The United States and the World: From Imitation to Challenge

364 Pages·2010·1.596 MB·English

by  Andrzej Mania (editor), Łukasz Wordliczek (editor)

Publication was sponsored by the Faculty of International and Political Studies
and the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora, Jagiellonian University
COVER DESIGN
Marcin Bruchnalski
© Copyright by Jagiellonian University
First Edition, Kraków 2009
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CONTENTS
007 Introduction
I. Contemporary American Society and Politics
013 Małgorzata Dziekońska, Connections in the Workplace as a Way of Accumulating
Social Capital by Polish Immigrants in the USA
025 David J. Jackson and Robert Mominee, Culture, Socialization, and Policy
039 M arta Koval, How to Make Stories about the Iraqi War: “Commodifi ed” Memory and
Ethical Dilemmas of Democratic Violence
47 Grzegorz Mazurkiewicz, Bill Armaline, Kathy Farber, In Search of Democratic
Education. Creating Myth, False Promise or Bright Future?
059 Bohdan Szklarski, Windows, Streams, and Organized Disorder: Presidential Struggle
for Control of Political Agenda
II. Ideologia Americana or Americanism in Action: Transatlantic Encounters
075 Crister Garrett, To Weimar and Back? Poland, the United States, and the Transatlantic
Security Space
087 David A. Jones, A Clash of Expectations: Sorting Out Where East Meets West Aft er
Th e Polish Missile Crisis
101 David A. Jones and Joanna Waluk, Th e Polish Missile Crisis: Transatlantic Tensions since
2008 Among Poland, the Ukraine, the United States, and the Russian Federation
115 Z inovia Lialiouti, Challenging Americanism: Th e Public Debate about the “American
Way of Life” in Cold-War and Post-Cold-War Greece
137 Cristina Stanca-Mustea, Universal Pictures: Propaganda – Export – Exchange
III. Ideologia Americana or Americanism in Action: Foreign Policy
155 Karol Derwich, Washington Consensus: Dead or Alive?
165 Dominik Kopiński, What Drives U.S. Offi cial Development Assistance (And Why
It’s not Development)?
179 Grzegorz Nycz, Confronting the Global Frontier: Th e Promotion of American
Democracy as a Challenge to the Multipolar World Order
187 Piotr Waldemar Pietrzak, American “Soft Power” aft er George W. Bush’s Presidency
6 Introduction
195 Andrzej Polus, Norms and Values in American International Relations Th eories
209 Małgorzata Zachara, American Strategy Toward Global Governance. New Leader-
ship or Crisis of Identity?
IV. Ideologia Americana or Americanism in Action: Impact of American Values
223 Paweł Laidler, Lack of Arguments or a Common Sense: Reasons of the U.S. Supreme
Court’s Preferences to International Community in the Process of Constitutional
Interpretation
241 R enata Nowaczewska, American Private Foundations: Global Philanthropy or
Global Hegemony
251 Jolanta Szymkowska-Bartyzel, William Th omas Stead and His 1901 Vision of the
Americanized World
263 M arius Văcărelu, Th e United State’s Infl uence in the Legal Systems of Eastern Europe:
Romania’s Right to a Good Administration
271 Tomasz Wieciech, American Concept of Federal Union and Its Worldwide Infl uence
V . Ideologia Americana or Americanism in Action: Exceptionalism and Democracy
Promotion
287 Benjamin P. Greene, American Exceptionalism: Challenges and Renewals
293 P atricia S. Hart, Reclaiming the American Dream: Strategies for Recapturing the
Rhetoric of Exceptionalism in Barack Obama’s Presidential Media Campaign
307 Karsten Senkbeil, Baseball and American Exceptionalism
VI. Continuity and Change
323 K rzysztof Michałek , Th e Power of Change vs. the Power of Continuity: What Might
be Achieved by the U.S. President in the First 100 Days of His Presidency? (On George
W. Bush and Barack Obama’s Examples)
337 Monika Różalska, Continuity and Change in Sino-American Relations in the Light
of ‘Complex’ Interdependence Th eory
355 José Luis Valdés-Ugalde, Bernadette G. Vega Sánchez, Th e Obama Presidency and
the New Roads for the American Way: Has the Past Been Left Behind?
INTRODUCTION
Th is volume is the result of the third international conference Th e United States and the
World: from Imitation to Challenge held in Cracow on May 29–30, 2009. Th e event was
organized by the Chair of American Studies at the Institute of American Studies and
Polish Diaspora, Jagiellonian University. It was one in a series of international confer-
ences organized by the Institute, each of which has gathered numerous researchers
from Europe, America, and Asia. Th e conferences refl ect the research agenda of the
Chair of American Studies, which is not limited to the United States exclusively, but
also embraces Canada and Latin America. What is of special importance is that the
present conference as well as two earlier ones, Th e United States and Europe: Confl ict
versus Collaboration1 in 2005 and U.S. Foreign Policy: Th eory, Mechanisms, Practice2 in
2007 were a vivid sign of endless interest in “America,” as a widely understood concept.
She, and the country of the United States in particular, inspires admiration, irrita-
