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The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris by Peter Beinart New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010 496 pages $27.99
"The American Century" is the idea, first formulated by Henry Luce in 1941, that the United States was the most powerful and influential state on the world stage in the 20th century. Theorists of international relations suggest that a hegemon like the United States is necessary for the smooth functioning of the international system, and that the United States supplanted the United Kingdom in filling this role during the Second World War. It arguably continues to do so in this century, even as China rises inexorably to replace America as the world's largest economy in the next few decades.
In The Icarus Syndrome, Peter Beinart writes a revisionist history of the American Century, arguing that the intoxicating idea of American power has often led the country to overreach through hubris. The central analogy of the book is the Greek myth of Icarus, who flew too near the sun when escaping from Crete on wings made of wax and feathers; when they melted, he fell into the sea. Beinart applies the lesson of Icarus to explain three American decisions: Woodrow Wilson's pursuit of a League of Nations to abolish war in the wake of the First World War, a result of the "hubris of reason"; the "hubris of toughness" which prompted Lyndon Johnson's decisions to escalate the war in Vietnam; and the "hubris of dominance" that led to President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in March of 2003.
When they advocated for the League of Nations at the close of the First World...