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Rise To Globalism By Stephen Ambrose Essay, Research Paper

Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938

Rise to Globalism, by Stephen Ambrose, is an enlightened work on the development of American foreign policy from World War II through the Reagan administration. It is an excellent one volume history, basic, but full of fact, that explains the trends in foreign policy that led America from its isolationist attitude of the first half of the nineteenth century to its position of global power and imminence today. The basic causes of the world’s major problems today (from the American viewpoint), communism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and third-world development, are traced from World War II and explained as they pertain to America’s foreign policies and overseas activities. This volume lays the ground work in the reader’s mind to understanding modern American foreign policy.

The book begins by explaining America’s involvement in World War II. This important though seemingly unconnected event would shape American foreign policy for the remainder of the century. After the war, the Eastern European states, liberated by Russia, were incorporated into satellite states of Russia, which then became the Soviet Union. The governments formed in these countries after the war were, naturally, communist. In Western Europe, all former satellite nations had been liberated by the United States and Great Britain, which then consequently set up democratic governments. This split of Europe, into east and west, set the stage for the cold war.

Ambrose covers this development with amazing clarity while keeping information needed for understanding to a minimum. There are no extra words nor superfluous examples and analogies, just straightforward and simplistic explanations of the situations that existed and the diplomatic and military actions that occurred. This appears to be an uncanny and extremely useful talent that Ambrose possesses and uses to create relatively short works that give readers an in-depth understanding of the subject matter.

In short time, Ambrose quickly describes the developments of the cold war. To do so, he uses many statistics, quotes, and relates public opinion. But, he might have had greater success by using more detail about specific events and players and their specific impact on the cold war. He begins with America’s demobilization in Europe. It turned out, by the 1950’s, to be more of a mobilization rather than demobilization. More troops were going in to serve in Western Europe than had served there during the bulk of World War II. As tensions between the east and the west were heightened, an arms race ensued, The United States and the U.S.S.R. tried to build up their stockpiles of nuclear weapons in order to gain a decisive advantage over each other. As each president tried to alleviate the situation, the race heightened, and more, better weapons were built and stockpiled, supposedly as a deterrent to the third world war. This continued into the Reagan administration, and it has only slowed since the completion of this work.

Ambrose does an excellent job of showing how, at every stage of the cold war, the entire arms race, and the divided European continent situation, could have been avoided. He shows how each side could have compromised and avoided the financial and economic disaster which accompanied the arms race. However, neither the United States nor the U.S.S.R. was willing to compromise on relatively minor matters, much less on the big questions that still remained unanswered. When the United States would make a move to compromise, such as the partitioning of Berlin, the U.S.S.R. would respond with an impossible set of demands. When the U.S.S.R. tried to compromise, the U.S. would try to seize control of the situation and would create unreasonable stipulations on the proposed agreements. Inevitably, no meaningful agreements were ever reached. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan each had opportunities to attempt to end the cold war, but did not. In the few instances that were seized, the attempts were bungled or the participants were unwilling to accept an equal peace. Unfortunately, the resolution of the situation came after the completion of the book. The U.S.S.R. fell in 1989 and communism was replaced by some degree of democracy throughout most of Europe.

The second major concern, the Arab-Israeli conflict, can trace its accentuation into the forefront of world politics back to the British and Americans after the end of World War II and the formation of the United Nations. Israel was created by the United Nations to provide a homeland for the many millions of persecuted Jews throughout the world. It also created a serious conflict with the Arab countries of the region. It was created from land the Turks had conquered almost 1,000 years before and which the Arabs then controlled. The newly created country had the backing of the United States and Great Britain, while the Arabs, for the most part, had the backing of the Soviet Union. Yet, Iran, Egypt, and Jordan were friendly to the U.S. and this presented a unique problem for America. They supplied billions of dollars of military aid to Israel to help them to fight wars to keep the Arabs out of the new country. The U.S. needed oil from the Arab countries and was militarily supporting the Arab’s enemy, Israel. The conflict required a special solution and Ambrose had it.

Ambrose, in simple and eloquent terms, showed the uncompromising position of each side and the various points of disagreement. The Israelis, after having fought to defend and even expand their ancient homeland, were unwilling to give up anything they had gained or to give the Palestinians a homeland of their own if it was to be created out of Israeli soil. The Arabs, for the most part, were calling for the abolition of the

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