The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism

832 Pages·2008·12.86 MB·English

by  Andrew J. Bacevich

THE LIMITS OF POWER

Books by Gabriel Kolko
The Roots of American Foreign Policy
The Politics of War:
The World and United States Foreign Policy, 1943-1945
Railroads and Regulation, 1877-1916
The Triumph of Conservatism:
A Reinterpretation of American History, 1900-1916
Wealth and Power in America:
An Analysis of Social Class and Income Distribution

Joyce and Gabriel Kolko
THE
LIMITS
OF POWER
The World and United States
Foreign Policy, 1945-1954
HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS
New York • Evanston • San Francisco • London
the limits of power. Copyright © 1972 by Joyce and Gabriel Kolko. All rights
reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used
or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information
address Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 49 East 33rd Street, New York, N.Y.
10016. Published simultaneously in Canada by Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited,
Toronto.
FIRST EDITION
STANDARD BOOK NUMBER: 06-012447-4
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 70-156530
To Wray

Contents
Abbreviations and Acronyms Used xi
Introduction 1
BOOK I: The Global Crisis from the End of the War until
Early 1947
1 The Reconstruction of the World Economy 11
2 American Diplomacy and Russia, 1945-1946 29
3 Great Britain and the New World Economy 59
4 Military Power and Foreign Policy, 1945-1946 91
5 The Future of Germany 111
6 The Political Economy of Western Europe, 1945-1946 146
7 The Transformation of Eastern Europe, 1945-1947 176
8 Greece and the Middle East: Tradition and Turmoil 218
9 China: From Chaos to Revolution 246
10 Korea, 1945-1948: The American Way of Liberation 277
11 The Dilemma of Japan 300
BOOK II: From the Truman Doctrine to the Korean War
12 The 1947 Crisis: The Truman Doctrine and American
Globalism 329
13 The Marshall Plan, I: Foundations of Policy 359
14 Czechoslovakia and the Consolidation of Soviet Power 384
15 Heir to Empire: The Near East and Mastery of the
World’s Oil 403
IX
X CONTENTS
16 The Marshall Plan, II: The Economics of European
Restoration 428
17 The Failure of the Marshall Plan, 1949-1950 453
18 Military Power and Diplomatic Policy, 1947-1949: Definitions
and Confrontations 477
19 The Restoration of Japan 510
20 China: The Triumphant Revolution, 1947-1950 534
BOOK III: The Korean War and the Limits of American Power
21 Korea: From Civil War to Global Crisis 565
22 Korea: The War with China 600
23 The Dilemmas of World Economic Power, 1950-1953 618
24 Europe and the Dilemmas of Military Power, 1950-1952 649
25 Eisenhower and the Crisis of American Power 674
Conclusion: The Limits of Integration 709
notes 717
INDEX 799