On his book A Nation Like All Others: A Brief History of American Foreign Relations
Cover Interview of
April 2, 2018
In a nutshell
A Nation Like All Others is a history of American
foreign relations from 1776 to the present; it also a critique of the idea of
American exceptionalism; and it laments the absence of moral imagination in
most of the nation’s leaders. It begins with a description of the origins of
empire in the 18th and 19th century, as Americans drove Native Americans out of
their lands, just as ancient Chinese overwhelmed their weaker neighbors in the
creation of the Chinese Empire thousands of years before. In the course of
reviewing the subsequent history of American relations with the rest of the
world, I describe the United States as a frequent force for good—more so than
any other nation—but demonstrate with regret the evil committed—against Native
Americans, Mexicans, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Iraqis, and others—as our leaders
gave priority to their concerns for the national interest over American ideals.
Therein lies my conception of “a nation like all others.” I did not think that
way when I enlisted in the U.S. Navy 62 years ago.
Readers, much like reviewers for the Press, will find many
of my interpretations “argumentative.” I trust that will stimulate some fresh
thinking about some of the actions (or inactions) I analyze. My rejection of
the idea of American isolationism in the 1920s, my description of the
enormously important role the United States played in world affairs from the
end of World War I to the onset of the Great Depression, will probably surprise
some, but my work on that subject has gained acceptance over the years among
most professional diplomatic historians. My discussion of the Cold War is
unavoidably long, but a bit more sympathetic to Ronald Reagan than some of my
earlier books. I continue to see Mikhail Gorbachev as the key figure in ending
the Soviet-American confrontation. My analysis of current Chinese-American
relations, critical of those who imagined the emergence of a friendly
democratic China, reflects the principal focus of my life’s research, writing,
and activities.
April 2, 2018
The wide angle
I have spent my entire adult life studying and writing about
the United States in world affairs. Much of my work, especially the essays, but
also many of the books, were written for other historians and perhaps graduate
students. But, I always felt the need to write for a larger audience. Many
years ago, the late Barbara Tuchman, a wonderful popular historian, wrote to
compliment me on a review I wrote savaging an absurd biography of General
George Marshall authored by a popular biographer. She noted, however, that
books like that one, would always win public attention so long as professional
historians wrote primarily for each other. I never forgot her admonition, and
several of my books, especially my America’s Response to China , were written for undergraduates and the general public. This
book falls into that category. I left out the footnotes and bibliography, the
usual apparatus of scholarship, noting where the interested reader could find
them (see George Herring’s From Colony to Superpower or the New
Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations for which I was the general
editor—both over 1,000 pages).
I have always enjoyed taking long and complicated arguments
and cutting them down to size and removing unnecessary complications. Some
years ago, I wrote East Asia at the Center: Four Thousand Years of
Engagement with the World in less than 500 pages. I imagined I could write
a history of American foreign relations in 200 pages. I failed: this book runs
299 pages.
April 2, 2018
A close-up
For those whose eyes are caught by the book’s cover, I would
urge them to read the preface (2 pages) and “Last Thoughts” (5 pages). Those
few pages will tell the reader all they need to know about me, why I wrote the
book, and what I thought as I finished revising it in March 2017. They might
also enjoy the first chapter (5 pages) that offers an interpretation of the
causes of the American revolution that is a bit different than the story as
usually remembered.
April 2, 2018
Lastly
Many who teach American history at the college and high
school levels are sorely misinformed about the history of America’s foreign
affairs; victims of survey texts reflecting little or no awareness of the
scholarship of diplomatic historians and historians of international affairs over
the last 50 years or so. Few have the time read to widely outside of their own
specialties. I hope the arguments in this easily accessible brief but
comprehensive history will capture their attention and stimulate some new
thinking.
And, like all Americans, I would hope our current and future
leaders will make the United States a force for good in the world, leave the
world a better place for our children. Perhaps in common with all other
historians, I imagine our country will have a better shot at success if we had
a clearer sense of what we did well and where we failed in years past. I hope
this book contributes to that end.
April 2, 2018
Warren I. Cohen
A Nation Like All Others: A Brief History of American Foreign Relations
Columbia University Press
328 pages, 6 x 9 inches
ISBN 9780231175661
Warren I. Cohen is University Distinguished Professor
Emeritus at Michigan State University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore
County, and a Senior Scholar in the Asia Program of the Woodrow Wilson Center. He
has written thirteen books and edited eight others. He served as a line officer
in the U.S. Pacific Fleet, editor of Diplomatic History, President of
the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, and chairman of the
Department of State Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation. In
addition to scholarly publications, he has written for the Atlantic, Baltimore
Sun, Christian Science Monitor, Dissent, Foreign Affairs, International
Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Nation, New York
Times, Times Literary Supplement, and the Washington Post. He
has also been a consultant on Chinese affairs to various government organizations.