With or Against the World? America's Role Among the Nations

by James W. Skillen
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. and Center for Public Justice (2005)
Paperback, 208 pages

Summary

The events of 9/11, followed by the Bush administration's actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, have fueled a new debate about America's foreign and defense policies in the post-Cold War world. The debate has produced a torrent of books. This book argues that current policy making and reactions to terrorism cannot be understood properly without going back to the roots of America's civil-religious nationalism as well as to the Muslim roots of radical Islamism. After setting that stage in chapters one and two, the book goes on in the next three chapters to uncover the political and religious roots of the modern state, a western invention now dominant throughout the world.

Chapters six through eight focus on the United States -- at its founding, in the era of Woodrow Wilson and World War I, and today, post-9/11. The aim here, at the core of the book, is to show how a modest, constitutionally limited state became the carrier of grandiose, civil-religious, nationalism (city on a hill; redeemer nation; American exceptionalism) that accounts for much of the ambivalence of America's approach to international relations to the present day. Chapter nine focuses on contemporary questioning of just war doctrine, and chapter ten argues for a new priority of international institution building in America's approach to world affairs.

Praise

"As with his past efforts, With or Against the World? is a testament to James Skillen's broad perspective, deep knowledge, extraordinary insight, and his uncanny ability to bring them all together in a highly readable, lucid discussion of the most critical issues facing the U.S. and the West today." 
-Steven Meyer, professor of political science, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University (Washington, D.C.)

 "This is a good book. It is written in a style that would appeal and make the book accessible to experts as well as to those not schooled in the intricacies of history and political science. It provides the reader a clear understanding of often highly controversial policy positions entertained and acted upon by the powers that be in Washington, D.C." 
-Johan D. Van der Vyver, I.T. Cohen Professor of International Law and Human Rights, Emory University School of Law

"One need not agree with all of Skillen's arguments to appreciate his acuity; his book is a valuable contribution to current debates."
-John Kelsay, Richard L. Rubenstein Professor, Department of Religion, Florida State University

"Wide ranging and nuanced, this book offers a clear vision of how to build on what is best in the ideal and reality of America."
-James Turner Johnson, professor of religion Rutgers University, author of Morality and Contemporary Warfare and other works on the ideas of just war and jihad

"This thoughtful book is a welcome addition to the current debate."
-Lloyd Ambrosius, professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is the author of several books including Wilsonianism (2002) and Woodrow Wilson and the American Diplomatic Tradition (1987)