Robert Strausz-Hupe - Böcker

Since World War I, the United States has pursued the defense of Western civilization as a critical element of its own national interest. In his provocative reconsideration of that goal, Robert Strausz-Hupe asks whether the American people can still agree upon and adopt foreign policies consistently devoted to that end. He specifically examines popular and paradoxical attitudes that often undermine Washington's ability to defend American and Western interests, attitudes towards society and the state, politics and government, instruments of foreign policy and the people who wield them.As the backdrop for his analysis, Strausz-Hupe employs the wisdom of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, reiterating Tocqueville's finding that the driving force of American life is its passion for equality and democracy. To this insight, Strausz-Hupe adds another: When one realizes that domestic politics is the driving force behind foreign policy, one understands why "the foreign policy of the United States cannot be other than the defense of democracy everywhere." Unlike some analysts, however, Strausz-Hupe believes that this proposition states only the problem for American statesmen not the answer. The answer, Strausz-Hupe concludes, lies in a universal federation of democratic states.In an appreciative foreword that examines the evolution of Strausz-Hupe thought, Walter A. McDougall demonstrates that this idealistic vision of a democratic world-state has been the unifying thread in Strausz-Hupe's intellectual career, not the calculating Realpolitik so often attributed to him.Democracy and American Foreign Policy will be of central importance to international relations specialists, policymakers, political scientists, and students of political philosophy. Its chapters include "Tocqueville and Nationalism"; "Tocqueville and Marx"; "The Hypocrisies of Egalitarianism"; "Foreign Policy and Interest Groups"; and "Isolationism and the New World Order."

In My Time is a vivid account of the fascinating life of Robert Strausz-Hupe, who served American presidents for twenty years in a variety of diplomatic posts. It is a life filled with both excitement and tragedy. In this autobiography, Strausz-Hupe covers a wide range of topics, including his youth in Vienna, his familial background, and his schooling. The author also discusses his emigration to the United States, describing his initial impressions of the country as well as how he viewed the changes that were occurring in American society and culture.Strausz-Hupe has written a poignant introduction for the republication of this volume. He explains how he reaches out to history for an explanation of who he is as an individual. Just as entire nations should learn from history, so should individuals, as Strausz-Hupe has attempted to do in his autobiography.Robert Strausz-Hupe is one of those increasingly rare, universally educated men whose minds conform only to their own beliefs and findings. His views of events such as the rise of German Nazism, or Chinese Communism, or the world of the theater in Europe between the two world wars are always fresh, exciting, and informed. In My Time will be enjoyed by all who read it, especially historians, political theorists, and policymakers.