“What is the Purpose of American Power?”
with Dr. Samuel Goldman and Dr. Kenneth Weinstein
The United States emerged from World War II as one the world’s two great superpowers. After decades of Cold War competition, the Soviet Union collapsed. This left the United States in a position of dominance on the world stage and, in theory, with an opportunity to ensure that progress toward democracy and human rights was made throughout the world. But citizens of the United States have rarely sought to make America an empire; moreover, the 21st century experience of costly, asymmetric conflicts has quelled the appetite of Americans to spend blood and treasure on foreign interventions. Some argue that an American consensus, uniting strong voices on the left and the right, is emerging that says America should focus its energies on domestic challenges and leave off any effort to, in the words of John Quincy Adams, “go abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” This is true even as most analysts see a new emerging superpower threat rising in the form of communist China.
In this three session mini-course, we will read essays that think deeply about the purpose of American Power. How narrowly should we understand the idea of “American Interests?” And when, if ever, should we step outside of the paradigm of interests and allow that our moral values should shape our foreign policy?
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Walter Russell Mead, “The New Israel and the Old”
Series: What is the Purpose of American Power? | Click here to read the essay
Teddy Roosevelt, “The Strenuous Life”
Series: What is the Purpose of American Power? | Click here to read the essay
Reinhold Niebuhr, “The American Future”
Series: What is the Purpose of American Power? | Click here to read the essay
Dr. Samuel Goldman
Associate Professor of Political Science at George Washington University
Samuel Goldman is an associate professor of political science at George Washington University, where he is also executive director of the John L. Loeb, Jr. Institute for Religious Freedom and director of the Politics & Values Program. His first book God’s Country: Christian Zionism in America was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2018. His next book, After Nationalism was published in Spring 2021. Goldman received his Ph.D. from Harvard, and taught at Harvard and Princeton before coming to GW. In addition to his academic work, Goldman is a national correspondent at The Week and a contributing editor at The American Conservative. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.
Dr. Kenneth Weinstein
Hudson Institute
Kenneth R. Weinstein is the Walter P. Stern Distinguished Fellow at Hudson Institute. From 2011 through 2020, Dr. Weinstein served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Hudson Institute. Previously, Dr. Weinstein chaired the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the oversight body for U.S. Agency for Global Media, and was chair of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. A political theorist by training, his academic work focused on the early Enlightenment. Dr. Weinstein earned his B.A. in General Studies in the Humanities from the University of Chicago, D.E.A. in Soviet and Eastern European studies from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, and Ph.D. in government from Harvard University. He has taught on the faculty of Georgetown University and Claremont McKenna College.
