America Between the Wars: Book Review of Chollet & Goldgeier

Overview of the Book

America Between the Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11, a work of non-fiction by Derek Chollet and James Goldgeier, chronicles a pivotal epoch in United States history marked by the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the War on Terror. The authors dedicate most of the manuscript to the foreign policy developments and international events that America faced during this interim between major conflicts. Nonetheless, they also discuss some interesting domestic developments, strictly within the context of how those events influenced the country's efficacy — or lack thereof — in foreign affairs.

In examining the period that began on November 9, 1989, and ended on September 11, 2001 — marked respectively by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the attacks on the World Trade Center — the authors' primary purpose is to glean insight into how this timeframe shaped the current international climate and the ongoing war. Chollet and Goldgeier take a systematic, methodological approach by chronologically noting the major events that influenced the American presidents in office during this era. While devoting much of the work to the presidencies of both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the authors also consider the foreign policy developments that typified the tenures of British Prime Ministers John Major, Margaret Thatcher, and Tony Blair. By employing such a framework, the reader is able to understand the causes and effects of the occurrences that shaped the international landscape during this period.

In this way, the authors illustrate the problems that each president inherited, along with the various strengths and weaknesses in foreign policy each demonstrated. The manuscript also traces the long-term threat posed by Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, and alludes to the Clinton administration's attempts to apprehend or assassinate him.

Strengths of the Manuscript

There are several notable strengths associated with this manuscript. One of the most commendable aspects of the book is its subject matter. American history, in general, does not devote enough attention to the period between the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the War on Terror. By presenting the most significant events in U.S. foreign policy during this era, the authors give due credit to what was — in light of contemporary events — a genuinely influential period. The current War on Terror is, in many respects, an outgrowth of a form of global engagement that could not have been pursued while the Soviet Union still functioned as a world power with its own global objectives. The authors should be commended, therefore, for identifying the critical events that took place during this period and that created the environment for the global War on Terror.

Another strength of this narrative is the authors' notably neutral tone. One might argue that bias is present in the selection of events they choose to cover versus those they omit; however, one cannot accuse the authors of writing about these events in a slanted manner. The matter of Iraq is obviously crucial, given the contemporary focus that the United States has placed on that region and its role in the overall War on Terror. The following passage, in which the authors detail Iraq's importance in the foreign policy of presidents during this interim period, illustrates the neutral tone that characterizes the rest of the book: "George H.W. Bush left Iraq unresolved for Clinton; Clinton handed off the Iraq question for his successor to deal with; and so it is again" (p. 328).

Bibliography

Chollet, Derek, and James Goldgeier. America Between the Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11. New York, NY: Public Affairs, 2008.

Endnotes

1. Derek Chollet and James Goldgeier, America Between the Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11 (New York: Public Affairs, 2002), 328.

2. Chollet and Goldgeier, America Between, IX.