This book re-examines the character of the USA and re-evaluates its relationship to the post-Cold War international order. The USA has often been seen as a model of democratic liberty, a vehement opponent of colonialism and the ''lone superpower'' of the post-Cold War world. This book challenges all these views. Unlike previous studies of the post-Cold War role of the USA it connects US domestic affairs to systemic changes often characterized entirely in terms of the ''fall of Communism''.
