Description
Book SynopsisThinking History, Fighting Evil presents the most thorough exploration to date of how World War II analogies, particularly those focused on the Holocaust, have colored American foreign policy-making after 9/11. In particular, this book highlights how influential neoconservatives inside and outside the Bush administration used analogies of the Good War to reinterpret domestic and international events, often with disastrous consequences. On the surface, World War II promotes a simple but compelling range of images and symbols: valiant Roosevelts and Churchills, appeasing Chamberlains, evil Hitlers, Jewish victims, European bystanders, and American liberators. However, the simplistic use of analogies was precisely what doomed the neoconservative project to failure. This book explores the misuse of ten key analogies arising from World War II and charts their problematic deployment after the 9/11 attacks. Divided into eight chapters, Thinking History, Fighting Evil engages with timely issu
Trade ReviewCombining conceptual rigor and detailed empirical application, this outstanding book shows how the ‘lessons of history’ continue to shape the perceptions of policies of American decision-makers. In particular, Thinking History, Fighting Evil provides some timely insight into the strategic miscalculations of the American neo-Conservatives during the Bush era. -- Robert Patman, University of Ontago
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Part 1. Analogies in U.S. Foreign Policy Chapter 3 Chapter 1. Thinking History: Analogies and Schemas in International Politics Chapter 4 Chapter 2. Fighting Evil: The Hebrew Shema and the Munich Analogy Chapter 5 Chapter 3. World War II Analogies in American Politics Part 6 Part 2. Neoconservatives and Historical Analogies Chapter 7 Chapter 4. Neoconservatives and the American Weimar Chapter 8 Chapter 5. Islam, the Holocaust, and the New Cold War Chapter 9 Chapter 6. Swastikas in the Sand?: Neoconservatives and the War in Iraq Part 10 Part 3. Anti-Americanism and the War on Terror Chapter 11 Chapter 7. Righteous Victims: The Pathologies of Anti-Americanism Chapter 12 Chapter 8. Near Enemies: The European Collaborators Chapter 13 Conclusions
