The Empire Has No Clothes: U.S. Foreign Policy Exposed

By Ivan Eland

Book Overview

Taking an in-depth look at the United States government, this landmark work demonstrates why the United States should be considered an empire and how this is contrary to the ideals of both conservatives and liberals and to the very principles on which the United States was built. Through a detailed examination of US foreign policy over the last century up through the Bush administration's policies in the Middle East and elsewhere, this work explores how rampant imperialism has threatened US security, strained US relations with the rest of the world, and curtailed American civil liberties at home. Examining the similar signs in the current state of affairs that have marked the decline of other great powers throughout history, a case is made for the dismantling of the American empire and a return to the mode of military restraint traditional to American foreign policy. This book is a chilling insight into the direction the United States has taken and, if its interventionist policies continue, the direction it will take in years to come.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0945999984
• ISBN13: 9780945999980
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Independent Institute
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

The U.S can be better than empire

Mr. Eland lays out persuasive arguments showing that the U.S. has been acting as an empire, particularity since 1950, rather than as the republic established in the U.S. Constitution. He presents separate chapters addressing the reasons that conservatives, liberals, and all citizens should be against empire. His point is that most foreign entanglements do us more harm than good, leaving him open to criticism for being isolationist, but the point is that even if foreign threats to the U.S. arise, it will be decades in the making, during which we stay abreast of events, rather than continually funding security for other countries while they use their savings for their own economic development.

well structured arguments against empire

eland does a unique thing with this book - he deconstructs the imperialism argument from every perspective. so it really feels like he's not preaching to the choir. by doing so, he strengthens his argument. no matter what your political philosophy is, this book finds a way to address you and dissuade you from supporting the american empire (it may or may not technically be one, depending on how you define it, but you know what he's talking about here). admittedly, eland is a bit more of an isolationist than i'd like, but hey, people with different political views coming to similar conclusions is a good thing! it's also a pretty easy read - you don't need to have coursework in international security or international political economy to get what he's saying.

Imperial Lies for War

As I said it for another book ("The New American Empire"), Ivan Eland's book "The Empire Has No Clothes" is also a great book to see through Bush's lies. Now, George W. Bush says that he accepts responsibility for taking the U.S. to war in Iraq based on faulty intelligence. -This is all wrong. It was not the intelligence that was faulty; it was Bush's intentions to wage war against Iraq no matter what were the intelligence and the facts. He twisted the intelligence reports and invented lies around his already decided policy. That's why he is guilty of having launched a war of aggression on lies and deception, and on having violated, in so doing, international law. He and his neocon advisors should pray that they will never be brought before an international court of justice.

How to dismantle an Empire

A direct, educated antithesis to the imperial warmongering of Kaplan and the like. A read that will interest anyone who is interested in preserving our declining democratic republic.

Well-researched insights

Eland challenges conventional wisdom about why so many people around the world dislike Americans--it's not who we are or what we believe, but how our government behaves. With specific chapters directed at both conservatives and liberals explaining how over-reaching US interventionism goes against their principles, there is something in this book for everyone.