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We May Dominate the World: Ambition, Anxiety, and the Rise of the American Colossus
What did it take for the United States to become a global superpower? The answer lies in a missing chapter of American foreign policy with stark lessons for today
The cutthroat world of international politics has always been dominated by great powers. Yet no great power in the modern era has ever managed to achieve the kind of invulnerability that comes from being completely supreme in its own neighborhood. No great power, that is, except one—the United States.
In We May Dominate the World , Sean A. Mirski tells the riveting story of how the United States became a regional hegemon in the century following the Civil War. By turns reluctant and ruthless, Americans squeezed their European rivals out of the hemisphere while landing forces on their neighbors’ soil with dizzying frequency. Mirski reveals the surprising reasons behind this muscular foreign policy in a narrative full of twists, colorful characters, and original accounts of the palace coups and bloody interventions that turned the fledgling republic into a global superpower.
Today, as China makes its own run at regional hegemony and nations like Russia and Iran grow more menacing, Mirski’s fresh look at the rise of the American colossus offers indispensable lessons for how to meet the challenges of our own century.
The cutthroat world of international politics has always been dominated by great powers. Yet no great power in the modern era has ever managed to achieve the kind of invulnerability that comes from being completely supreme in its own neighborhood. No great power, that is, except one—the United States.
In We May Dominate the World , Sean A. Mirski tells the riveting story of how the United States became a regional hegemon in the century following the Civil War. By turns reluctant and ruthless, Americans squeezed their European rivals out of the hemisphere while landing forces on their neighbors’ soil with dizzying frequency. Mirski reveals the surprising reasons behind this muscular foreign policy in a narrative full of twists, colorful characters, and original accounts of the palace coups and bloody interventions that turned the fledgling republic into a global superpower.
Today, as China makes its own run at regional hegemony and nations like Russia and Iran grow more menacing, Mirski’s fresh look at the rise of the American colossus offers indispensable lessons for how to meet the challenges of our own century.
512 pages, Hardcover
Published June 27, 2023
42 people are currently reading
468 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 30, 2024
Sometimes I read a book and think to myself, “everyone should read this.” This is one of those books. It is a superb accomplishment. Very readable and engaging.
Mirski’s story begins with Napoleon III’s invasion of Mexico during the American Civil War and the anxiety it caused in Washington. The fear of European, and later of Japanese, involvement in the western hemisphere and in Hawaii can be seen as the motivation for American foreign policy. Mirske stresses that American policy promoted order in the region and for this reason, he successfully refutes arguments that the United States was looking for territorial gain or colonies during the period. He also shows that capitalism and big business played almost no role in foreign policy outcomes. American policy makers wanted order and strong neighbors so that great colonial powers from Europe and Japan would not gain a foothold in the region and bring monarchism and fascism with them. I think it’s also abundantly clear that racism played little role in how foreign policy played out. Order and the prevention of European land grabs was nearly always the motivation of American policy makers.
Usually, Washington was dealing with very specific circumstances and with few good options. Usually no good options. American policy makers come across as hopelessly naive but well intentioned. Unfortunately the results were rarely good unless one considers that the western hemisphere under the Monroe doctrine generally fared far better than the eastern hemisphere during this time period.
Mirski’s concluding chapter looks towards the future and speculates about China’s rise and the role of India and Russia in the future. It is not a rosy picture but it doesn’t seem that war is inevitable and that gives reason for hope.
Mirski’s story begins with Napoleon III’s invasion of Mexico during the American Civil War and the anxiety it caused in Washington. The fear of European, and later of Japanese, involvement in the western hemisphere and in Hawaii can be seen as the motivation for American foreign policy. Mirske stresses that American policy promoted order in the region and for this reason, he successfully refutes arguments that the United States was looking for territorial gain or colonies during the period. He also shows that capitalism and big business played almost no role in foreign policy outcomes. American policy makers wanted order and strong neighbors so that great colonial powers from Europe and Japan would not gain a foothold in the region and bring monarchism and fascism with them. I think it’s also abundantly clear that racism played little role in how foreign policy played out. Order and the prevention of European land grabs was nearly always the motivation of American policy makers.
