Research Catalog

Title

A search for enemies : America's alliances after the cold war / Ted Galen Carpenter.

Author

Carpenter, Ted Galen

Publication

Washington, D.C. : Cato Institute, c1992.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

viii, 238 p.; 24 cm.

Summary

"The passing of the Cold War is the most important development of the late 20th century, yet the United States clings tenaciously to old policies. Both the Bush administration and Democratic leaders have insisted on perpetuating a host of obsolete alliances, including NATO and the alliance with Japan, which cost American taxpayers nearly $150 billion a year. Ted Galen Carpenter, director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, offers a provocative critique of that status quo strategy." "Although Washington's outdated alliances have no real adversary or credible mission, Carpenter says, they hold the potential to embroil the United States in obscure conflicts, ethnic and otherwise, that have little relevance to America's legitimate security concerns. As an alternative, he proposes "strategic independence," under which the United States would act only to defend vital interests - the republic's physical integrity, political independence, or domestic liberty." "Carpenter calls for "the foreign policy equivalent of zero-based budgeting," insisting that because of the dramatic changes in the world caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union, "all alliances must be justified anew, regardless of any utility they may have had during the Cold War." He places under the microscope America's multilateral treaty obligations to defend other nations - NATO; ANZUS, which links the United States, Australia, and New Zealand; and the Rio Treaty, which provides a collective defense arrangement for the Western Hemisphere. He also examines four important bilateral security agreements - with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Pakistan. This is the book on a new foreign policy for the United States."--Jacket.

Subject

• Alliances
• United States > Foreign relations > 1989-
• United States > Foreign relations > 1989-1993

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-230) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

NATO : a cold war anachronism -- Japan : smothering an ally -- Korea : the perpetual protectorate -- Other obsolete East Asian commitments : ANZUS and the Philippines -- Pakistan : the perilous connection -- The Rio Treaty : disguising U.S. hegemony -- Global stability and domestic vested interests -- Declaring America's strategic independence.

ISBN

• 0932790968 (cloth) :
• 093279095X (paper) :

LCCN

^^^92036517^

OCLC

26854742

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library