The USA and The World 2020–2022 provides students with vital information on these countries through a thorough and expert overview of political and economic histories, current events, and emerging trends.

The World Today Series: USA and The World describes not only what happened, but puts events in the context of the past and criticizes policy actions as appropriate. The result goes deeper than most of what appears in current publications. Updated annually and part of the renowned “World Today Series,” USA and the World presents an unusually penetrating look into America and its relationship to the rest of the world. The combination of factual accuracy and up-to-date detail along with its informed projections make this an outstanding resource for researchers, practitioners in international development, media professionals, government officials, potential investors and students. Now in its 17th edition, the content is thorough yet perfect for a one-semester introductory course or general library reference.

Introduction

Chapter One: National Interest Priorities

National Security

The Northern Neighbor: Canada

Regional Cooperation in the Western Hemisphere

Europe’s Political and Economic Stability

Russian Stability and Economic Development

The Greater Middle East

Stable Transitions in Africa

Development in South Asia: India and Pakistan

Asia Pacific Peace and Stability

Promoting Democracy

Transnational Threats

The Environmental Dimension

Realism and Democracy

The American World Image

Chapter Two: National Expansion

Enduring Interests

International Commerce

In the Beginning

The New Nation and Its Constitution

First Diplomatic Steps

Restructuring Strict Constructionism

Unleashing the Dogs of War

A Cautionary Tale

Manifest Destiny

Advances in Democracy

America Becomes a Great Power

The Path of Empire

Chapter Three: Ascent to Globalism

Europe’s Lights Go Out

World War I

The Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920

Isolation and Normalcy: the 1920s

Economic Problems of the Peace 1919–1939

The Dictators Take Over

Neutrality and Appeasement

Into the Abyss

The Arsenal of Democracy

America’s Entry

War in the Pacific

Pandora’s Box of Atomic Weaponry

Wartime Planning for Peace

Uniting for Peace

Old Game, New Rules

The East-West Conflict

Cold War and Iron Curtain

Power and Purpose

Cracks in the Bloc

Nationalism Triumphs

Chapter Four: The Anguish of Power

World Tensions

On the Brink

The Ordeal of Vietnam

The Middle East Conflict

Security in the Nuclear Age

The Second Cold War

Strategic Defense

South of the Border

The Arc of Crisis

Looking East

The World Turned Rightside Up

The Middle East in Peace and War

The Western Hemisphere

Heirs of Pericles: NATO and OSCE

Transnational Turbulence

A Nation Apart?

Cold Dawn

Glossary of International Terms

Chapter Five: Political Ideas and Political System

Deliberative Bodies

Separation of Powers

Checks and Balances

The Changing Constitution

The Federal System

The Legislative Branch

The Executive Branch

The Judicial Branch

The States

Elections in the United States

Revved Up with Somewhere to Go

All Politics is Local

Glossary of Political Terms

Chapter Six: The U.S. Economy

Going Commercial

Fluctuations Before 1860

Called to Account

All the World’s An Exchange

War and Peace, 1914–1919

The Crest of the Wave

Exit Prosperity

Comparative Disadvantage

National Recovery 1934–1941

World War II

The Bretton Woods System

Patterns of International Economic Cooperation

The Yellow Brick Road

The “Soaring Sixties”

Trade with the East Bloc

Shocks to the System

Meddling and Muddling

The Navigator

Go-Go Global

Home to Roost

What is Past is Prologue

Cry Havoc

Reindustrialization

Glossary of Economic Terms

Chapter Seven: A Nation of Nations

Immigration

Freedom and Civil Liberties

The “Melting Pot”

Demography as Destiny

The Future

Web Sites and Bibliography