United States as a world power

The present volume is essentially a reprint, adapted and slightly re vised, of Part III, "The Twentieth Century," of my Diplomatic History of the United States, Third Edition, 1950. It is intended not only for the inquiring mind of the general reader who lacks the time to cover the earlier history of American foreign policy and diplomacy, but alsy for teachers and students of international relations who wish a shorter text to give them a more immediate background for contemporary interna tional relations of the United States. It begins with the new picture of power and politics reflected at the turn of the century by the triple birth of new world powers: the United States, Germany, and Japan. It ends with the Diplomatic Revolution of the United States in mid-century: from isolation to collective security in the United Nations and the North Atlantic Alliance. An introductory chapter recalls the foundations of American foreign policy as they were laid in classic form during the first fifty years of independence of the United States and practiced success fully throughout the nineteenth century; these historic fundamentals may be compared with the "guiding principles" listed by President Tru man after the Second World War, and printed at the end of the book on pages 466-468. A final chapter focuses a half-century of American diplo matic history on the continuing crisis of thought and action between the United States and Russia, commonly called the Cold War, essentially a conflict between a World Family of Democratic Nations and a World Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

In the preparation of the original Diplomatic History of the United States I was indebted to a long list of institutions and individuals, men tioned in the Prefaces of that publication and its successive editions, and to a large body of historical scholarship, partly set forth bibliographically (that is, down to 1935) in the Guide to the Diplomatic History of the United States, 1775-1921, prepared by me with the collaboration of Grace Gardner Griffin, and published by the Library of Congress in 1935. My obligations to these authors, and to others, appear in footnotes through out the present pages. I am further grateful to many people, including teachers and students, for suggestions and corrections throughout the years.