tion, and, in research activities, raises various questions and issues to be studied. All
three conferences that we hosted met with interest in the academic community, and
the papers and contributions had a certain explanatory impact on the main themes
of the conferences.
Th e conference Th e United States and the World: from Imitation to Challenge
was meant to gather those interested in various aspects of the mutual connections
between the United States and the world. It concentrated on the problem of the
model of American democracy, the presidential system, American politics, Ameri-
can society, American culture and the world’s refl ections about them – from imita-
tion to challenge. For this, there was an invitation to scholars from many research
fi elds: political science, philosophy, law, culture studies, economy, and sociology. It
was a result of our vision of American Studies as an interdisciplinary eff ort. And
so, thanks to the rich and diverse approaches of the participants, our vision turned
out to be true.
1 A ndrzej Mania, Paweł Laidler, Katarzyna Spiechlanin, Łukasz Wordliczek. 2005. United States and Europe.
Confl ict versus Collaboration. Kraków: Jagiellonian University Press.
2 A ndrzej Mania, Paweł Laidler, Łukasz Wordliczek. 2007. U.S. Foreign Policy: Th eory, Mechanisms, Practice.
Kraków: Jagiellonian University Press.
8 Introduction
A review of the contributions provides an indication of the most important ideas
refl ected at the conference. A starting-point for the debate was Christopher Coker’s
(London School of Economics) paper Th e US and Europe: Same Values, Diff erent
Norms. Th e question of the proximity of Europe and the United States was one of the
crucial issues also touched on by other participants. Similarly, a hotly debated issue
was the problem of “Th e American Creed and Contemporary American Society.” Dur-
ing this session, researchers’ attention moved from the migration studies (Małgorzata
Dziekońska) through the issue of ethics (Marta Koval) to the presidential leadership
debate (Bohdan Szklarski).
American ideology was also studied and questioned. It was covered in several panels
under the common title “Ideologia Americana or Americanism in Action.” Some of the
presenters touched on the issue of “Transatlantic Encounters” (David A. Jones, Joanna
Waluk, Crister S. Garrett).
One of the most debated themes dealt with foreign policy. Papers were of a theoreti-
cal character, from the promotion of democracy in the world (Grzegorz Nycz) through
development assistance (Dominik Kopiński), to norms and values (Piotr Waldemar
Pietrzak). Other participants were devoted to researching relations of the United States
with other parts of the world with particular interest in the inter-American sphere
(Karol Derwich) and American leadership (Małgorzata Zachara) and its limitations
(Randall W. Stone’s inaugural paper).
Th e question of creating a model for U.S. foreign policy was also studied. Here some
papers were related to governmental studies: from the Supreme Court (Paweł Laidler)
and federalism (Tomasz Wieciech) to fund-raising (Renata Nowaczewska).
One should not be surprised by the fact that the conference was also devoted to the
idea of “Exceptionalism and Democracy Promotion.” An introduction to the topic was
delivered by Benjamin P. Greene, while other participants explored the issue in detail:
Obama’s rhetoric analysis of Patricia Hart, exceptionalism in sports (Karsten Senkbeil),
and export of American popular culture (Cristina Stanca-Mustea).
Th e session on “Continuity and Change” stimulated further discussion. Here ques-
tions of American way of life (Zinovia Lialiouti), the fi rst-100-days-issue (Krzysztof
Michałek) and the infl uence of the American law system on Eastern Europe (Marius
Văcărelu) were studied in detail. Also, a very valuable session was the one on “School
Reform: Context and Specifi cs” with papers by David J. Jackson, Grzegorz Mazurkie-
wicz, Kathy Farber and William T. Armaline.
Th e eff ect of the conference is refl ected in the contributions that follow in this vol-
ume and in the rich, interdisciplinary debate over the American impact on the world,
integration in Pax Americana and patterns of integration in other parts of the world,
diff erent and/or similar approaches to challenges to international order, and – last but
not least – the issue of continuity and change in politics. Here one also needs to mention
the ever-present debate on the American “export” of values: separation of church and
state, human rights, the idea of sovereignty, the rule of separation of powers, modern
federalism, democratization approaches, Americanism, American Studies dilemmas,
American exceptionalism, uniqueness in contemporary American society, and patterns
in foreign policy.
Introduction 9
Th is volume allows the reader to follow the debate at the conference, a debate that
unifi ed such diverse researchers over one topic: Th e United States and the World: from
Imitation to Challenge.
Prof. Andrzej Mania, Ph.D.
Head of the Chair of American Studies
Jagiellonian University