Usually, Washington was dealing with very specific circumstances and with few good options. Usually no good options. American policy makers come across as hopelessly naive but well intentioned. Unfortunately the results were rarely good unless one considers that the western hemisphere under the Monroe doctrine generally fared far better than the eastern hemisphere during this time period.
Mirski’s concluding chapter looks towards the future and speculates about China’s rise and the role of India and Russia in the future. It is not a rosy picture but it doesn’t seem that war is inevitable and that gives reason for hope.
August 31, 2023
Very interesting book. Most of the timeline of this book focuses on the time between the right at the end of the Civil War and the end of WWII. It is absolutely insane how much and how often the US intervened (interfered) with most Central and South American countries during this time with the use of the Monroe Doctrine.
September 4, 2023
4.5
In this book, Sean Mirski explains the history, causes, and consequences of U.S involvement in the affairs of other nations over two centuries. He discusses the origin of the Monroe Doctrine and its role in discouraging the influence of European nations who considered colonies and spheres of influence near the developing United States. Never before had I understood importance of this policy in providing security while our country was vulnerable to more powerful nations abroad.
This book discusses the unintended negative results of this strategy as more responsibility for the welfare and behavior of our neighbors resulted from it. This inevitably led to increasing interference during the half century following the Civil War. Resentment and anger were the natural consequences on all sides of the growing dependence of our southern neighbors for protection, trade, and largesse. Presidents of both major parties found themselves trapped into actions they had often sought to avoid in foreign policy.
This author provides details of our relentless march into dominance throughout the first half of the 20th century and two World Wars. Before listening to this book, I was aware of most of the events in which our nation had used power and wealth to influence other countries, but I had never understood the connections between these actions or the underlying reasons for them. I'm still mulling it over, wondering if there are other explanations equally valid to explain our actions.
While I follow history, the news, and political events attentively, I am no scholar on the subjects considered in this book. I cannot say with assurance that Mirski's views are the correct ones. However, he has provided a path for further consideration of the dominant role the United States has had, and continues to have, on world events, including war, peace, democracy, and climate change. I found this a worthwhile book and expect that it will aid me in considering and evaluating future actions as they unfold .
In this book, Sean Mirski explains the history, causes, and consequences of U.S involvement in the affairs of other nations over two centuries. He discusses the origin of the Monroe Doctrine and its role in discouraging the influence of European nations who considered colonies and spheres of influence near the developing United States. Never before had I understood importance of this policy in providing security while our country was vulnerable to more powerful nations abroad.
This book discusses the unintended negative results of this strategy as more responsibility for the welfare and behavior of our neighbors resulted from it. This inevitably led to increasing interference during the half century following the Civil War. Resentment and anger were the natural consequences on all sides of the growing dependence of our southern neighbors for protection, trade, and largesse. Presidents of both major parties found themselves trapped into actions they had often sought to avoid in foreign policy.
This author provides details of our relentless march into dominance throughout the first half of the 20th century and two World Wars. Before listening to this book, I was aware of most of the events in which our nation had used power and wealth to influence other countries, but I had never understood the connections between these actions or the underlying reasons for them. I'm still mulling it over, wondering if there are other explanations equally valid to explain our actions.
While I follow history, the news, and political events attentively, I am no scholar on the subjects considered in this book. I cannot say with assurance that Mirski's views are the correct ones. However, he has provided a path for further consideration of the dominant role the United States has had, and continues to have, on world events, including war, peace, democracy, and climate change. I found this a worthwhile book and expect that it will aid me in considering and evaluating future actions as they unfold .
