal today.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJun 1, 2010
    ISBN9780062016867
    Author

    Peter Beinart

    Peter Beinart is an associate professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. He is the senior political writer for The Daily Beast and a contributor to Time. Beinart is a former fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of The Good Fight. He lives with his family in Washington, D.C.

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    • 5/5
      Given the influence America has on the world, and the damage and destruction for which it has been responsible at times, this should be required listening for all citizens before they are allowed to vote. An amazing historical walk through the psychology, theory and underpinning of 20th century American foreign policy. Fascinating insights into the approach of many Presidents with lots of surprises that will upset conventional hawk v dove and liberal v conservative thinking. It also addresses the very influential writers, government workers and experts who shaped and changed the approaches in each era. Unfortunately it does not address in much detail foreign policy in Latin America, a geographical region in which America has contributed greatly to the conflict and strife. It also does not address international law aspects, particularly the UN Charter that was so carefully crafted after WWII to prohibit international aggression save with approval of the UN Security Council. It is also written pre-Obama era, so if you are fascinated by what has since happened then you will have to look elsewhere. Lastly, it does not focus on the mayhem and damage done in so many states around the world, but rather on the effects of things domestically; but perhaps that is beyond the scope of the writer's intent. Overall, wonderful piece, with nice modest use of emotion by the narrator to capture some ironical moments when, on many occasions, policy approaches went badly wrong.