Thursday, September 2, 2010

American Patriots

 No long dissertations on American politics or ethics today.  I don't have the skill or the time.  I did want to introduce two thinkers whose work I follow.  Like disheartened lovers, Bacevich and Power are having passionate arguments with the United States:
 
I first heard Andrew Bacevich in 2008 or 2009 speaking about his book, The Limits of Power:  The End of American Exceptionalism.  I consider him a historian specializing in American foreign policy.  I read The Limits of Power, agreeing with much, misunderstanding much.  An introduction to his theses (developed over several books) is this recent Salon essay, The unmaking of a company man.

I recommend that his work be read in tandem with Samantha Power's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide.  It's been several years since I read it but I thought of it because I see Power as an adherent of American exceptionalism (at least as it pertains to humanitarian actions).





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