The Best Laid Plans: The Origins of American Multilateralism and the Dawn of the Cold WarThe long-standing, but unresolved debate of the virtues and values of multilateralism vs. unilateralism in American foreign policy is critically important in today's complicated world. To understand the history of each approach is to understand their opportunities and challenges for the future. The Best Laid Plans answers two central questions. First, why did the United States embrace the principles and practices of liberal multilateralism during World War II? Second, why did it cling to this vision of world order despite the outbreak of the Cold War in the late 1940s, as the 'One World' that had been anticipated by U.S. postwar planners split into two rival global camps? The book contends that neither the U.S. turn to liberal multilateralism nor the persistence of this orientation during the Cold War can be attributed solely or even primarily to the global power structure or crude considerations of material self interest. Rather, Stewart Patrick argues that a combination of enduring identity commitments and new ideas, based on the lessons of recent, cataclysmic events, shaped the policy preferences of American central decision-makers in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations. Although the book is steeped in history, its conclusions have tremendous relevance for the contemporary era, when the United States once again finds itself at the apex of world power, and debates are rife about the role of multilateral cooperation in the realization of U.S. foreign policy objectives. |
Contents
Chapter 1 From Washington to Wilson | 1 |
From the Atlantic Charter to Dumbarton Oaks | 41 |
Creating the United Nations | 73 |
Opening the World Economy | 105 |
The Postwar Monetary and Trading System | 141 |
SelfDetermination | 173 |
Adapting Multilateralism to Containment | 213 |
Chapter 8 A World Economy Postponed | 231 |
The Origins of NATO | 267 |
The Search for a PostImperial Order | 297 |
Conclusion The Sources of American Conduct | 325 |
| 335 | |
| 353 | |
About the Author | 377 |
Other editions - View all
The Best Laid Plans: The Origins of American Multilateralism and the Dawn of ... Stewart Patrick No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
Acheson aggression agreement alliance allies American Article Asia Atlantic Charter balance bilateral Bretton Woods Britain British Cited Cold Cold War collective security colonial commercial commitment Conference Congress cooperation Cordell Hull countries Creation currency declared decolonization defense democratic Department diplomatic domestic dominant Dumbarton Oaks economic empire European France France's free trade Free World freedom French FRUS GATT global hegemony History imperial preference independence Indochina institutions integration International Organization internationalism internationalists isolationism isolationist leadership League Lend-Lease liberal internationalism loan London Marshall Plan Memoirs of Cordell ment military monetary Monnet Monnet Plan Moscow multilateral national security nationalist NATO negotiations Paris peace political postwar President principles regional Republican role RTAA Ruggie Second Chance self-determination Senate social sovereignty Soviet Union strategic tariffs territories tion trade liberalization Treaty Truman Administration trusteeship U.S. foreign policy U.S. officials unilateral United Nations University Press Vandenberg wartime Washington Western Europe Wilson world order World War II