America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and the Global Order
by Stefan Halper, Jonathan Clarke

Softcover: 384 pages
ISBN: 9780521674607, 0521674603
Cambridge University Press
September 2006

This book advocates an alternative approach based on a return to the mainstream principles that have successfully guided American diplomacy for half a century.

"An in-depth survey of the intellectual development of neo-conservative thought over the last quarter century. Whether or not you agree with the book's conclusions, it is a must-read for anyone interested in the making of U.S. foreign policy in the 21st century." - The Honorable C. Boyden Gray, White House General Counsel to President George H. W. Bush, 1988-1992

"America Alone is a sobering critique of U.S. foreign policy by two very serious conservatives. What makes their book so powerful is that their conclusion appears to be right." - Washington Times

"Halper and Clarke document in detail the origins, history, near disappearance, and recent ascension of the neoconservative 'interest group' in dominating the decisions and discourse surrounding US foreign policy decision-making since the 9-11 terrorist attacks." - E.A. Turpen, Henry L. Stimson Center, CHOICE

"[The authors] have done the near-impossible... they offer convincing, powerful, new insights on a crucial and widely-discussed development in America's relations with the world. The book is fair-minded... fascinating... full of valuable guidance for the next phase in U.S. foreign policy. Its analysis is the more trenchant for coming from two bona fide conservatives." - James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic Monthly

"Its thesis is that an unelected group of right-wing intellectuals have taken over U.S. foreign policy, to the detriment of the United States and the world as a whole." - Providence Journal

"[This] thoughtful, insightful work spans ideological and partisan differences, a rare phenomenon in these times... the argument never has been put together so persuasively, so conclusively and so effectively." - Washington Post

Stefan Halper is a Fellow of Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, and a Senior Fellow of the Centre of International Studies, where he directs the Donner Atlantic Studies Programme. He holds a B.A. from Stanford and doctorates from Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He was a White House and State Department official during the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations. For twelve years he was executive editor and host of the weekly radio program This Week from Washington and then was executive editor and host of WorldWise, a weekly television program on foreign affairs. He has made contributions to numerous print media including the American Spectator, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Dallas Morning News, The International Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, National Interest, National Review, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Washington Times, and Weekly Standard. Dr Halper is senior editor at the Cambridge Review of International Affairs and a Contributing Editor at the American Spectator. He is the co-editor of Latin America: The Dynamics of Social Change. Jonathan Clarke is a Foreign Affairs Scholar at the CATO Institute in Washington, D.C. He received a B.A. and an M.A. from Oxford University and has also been a Counselor, British Diplomatic Service, with assignments in Germany, Zimbabwe and the United States. He is the author of After the Crusade: American Foreign Policy for the Post-Superpower Age and has made numerous contributions to various forms of print media, including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Los Angeles Times, National Interest, Orbis, and the Washington Post.

"This book dissects the American neo-conservatives and their ideology. It traces their intellectual and political connections; their rise to influence and then to power in Washington and passes judgment on their effects on US domestic politics and US foreign policy. You do not need to agree with the authors' every word to find this powerful critique of an important contemporary stream in American thinking enlightening and thought provoking." - Dame Pauline Neville Jones, Former Political Director of the British Foreign Office

You may also enjoy the main books page, where book titles are alphabetized, or browse by subject or topic. To search by author name, you can use the search box on the right sidebar of this page. We also have book reviews listed chronologically here.

The most important result of any grassroots action is - a strengthened democracy for all.