Globalizing of AMERICA, 1913-1945 is an instructional book. The author Akira Iriye delineates the trajectory of the American diplomatic course in these turbulent years when the world underwent two global wars. It was then that the United States transformed itself into the world’s political, economic, cultural and military leader surpassing Europe’s supremacy in the international arena. He explains that this transformation process gained momentum with the dominant role that the United States played in the construction of the post-war world order which reflected America’s cultural ideals and strategic interests shaping the standards of modern international relations and prescribing the way we create our foreign policies until today. In addition, the book demonstrates a shift the creation process of American foreign policies when they were now being produced in response to world events instead of national state of affairs. Iriye convenes that the phenomenon of globalization of American ideology emerged from this context and it has profoundly changed or as he calls it “Americanized” the world, as it looks at the United States as model of prosperity, liberty and democracy. He concludes that this Americanization of world may bring the opposite effect of what the United States had intended: international relations focusing on the promotion world stability.
The first chapters of the book describe the international system of the beginning of the twenty century which was dominated by European nation states. Iriye described Europe as a divided continent with nation states that were in constant state of war with each other. That caused these nations to be militarily prepared to engage into conflicts. At the same time major important developments helped spread European predominance to the world: The Enlightenment, creation of modern states and the Industrial Revolution. As Europe saw its ability to increase its productivity, they also rationalized the idea that societies were able of infinite development. It is important to understand the occurrences in Europe because it translated in how it was conducting international affairs with other parts of the world. It was in this context that the US first materialized its influence in the international arena. Iriye stated that it was from the refinement Europe’s thought that emerged American ideologies as Republicanism and American Exceptionalism that helped Americans feel part of the western superior world. “There was a cohesiveness in America that could create a sense of nationhood – a nationalism that transcended the factional alignments or ethnic traditions of the citizens and was founded upon a shared consciousness of how the independence have been won. The absence of a serious division was a source of strength for the new nation, perhaps the key to its acceptance as a member of the European-defined community of nations” (P. 5). The American civil war had positive effects in helping the country to understand and value the importance of national unity. That gave the US leadership confidence to adopt and develop a policy of military and colonial expansion thus proving to Europe that America was ready to emerge as a global player. “The globalization of America had begun” (P. 13). The Open Door Policy is an example of how the US envisioned establishing new markets for its exports. It was clear that by helping countries in their development, it would generate new markets for American goods. This shows that the influence of European principles of conquest of power and control was ingrained into the American interventionist policy.
With Pres. Wilson, the priority of international affairs was economic interdependence and peaceful settlement of dispute as demonstrated in his vision for the role of the United States towards the world. As soon as Americans realized that the Great War was eminent, it declared its neutrality status. The first step toward imposing America’s rights was to “remind the great powers that they had an obligation to observe international law in war as in peace” (P. 23). By being neutral the US was still part of the conflict since the states involved in the war had to observe America’s rights. As the war continued and as Americans were profiting from arms selling and loans, the nations in Europe were concluding that the US was having an influential role in the conflict. Also, the increase of American investments abroad helped Asia and Latin America to build their development in order to be able to purchase US exports. America was proving to be a major economic power. That would provide influential power to place the US as a mediator between the belligerents to end the conflict. “America’s strong interest in playing the role of peacemaker was abundantly clear...Europeans were incapable of managing their own and by extension the world’s affairs, and that without some leadership role played by the US, there could be no stable international order” (P. 29). By 1917, the US had assumed its role as the major world power.
In Asia, the US understood the danger of Japanese imperialistic intervention in China which was an important market (the latter saw in the United States an ally who could change the way foreign policies were developed). Europe was too busy dealing with conflict at home and Asia was not its priority. In Latin America “Earlier, interventionism in the region had been justified in the name of the Monroe Doctrine, …Now under Wilson, it was couched in the vocabulary of political reform precisely the language in which the Wilsonian administration was trying to cope with developments in Asia and Europe” (P. 35). The US understood that its role in the construction of a new world order was essential the American prosperity and expansion Wilson public justification for entering in the war was that humanity craved for peace and it is only with democratic government that the stability would be able to survive. “In a major battle in 1917, it seemed as if Germany victory were within reach – unless Americans arrived to prevent it…American participation spelled the defeat of German ambitions” (P. 43).
