The Idea That Is America: Keeping Faith With Our Values in a Dangerous World

by Anne-Marie Slaughter

Overview

The Washington Post Book World named The Idea That This is America one of the best books of 2007

When Army Captain Ian Fishback decided to blow the whistle on prisoner abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan, he posed the central question facing America in the new century: "Will we confront danger in order to preserve our ideals, or will courage and commitment to individual rights wither at the prospect of sacrifice? . . . I would rather die fighting than give up even the smallest part of the idea that is 'America.' "But what is this idea? George W. Bush waged war in Iraq in the name of American values — liberty and democracy. His critics in the United States and around the world also use the language of values, and attack him for deceiving a nation to wage an unjust war. What are the values that America truly stands for? In The Idea That Is America, a preeminent foreign policy scholar eloquently reminds us of the essential principles on which our nation was established: liberty, democracy, equality, tolerance, faith, justice, and humility. Our ongoing struggle to live up to America's great promise matters not only to us, but also to the billions of men and women everywhere who look to the United States to lead, protect, and inspire the world. In The Idea That Is America, Anne-Marie Slaughter shows us the way forward.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465078097
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	05/27/2008
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Anne-Marie Slaughter is the Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton and Bert G. Kerstetter Professor of Politics and International Affairs. Former President of the American Society of International Law, she is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and serves on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the recipient of the 2007 Thomas Jefferson Award for excellence in the field of law.

Dean Slaughter lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

What People are Saying About This

Fareed Zakaria

Anne-Marie Slaughter has written a book that will educate and inspire all Americans. At a time when many claim that we cannot afford the luxury of our liberties, she explains why America's values remain vital, how they can be preserved and strengthened, and what it means to live by these ideals. This book should be required reading for every citizen. (Fareed Zakaria, author of The Future of Freedom and editor, Newsweek International)

Madeleine K. Albright

The Idea That is America is a brilliant book, deeply moving, exquisitely timed, authored by one of our country's leading scholars.

George P. Shultz

Read this book and be challenged to think about, to aspire to, and to work for American values.

Zbigniew Brzezinski

Slaughter's book focuses on an important theme and one close to my heart: the relationship between power and principle. Her arguments, stated with passionate conviction and intellectual clarity, appeal both to my heart and to my reason.

Samantha Power

If an American renaissance is to happen, Anne-Marie Slaughter shows, it will be because US leaders and citizens return to the bedrock ideals that fueled the American dream. In this forceful and necessary book, Slaughter elegantly mines pivotal moments in US history for contemporary insight, and she shows that leaders who take heed of law and justice, and who proceed with humility, can leave behind a more peaceful and just America, and a more stable world. (Samantha Power, Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide)

Niall Ferguson

Passionately argued, yet plainly written, The Idea that is America is part credo, part manifesto—a wholehearted return to first principles by one of America's most talented and distinguished legal minds. Anne-Marie Slaughter's analysis of the U.S. constitution and its legacy encapsulates the liberal interpretation of American history, while her recommendations point the way to a paradigm shift in American foreign policy. (Niall Ferguson, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History, Harvard University and author of The War of the World and Colossus)

Editorial Reviews

"Anne-Marie Slaughter is that rare scholar who is fully engaged with the issues she studies and passionate about the causes she believes in. It makes for a formidable person and a fascinating perspective on global affairs." -- Fareed Zakaria

"Anne-Marie Slaughter's voice is at the center of twenty-first century foreign policy leaders: strategic yet practical, willing to understand others but not afraid of power, a builder of international institutions and law as a way to get things done in an intractable world. What she says from now on matters enormously across the political spectrum." -- Leslie H. Gelb

"When it comes to thinking about, and explaining, America's role in the world at a time of incredible challenge and change, Anne-Marie Slaughter is one of this country's most valuable players. She brings the discipline of a leading academic together with keen political insight. I greatly value her advice." -- Joe Biden

From the Publisher