Source: Oxford University Press

In this controversial critique of America's role in the world, Lieven contends that U.S. foreign policy since 9/11 has been shaped by the special character of our national identity, which embraces two contradictory features, the American Creed and Jacksonian nationalism. Lieven examines how these two antithetical impulses have played out in recent US policy, especially in the Middle East and in the nature of U.S. support for Israel.  

About the Author

Anatol Lieven is senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment and is author of Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power. A journalist, writer, and historian, Lieven writes on a range of security and international affairs issues. Previously, he was editor of Strategic Comments, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London.

Reviews

"...a book different from most of this genre...sets out to find its answers not in the dialogue of the oval office but in the US's character and history. The great virtue of this book is that it is a reminder that the policies did not spring only from Bush's convictions, but are embedded in tradition."
—TIMES Online

"...provacative and scholarly work..."
—Publishers Weekly

"...America Right or Wrong shows a serious intellectual talent...asks important questions and makes readers review some of their own most cherished convictions."
—Washington Post Book World

“A searching examination of the deep-seated sources of American behavior, Anatol Leiven’s America Right or Wrong takes on what others evade-the topics that, whether for good or ill, make us who we are and provide the engine of U. S. foreign policy."
—Andrew J. Bacevich, Author of the forthcoming The New American Militarism