The League of Nations, as proposed by the US leadership ( in the Fourteen Points speech by Wilson) would have been based in the pillars of democracy, self- determination (peaceful modification), international cooperation and collective security (by arms control), controlled and administrated with a system envisioned on principles of pacifism and Wilsonian idealism. “Perhaps the key was its universalistic character. It spelled out some basic principles that were to define the postwar world order” (P. 47). However, the American leaders were not ready for such action and congress did not approve and the entrance of the US in the league.
The interwar peaceful period (1920-1939) is given an unprecedented importance by Iriye due to contradictions between idealism and realism. After the rejection of the Versailles Treaty, the US supposedly reverted its course and went back to the pre-war isolationism due to several reasons, even though it made strategic alliances (acting not in accordance to the open diplomacy ideal) and increased its military power (though it did comply with disarmament treaties). The peace treaty was getting major disapproval and unpopularity in many countries including Germany, Italy, China, and Russia (the latter ideals clashed with Wilsonian internationalism since the Bolshevik revolution and their particularistic nationalism, anti pluralistic capitalism and antiimperialistic ideals were spreading across Europe and in colonies). In the economic arena, with the help of US, leaders in Europe recognized that “international peace now depended on economic underpinnings” (P. 96). As the US was the leading economic power, it facilitated its leading role in postwar world. Culturally, the US was very effective in exporting its ideals of stability through the peace movement agenda, cultural internationalism (“global trend towards intellectual understanding of war and peace” (P. 106)) and the improvement of life quality by the consumption of its material goods. However, the Great depression, come to change that reality of the 1920 decade since the its capitalistic and democratic policies were question throughout the world as being a failed system. With the international system crumpling the world witness the rise of fascism, communism and totalitarian regimes in Europe and Asia presenting military and ideological threats challenging national and international stability. “For those and other countries that were joining the rank of fascist states, war was taken as a perpetual condition of national and international affair” (P. 134). The early years of the Roosevelt administration still prescribed neutrality and priority to national affairs in order help the economic crises at home. In Latin American, the policy of Good Neighbor thought to comply with non-interventionism, separating the continent from Europe and Asia. By now (1937-38), the US understood that the escalating conflicts by the unified forces of Germany, Italy and Japan had proved the crises in Europe and Asia was interrelated. As the appeasement policy failed, “the Western democracies were put on the defensive. They not only faced the prospect of war against Germany, but were also confronted with the spectacle of a worldwide coalition of antidemocratic powers” (P. 153) forcing the US to reassume its place in the world arena as the rescuer of peace and stability. Administration’s evaluation of use of force to defend nationals was backed by national public opinion since the Panay incident.
In the chapter Road to Pearl Harbor, Iriye explained that by then, Congress authorized the Lend-Lease arms to any country that would help to defend American security, marking the involvement of the US in the war. Since Japan signed a Neutrality pact with Moscow, it decided to engage in a war with the US and thus attacking Pearl Harbor. From there on, the US was the only country involved in the war in all parts of the world and thus proving that it was a determinant in the establishment of the Americanization of the world. “But the way the war came to an end – through Soviet entry into the Pacific war and the US use of atom bombs- suggested that the post war world would be enormously complicated” (P. 21 4).
In conclusion, in only few decades the US was able to become the world’s super power making the best use of international relations to achieve this goal. Iriye account of the period was informative but in my view, lacked description of war the events in order to provide better complete understanding of the foreign policies. That approach could work for scholars who are familiar with historical occurences, but not for undergrad students. I also think that he could have been more explicit in providing information regarding national reactions to different foreign policies during these. In order to fully comprehend the country actions abroad, first you need to understand the national context which will prescribe such actions. He also seemed to positively portray all US actions deemphasizing US eagerness (at all costs) to become major player in the world.
Notes:
- Iriye, Akira The Cambridge History of American Relations, Volume III The Globalizing of AMERICA, 1913- 1945 (Cambridge University Press – 1993)
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