This collection of lively essays on the cultural politics of the George W. Bush administration's foreign policy is highly recommended to students and scholars of American studies. In this book Richard Crockatt has provided a balanced, lucid and thoughtful guide to the assumptions underlying United States foreign policy since 11 September 2001. The book is underpinned by three interrelated themes. First, several of the essays examine Samuel Huntington's “clash of civilizations” thesis in light of the terrorist attacks against the United States on 9/11. While Crockatt finds much to admire in Huntington's post-Cold War model of world politics, he ultimately remains unconvinced that global developments over the past decade can be explained solely through the framework of cultural conflict. Second, throughout the volume the author stresses the role played by nationalism in shaping the foreign policy vision of the Bush administration. He suggests that resurgent patriotism in the wake of 9/11, together with the trenchant world views and mindsets of senior administration officials, was a powerful driving force behind the nature of American engagement with the world during the first term of Bush's presidency. Finally, Crockatt is keen to emphasize that the Bush administration's foreign policies must be viewed in light of longer-term historical trends. He points out that President Bush's diplomatic approach is not “revolutionary” but, in fact, rooted in core American values, culture and past experiences.

Guided by these themes, Crockatt convincingly argues that there is an inherent contradiction in the way American Presidents are apt to preach to domestic and international audiences in terms of universalist values while concurrently implementing policies that tend to serve the interests of a narrow governing elite. He tests this thesis in a number of essays in this volume, addressing issues such as anti-Americanism and the clash of civilizations, the demise of the neoconservative mission in US foreign policy and President Bush's view (or lack of it) of the slippery concept of “international community.” Most telling, however, is the author's analysis of the Iraq War. Indeed, he sees the rhetoric employed by the Bush administration in justifying the invasion of March 2003 as inherently contradictory. While flouting international law, American officials sought to justify regime change in Iraq on humanitarian grounds. In other words, the US invasion of the country would liberate the Iraqi people from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein and replace his authoritarian regime with Western-style democratic political institutions. After a period of political, social and economic transformation Iraq would rejoin the community of nations again, prosperous, stable and a shining example for other Middle Eastern states to emulate. As Crockatt asserts, the glaring flaw in this argument is that American conceptions of “democracy,” “liberty” or even “freedom” are not necessarily universally shared, have a tendency towards cultural bias and can be a source of conflict in world politics. What is needed to right the wrongs in current US foreign policy, in Crockatt's view, is more pragmatism and less cultural determinism. This is surely something for the next President to ponder.