The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory

New York Times–Bestselling Author: A penetrating account of the post-Cold War follies and delusions that culminated in the age of Trump.

When the Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Washington establishment felt it had prevailed in a world-historical struggle. Our side had won, a verdict that was both decisive and irreversible. For the world’s “indispensable nation,” its “sole superpower,” the future looked very bright. History, having brought the United States to the very summit of power and prestige, had validated American-style liberal democratic capitalism as universally applicable.

In the decades to come, Americans would put that claim to the test. They would embrace the promise of globalization as a source of unprecedented wealth while embarking on wide-ranging military campaigns to suppress disorder and enforce American values abroad, confident in the ability of US forces to defeat any foe. Meanwhile, they placed all their bets on the White House to deliver on the promise of their Cold War triumph: unequaled prosperity, lasting peace, and absolute freedom.

In The Age of Illusions, Andrew Bacevich takes us from that moment of seemingly ultimate victory to the age of Trump, telling an epic tale of folly and delusion. Writing with his usual eloquence and vast knowledge, he explains how, within a quarter of a century, the United States ended up with gaping inequality, permanent war, moral confusion, an increasingly angry and alienated population, and, of course, the strangest president in American history.

“Offers tantalizing insights into how America’s Cold War victory soured. . . . Most interesting.” —The Economist

“Those unfamiliar with Bacevich’s work will be thrilled to encounter a first-rate thinker whose trenchant, objective, well-written analyses defy glib labeling . . . Highly recommended.” —Choice

“This engrossing recounting of the irresponsibility of America’s ruling class—aided and abetted by a citizenry grown complacent—clarifies the absurdities of the ascent of Trump [and shows] how America’s self-congratulatory past has led to our wrenching present . . . he offers hope for a future free of self-deception, and points the way toward a newly responsible American civic life.” —Patrick J. Deneen, author of Why Liberalism Failed

© 2024 Metropolitan Books (E-bog): 9781250175090

Release date

E-bog: 6. august 2024