America's God

Book reviewed in this article:
Mark Noll, America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln     

America's 'intellectual' diplomacy

Historians and journalists such as Richard Hofstadter and Susan Jacoby have decried the reality 'of anti-intellectualism' in American society, culture, and politics. Yet intellectuals have played a vital role in shaping US diplomacy—from Alfred Thayer Mahan to Paul Wolfowitz. This article explores the varied reasons why the US government has proved so amenable to input from academia, think-tanks and freelance intellectuals. It first discusses the varying ways in which 'the intellectual' has been defined, and proposes criteria that allow us to identify the foreign policy intellectual. Second, the article examines the historical circumstances that have allowed intellectuals—broadly conceived—to influence US diplomacy from 1890 to the present; focusing on the proliferation of US colleges through the nineteenth century, pioneering attempts to utilize the academy such as Robert La Follette's 'Wisconsin Idea', the professionalization of US higher education inspired by the achievements of Germany's research universities and the strong links forged between academia, think-tanks and government through the progressive era, two world wars, and into the Cold War and beyond. Third, the article compares the US experience of welcoming intellectuals into policy-making with that of the United Kingdom and France, the two democracies that have displayed a global ambition comparable to the United States in recent history. The article concludes with a discussion of the intellectual types—historian or IR scholar, generalist or specialist, fox or hedgehog—that are best suited to dispensing foreign policy advice. It warns that those intellectuals with theories to prove often lack the cognitive flexibility required when making diplomacy.     

Globalization and America's Wars

Book reviewed:
Thomas Schoonover. Uncle Sam's War of 1898 and the Origins of Globalization . Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2003. 180 pp. Notes, index. $30.00.     

Treasure Hunting 101 in America's Classrooms

Abstract

Introducing primary and secondary students to archaeology can build critical thinking skills and provide entertaining activities at the same time. In doing so, however, teachers should take care that they expose their students to archaeology in a manner that accurately represents the methodological and ethical concerns of the discipline. Educators should be vigilant when selecting educational activities, since there are groups of antiquities dealers who sponsor programs to promote political agendas and insensitive attitudes in collecting, which drive looting and the illicit trade in antiquities. One such program is Ancient Coins for Education (ACE), which purports to teach ancient history and archaeology to children by bringing coin dealers and collectors into classrooms to speak about collecting and show children coins. ACE is especially fond of presenting bulk lots of uncleaned coins to their students. Much of the material that ACE purchases or solicits in donations originates in Balkan countries where unlicensed excavation and export is illegal. The Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG), a lobby of ancient coin dealers, sponsors the ACE program, with clear aims to recruit future collectors, dealers, and sympathizers. It is up to the archaeological community to bolster partnerships with grade-level educators and increase awareness about looting and the subversive tactics that profiteers are now employing.     

New Developments in Latin America's Social Policy

This article introduces a special section focusing on the social policy reforms of recent years in Latin America. The essay identifies and discusses the principal trends and challenges in social policy in the region since the 1980s, before providing a summary of the special section and linking up the themes of the four contributions that follow. These highlight the variety of approaches adopted, as well as the differing assessments of recent developments. The authors note that while the reform process itself is unfolding, it is striking that social policy has become a highly visible and contested issue in the region.     

热战、冷战、冷和:美国全球扩张的战略反思

发展与扩张是美国国策的一条主线。“热战”、“冷战”与“冷和”则是美国基于国内经济与社会发展而对全球扩张的依序相循的三段路径。反法西斯战争是全世界人民的胜利,美国却是世界胜局的最大受益。二次战后初期以来,美国挑起“冷战”,以“经济分流”与“民主工程”令苏联解体,使自身处于一超独大的世界之位。在“冷和”条件下,美国对发展中国家推进“改造工程”,则是其对全球扩张的新目标。三内生互动的解读,有益于人们的深度战略反思。