Arc of Empire: America's Wars in Asia from the Philippines to Vietnam

by Michael H. Hunt, Steven Levine

Overview

Although conventionally treated as separate, America's four wars in Asia were actually phases in a sustained U.S. bid for regional dominance, according to Michael H. Hunt and Steven I. Levine. This effort unfolded as an imperial project in which military power and the imposition of America's political will were crucial. Devoting equal attention to Asian and American perspectives, the authors follow the long arc of conflict across seventy-five years from the Philippines through Japan and Korea to Vietnam, tracing along the way American ambition, ascendance, and ultimate defeat. They show how these wars are etched deeply in eastern Asia's politics and culture.
The authors encourage readers to confront the imperial pattern in U.S. history with implications for today's Middle Eastern conflicts. They also offer a deeper understanding of China's rise and Asia's place in today's world.

For instructors: An Online Instructor's Manual is available, with teaching tips for using Arc of Empire in graduate and undergraduate courses on America's wars in Asia. It includes lecture topics, chronologies, and sample discussion questions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469613925
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	02/01/2014
Edition description:	1
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Michael H. Hunt is Emerson Professor of History Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author or editor of twelve books, including The American Ascendancy: How the United States Gained and Wielded Global Dominance and A Vietnam War Reader: A Documentary History from American and Vietnamese Perspectives.

Steven Levine is research faculty associate in the Department of History at the University of Montana and author or editor of seven books, including Anvil of Victory: The Communist Revolution in Manchuria, 1945-1948 and America's Wars in Asia: A Cultural Approach to History and Memory.

Table of Contents

Although conventionally treated as separate, America's four wars in Asia were actually phases in a sustained U.S. bid for regional dominance, according to Michael H. Hunt and Steven I. Levine. This effort unfolded as an imperial project in which military power and the imposition of America's political will were crucial. Devoting equal attention to Asian and American perspectives, the authors follow the long arc of conflict across seventy-five years from the Philippines through Japan and Korea to Vietnam, tracing along the way American ambition, ascendance, and ultimate defeat. They show how these wars are etched deeply in eastern Asia's politics and culture.

The authors encourage readers to confront the imperial pattern in U.S. history with implications for today's Middle Eastern conflicts. They also offer a deeper understanding of China's rise and Asia's place in today's world.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Hunt and Levine make an invaluable contribution to the ongoing debate regarding America as an empire. With lively prose and attention to the humanity of those involved in these conflicts, they have written a marvelously ambitious book that remains accessible and gripping. This is a gem of a study.—Robert J. McMahon, The Ohio State University



This book is written with the support of the intellectual vision and accumulated knowledge of two of the world's most prominent scholars on the history of U.S.-East Asian relations. It provides an original, thoughtful, well-documented and readable 'grand narrative' about how America's empire-building drive in East Asia became connected with the wars in the Philippines, against Japan, in Korea and, then, Vietnam. The depth of the authors' analysis is greatly enhanced as they give keen attention to East Asia's diverse 'local' settings and conditions. Vividly and convincingly highlighted are the strengths and limits of 'American power' even when the United States was ascending to the zenith of its global dominance. Today, at the time that America's leadership role in the world is facing serious challenges, this is a study that neither specialists nor general readers can afford to ignore.—Chen Jian, Cornell University



A lucid, persuasive, path-breaking study by two historians keenly attuned to both past and present U.S. military engagements. Michael Hunt and Steven Levine place the four devastating wars America fought in Asia between the turn of the century and the 1970s firmly in the context of expansion and empire. They bring the Asian antagonists into these case studies in all their complexity—Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, and Vietnamese. And, in a scalding concluding chapter, they apply their insights into war-making, myth-making, and hubris in this earlier 'arc of empire' to present-day U.S. wars in the Middle East. Readers will find this absorbing and provocative start to finish, and many teachers will surely discover that Arc of Empire is terrific for classroom use.—John W. Dower, Ford International Professor of History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Editorial Reviews

Recommended for readers interested in current events and 20th-century history, especially military history and U.S.-Asia relations.—Library Journal



Arc of Empire's propositions and conclusions are eloquently stated and for the most part, it seems to me, true. . . . [It] will add to the knowledge of older readers and enlighten younger ones.—The New York Review of Books



Required reading for advanced students of modern US history, and therefore a necessary purchase for all academic libraries. Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above.—Choice



A crisp, lively narrative sure to interest scholars in the field, their students, and the general public.—Journal of American History



A powerful analysis of the American wars in eastern Asia that span the twentieth century.—International Affairs



[This] book should be illuminating and instructive to all who are concerned about U.S. overseas military involvement and its domestic and international ramifications.—H-Empire Reviews



Whether you are prone to agree or take issue with this book's controversial premise and conclusions, it is well worth reading.—Missoulian



A tremendously important book . . . . It is imperative for all scholars of foreign relations, especially of U.S. foreign relations, to read Arc of Empire—Reviews in American History



Hunt and Levine's book is important . . . to anyone who deals with the history of American foreign policy.—H-War



A valuable book that merits careful reading. . . . Will encourage readers to take a fresh look at wars usually treated in isolation.—Army History

From the Publisher

This is a history of four connected wars fought by the United States in eastern Asia between 1899 and 1973. From the Philippines to the Pacific theater of World War II to Korea to Vietnam, Hunt (history, emeritus, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) and Levine (history, Univ. of Montana) show how these wars were connected and the intricate ways that they influenced U.S. foreign policy as well as Asia's culture and politics. The basic premise of the book is that the United States entered these conflicts to spread an imperial doctrine in Asia and hoped to establish a strong foothold in the region politically and militarily. Although Hunt and Levine argue that the United States was ultimately unsuccessful, they explain that much of the effect of those wars can be seen today in China's increasing surge as a dominant world power. The authors highlight that the United States has a long history of such conflicts and that a similar situation may be happening with the current U.S. involvement in the Middle East. VERDICT Recommended for readers interested in current events and 20th-century history, especially military history and U.S.-Asia relations.—Jeremy Spencer, Univ. of California. Law Lib., Davis

Library Journal