October 5, 2023
While the book provides ample information on the time period it does cover (the only reason this review has a second star), it largely glosses over the rest of American Imperialism. It leaves out entirely the 1st century of American history in which the nation vociferously snatched land away from conquered native nations and peoples not to mention the taking of Spanish Florida and the entirety of what was then Northern Mexico. In the areas covered, from the American Civil War to WWII, Mirski takes an appallingly apologist angle on the telling of this history. A story of a reluctant United States, only doing what it must! Oh, poor US, it didn't mean to be a militaristic imperial power over its smaller, economically weaker, and darker skinned neighbors! It just sorta happened. What a heinous crock of shit. After the second World War, Mirski again softly brushes over the United States consistent policy of proxy wars, corporate colonialism (which he goes as far as to flat out discredit), covert military operations, and the propping up of right wing autocratic regimes in countries that had popularly elected leftist governments. This period dating from about 1946 to the 2000s during the Bush 2 administration is tied up in a neat little bow in less than a chapter and a half. Again, for the time periods that are covered in depth, the information in the book is accurate. The glaring issue with this piece is the apologist stain and complete disregard for the glorious American tradition of Imperialism before the Civil War and after the 1940s.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 17, 2025
An excellent diplomatic history! One of my weak spots as a historian is US diplomacy btw the Civil War and WWII. I've always understood the individual US conflicts well, but not necessarily the larger strategic architecture of US foreign policy. This book helped me fill in this gaps with its own bold, overarching explanation of USFP.
Mirski starts with the Monroe Doctrine, which is clearly the most important principle of USFP for the nation's 150 years, if not more. During and after the Civil War, successive US presidencies moved to give the Monroe Doctrine teeth, or to move it from a largely aspirational statement of intent to the European powers to something enforceable. US leaders had long wanted the Western hemisphere to be a reserve of republican governments freed from European monarchies. They also wanted to remove European strategic power from the WH to avoid any kind of encirclement of the US.
The main issue with this strategy, Mirski argues, was the problem of order. The United States needed its neighbors to be stable, functional states, preferably at peace with each other, so that there wouldn't be any pretense or opportunity for European powers to insinuate themselves into their affairs. But these were, for a variety of reasons, chronically unstable states, and US leaders doubted their capacity for responsible self-govt for a mix of racial and cultural reasons. So the US ended up interfering more and more in their affairs not out of a grand quest for empire but as part of a strategy of exclusion toward the European powers, of making sure they couldn't take advantage of instability in these countries to regain a foothold in the WH.
This was the strategic vision that drove the creation of US hegemony in the WH. But the means to achieve this evolved over time, pulling the US more and more into the direct management of its Latin American neighbors. Initially, the US supported republican revolutions against European powers, such as the Mexican revolt against France in the 1860s. US leaders sought to foster trade and financial relations with these countries. It seized opportunities to annex or buy territories like Hawaii so that Germans, Japanese, and others would not be able to seize them. This was a strategic necessity in the age of steam, when coaling stations were needed to project global power and protect trade, but they proved But when these defaulted on loans to European partners, fell into civil war, or invaded each other, opportunities arose for European powers to intervene again.
Thus, under TR and Taft, the US ended up acting as the enforcer of international credit, intervening throughout Latin America to collect loans for European and US banks, protecting US property and citizens, tipping the balance toward one government or another in internal disputes, and in cases like Cuba, asserting virtual protectorates. Under the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, TR declared a US right to intervene militarily in the Western hemisphere to impose order and keep the Europeans out. Achieving order in the Western hemisphere was a slippery slope that led to dozens of interventions and the souring of relations with Latin American nations, but it was all done with an eye to the global balance of power.
