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The strength and prestige of democracy worldwide at the end of the twentieth century are due in good measure to the impact of America on international affairs, argues Tony Smith. Here for the first time is a book that documents the extraordinary history of American foreign policy with respect to the promotion of democracy worldwide, an effort whose greatest triumph came in the occupations of Japan and Germany but whose setbacks include interventions in Latin America and Vietnam.
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America’s Mission PRINCETON STUDIES IN I NT E R NAT I ON AL HI S T O RY A ND P OLI T I C S Series Editors John Lewis Gaddis Jack L. Snyder Richard H. Ullman History and Strategy by Marc Trachtenberg (1991) George F. Kennan and the Making of American Foreign Policy, 1947–1950 by Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C. (1992) Economic Discrimination and Political Exchange: World Political Economy in the 1930s and 1980s by Kenneth A. Oye (1992) Whirlpool: U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Latin America and the Caribbean by Robert A. Pastor (1992) Germany Divided: From the Wall to Reunification by A. James McAdams (1993) A Certain Idea of France: French Security Policy and the Gaullist Legacy by Philip H. Gordon (1993) The Limits of Safety: Organizations, Accidents, and Nuclear Weapons by Scott D. Sagan (1993) Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns: State-Building and Extraterritorial Violence in Early Modern Europe by Janice E. Thomson (1994) We All Lost the Cold War by Richard Ned Lebow and Janice Gross Stein (1994) Who Adjusts? Domestic Sources of Foreign Economic Policy during the Interwar Years by Beth A. Simmons (1994) America’s Mission: The United States and the Worldwide Struggle for Democracy in the Twentieth Century by Tony Smith (1994) America’s Mission THE UNITED STATES AND THE WORLDW I DE STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Tony Smith A Twentieth Century Fund Book PRI NCETON UNIV ERSITY PRESS P R I N C E T O N, N E W J E R S E Y The Twentieth Century Fund sponsors and supervises timely analyses of economic policy, foreign affairs, and domestic political issues. Not-for-profit and nonpartisan, the Fund was founded in 1919 and endowed by Edward A. Filene. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY FUND Morris B. Abram, Emeritus James A. Leach H. Brandt Ayers Richard C. Leone, ex officio Peter A. A. Berle P. Michael Pitfield José A. Cabranes Don K. Price, Emeritus Joseph A. Califano, Jr. Richard Ravitch Alexander Morgan Capron Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Emeritus Hodding Carter III Harvey I. Sloane, M.D. Edward E. David, Jr. Theodore C. Sorensen Brewster C. Denny, Chairman James Tobin, Emeritus Charles V. Hamilton David B. Truman, Emeritus August Heckscher, Emeritus Shirley Williams Matina S. Horner William Julius Wilson Lewis B. Kaden Richard C. Leone, President Copyright 1994 by The Twentieth Century Fund, Inc. Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Chichester, West Sussex All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Smith, Tony, 1942– America’s mission : the United States and the worldwide struggle for democracy in the twentieth century / Tony Smith. p. cm. — (Princeton studies in international history and politics) “A Twentieth Century Fund Book.” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–691–03784–1 1. United States—Foreign relations—20th century. 2. World politics—20th century. 3. Democracy—History— 20th century. I. Title. II. Series. E744.S588 1944 327.73—dc20 94–11314 CIP This book has been composed in Times Roman Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources Print