In the 1920, the experience of fighting a bloody insurgency against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua deeply soured the US government against interventionism in the WH, leading to a "good neighbor" approach under FDR that rejected TR's interventionism. But the US never really escaped this problem, and when geopolitical tensions heated up again in the 30s and Germany began intriguing in the WH more, the US turned toward relying on friendly dictators and intervening when necessary. During the Cold War, this problem continued and led to even more US mucking about in Latin America. But, this was undoubtedly a successful strategy that did keep strategic competitors out, ensure US hegemony in the WH, and form the foundation for the global colossus of the Cold War and beyond.
Mirski makes a good argument that while US leaders did have condescending attitudes toward Latin American peoples, but that these attitudes were more facilitators of intervention (and shapers of the nature of that intervention) rather than causes. These attitudes, and grand narratives of manifest destiny or spreading civilization, don't come up much in the primary sources where leaders discuss their reasoning for intervention. First and foremost, US policy in the WH was driven strategic anxiety about locking down this zone of the world from European and other rivals and the fear of what these countries could do if they gained footholds there. This is a good correction to a lot of the literature on US relations with its neighbors that is still compatible with scholarship on race, religion, civilization, modernization, etc. I highly recommend this book!
Mirski starts with the Monroe Doctrine, which is clearly the most important principle of USFP for the nation's 150 years, if not more. During and after the Civil War, successive US presidencies moved to give the Monroe Doctrine teeth, or to move it from a largely aspirational statement of intent to the European powers to something enforceable. US leaders had long wanted the Western hemisphere to be a reserve of republican governments freed from European monarchies. They also wanted to remove European strategic power from the WH to avoid any kind of encirclement of the US.
The main issue with this strategy, Mirski argues, was the problem of order. The United States needed its neighbors to be stable, functional states, preferably at peace with each other, so that there wouldn't be any pretense or opportunity for European powers to insinuate themselves into their affairs. But these were, for a variety of reasons, chronically unstable states, and US leaders doubted their capacity for responsible self-govt for a mix of racial and cultural reasons. So the US ended up interfering more and more in their affairs not out of a grand quest for empire but as part of a strategy of exclusion toward the European powers, of making sure they couldn't take advantage of instability in these countries to regain a foothold in the WH.
This was the strategic vision that drove the creation of US hegemony in the WH. But the means to achieve this evolved over time, pulling the US more and more into the direct management of its Latin American neighbors. Initially, the US supported republican revolutions against European powers, such as the Mexican revolt against France in the 1860s. US leaders sought to foster trade and financial relations with these countries. It seized opportunities to annex or buy territories like Hawaii so that Germans, Japanese, and others would not be able to seize them. This was a strategic necessity in the age of steam, when coaling stations were needed to project global power and protect trade, but they proved But when these defaulted on loans to European partners, fell into civil war, or invaded each other, opportunities arose for European powers to intervene again.
Thus, under TR and Taft, the US ended up acting as the enforcer of international credit, intervening throughout Latin America to collect loans for European and US banks, protecting US property and citizens, tipping the balance toward one government or another in internal disputes, and in cases like Cuba, asserting virtual protectorates. Under the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, TR declared a US right to intervene militarily in the Western hemisphere to impose order and keep the Europeans out. Achieving order in the Western hemisphere was a slippery slope that led to dozens of interventions and the souring of relations with Latin American nations, but it was all done with an eye to the global balance of power.
In the 1920, the experience of fighting a bloody insurgency against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua deeply soured the US government against interventionism in the WH, leading to a "good neighbor" approach under FDR that rejected TR's interventionism. But the US never really escaped this problem, and when geopolitical tensions heated up again in the 30s and Germany began intriguing in the WH more, the US turned toward relying on friendly dictators and intervening when necessary. During the Cold War, this problem continued and led to even more US mucking about in Latin America. But, this was undoubtedly a successful strategy that did keep strategic competitors out, ensure US hegemony in the WH, and form the foundation for the global colossus of the Cold War and beyond.
Mirski makes a good argument that while US leaders did have condescending attitudes toward Latin American peoples, but that these attitudes were more facilitators of intervention (and shapers of the nature of that intervention) rather than causes. These attitudes, and grand narratives of manifest destiny or spreading civilization, don't come up much in the primary sources where leaders discuss their reasoning for intervention. First and foremost, US policy in the WH was driven strategic anxiety about locking down this zone of the world from European and other rivals and the fear of what these countries could do if they gained footholds there. This is a good correction to a lot of the literature on US relations with its neighbors that is still compatible with scholarship on race, religion, civilization, modernization, etc. I highly recommend this book!
May 23, 2023
My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Public Affairs for an advanced copy of this history on the United States and it control over the Western Hemisphere, the many failures this lead to and how history keeps on repeating itself.
I remember in school learning about the Monroe Doctrine and the entirety of the western hemisphere being America's sphere of influence. What was never real taught us was all the times that American intervened in numerous countries within that sphere, way before America started taking an interest in the rest of the world after World War II. The oceans that separated Europe and Asia from America were always the first defense we had both from invasion, and from Europe making toeholds here. The Americas were a draw for Europe, there was a lot of money to be made in the countries and islands of the Americas. Giant canals to be built, minerals to be extracted, trees and more. As the United States began to grow into itself, people in both government and private sectors began to see the money that could be made. And slowly a foreign policy began to take shape, in fits and spurts. We May Dominate the World: Ambition, Anxiety, and the Rise of the American Colossus by writer and lawyer Sean A Mirski is a look at the rise of both American interest in the Western Hemisphere, its desire to keep out other nations, and its increased intervention in many countries, a legacy that continues to this day.
The book begins with America invading Haiti, to stop the chaos that came from another coup attempt. This could be anytime, as Haiti seems to be a particular popular place for intervention, but this was during a very blood coup that left many dead and the people crying for revenge. The book than goes back to the closing days of the American Civil War, with victory at hand, the traitors surrendering at Appomattox, the dead not even counting, General Grant was planning to do something about Mexico. While America was at war with itself, Europe loving the troubles, began to make inroads in the Americas. The United States was getting a little big, so problems internally could only help Europe, especially France in Mexico. After an allied invasion to recover defaulted loans, France supported Maximilian I as proxy leader of Mexico. General Grant, without a lot of permission as the assassination of Lincoln had caused confusion in the government, and many had no idea that troops were even close to Mexico. Using a show of force, some force, and backing rebels against Maximilian General Sheridan was able to help the overthrow of Maximilian, causing years of chaos in Mexico, but denying Europe their proxy leader. Soon more plans were being made some good, some horrible, and history in the western hemisphere would never be the same.
I had thought before reading this that I was familiar with a lot of our actions in countries in this hemisphere, I was really wrong. Mirski is a very good writer, able to write in way that makes everything clear and understandable, without being academic and well exhausting. The research alone must have taken a very long time. Mirski is able to capture both the oddness of many of these characters, the mix of superiority, racism, and stupidity, with the actions taken, and actions that still make the United States unpopular in so many places. Every page has something revelatory, and never drags. A very different view of America and how it started to become imperialist, and how much of a mess people at the time made of things.
Recommended for readers of Latin American history, or for those who like American history with a lot more depth and bigger issues than most of the pop history books that come out. A book that shows where America went wrong in a lot of ways when it came to foreign policy, and the repercussions that still resound today.
I remember in school learning about the Monroe Doctrine and the entirety of the western hemisphere being America's sphere of influence. What was never real taught us was all the times that American intervened in numerous countries within that sphere, way before America started taking an interest in the rest of the world after World War II. The oceans that separated Europe and Asia from America were always the first defense we had both from invasion, and from Europe making toeholds here. The Americas were a draw for Europe, there was a lot of money to be made in the countries and islands of the Americas. Giant canals to be built, minerals to be extracted, trees and more. As the United States began to grow into itself, people in both government and private sectors began to see the money that could be made. And slowly a foreign policy began to take shape, in fits and spurts. We May Dominate the World: Ambition, Anxiety, and the Rise of the American Colossus by writer and lawyer Sean A Mirski is a look at the rise of both American interest in the Western Hemisphere, its desire to keep out other nations, and its increased intervention in many countries, a legacy that continues to this day.
The book begins with America invading Haiti, to stop the chaos that came from another coup attempt. This could be anytime, as Haiti seems to be a particular popular place for intervention, but this was during a very blood coup that left many dead and the people crying for revenge. The book than goes back to the closing days of the American Civil War, with victory at hand, the traitors surrendering at Appomattox, the dead not even counting, General Grant was planning to do something about Mexico. While America was at war with itself, Europe loving the troubles, began to make inroads in the Americas. The United States was getting a little big, so problems internally could only help Europe, especially France in Mexico. After an allied invasion to recover defaulted loans, France supported Maximilian I as proxy leader of Mexico. General Grant, without a lot of permission as the assassination of Lincoln had caused confusion in the government, and many had no idea that troops were even close to Mexico. Using a show of force, some force, and backing rebels against Maximilian General Sheridan was able to help the overthrow of Maximilian, causing years of chaos in Mexico, but denying Europe their proxy leader. Soon more plans were being made some good, some horrible, and history in the western hemisphere would never be the same.
I had thought before reading this that I was familiar with a lot of our actions in countries in this hemisphere, I was really wrong. Mirski is a very good writer, able to write in way that makes everything clear and understandable, without being academic and well exhausting. The research alone must have taken a very long time. Mirski is able to capture both the oddness of many of these characters, the mix of superiority, racism, and stupidity, with the actions taken, and actions that still make the United States unpopular in so many places. Every page has something revelatory, and never drags. A very different view of America and how it started to become imperialist, and how much of a mess people at the time made of things.
Recommended for readers of Latin American history, or for those who like American history with a lot more depth and bigger issues than most of the pop history books that come out. A book that shows where America went wrong in a lot of ways when it came to foreign policy, and the repercussions that still resound today.
July 24, 2023
The Authoritative Story of the United States's Rise to Global Greatness
If you're looking for an expertly told account of the United States's rise to global power, look no further—this book has it all.
Mirski tells the story of how, in the wake of the Civil War, the United States committed itself to a foreign-policy objective of breathtaking ambition: to expel every one of its European rivals from its region, leaving itself the undisputed hegemon of half the world. No other great power in modern history has come close to achieving that kind of geopolitical supremacy, but the United States did, and in this book, Mirski explains how and why.
Mirski's prose is stylish and brisk, and despite covering nearly a century of U.S. foreign policy stretching across the globe, he always keeps the focus on the individual characters and decisionmakers in an eminently readable narrative history. It is impossible not to be drawn into Mirski's telling of both the triumph and tragedy of the events of the period, and you will feel like you are sitting at the Resolute Desk with President Theodore Roosevelt as he contemplates the taking of Panama; bobbing in the waters of the Louisiana bayou with soldiers of fortune preparing to overthrow the Honduran government at the behest of corrupt banana companies; and, of course, landing in the surf of Caribbean countries to the sound of machine gun fire as the U.S. Marines wade ashore.
But what comes across most clearly from We May Dominate the World is the many ways in which our world is not so different from the world Mirski describes, from the difficulties of forcible nation-building abroad to reasons why rising powers inevitably conduct aggressive and expansionist foreign policies. It is a testament to the book's research and grounded approach that these issues are handled with nuance and sophistication.
In short, this is history written as history should be written.
If you're looking for an expertly told account of the United States's rise to global power, look no further—this book has it all.
Mirski tells the story of how, in the wake of the Civil War, the United States committed itself to a foreign-policy objective of breathtaking ambition: to expel every one of its European rivals from its region, leaving itself the undisputed hegemon of half the world. No other great power in modern history has come close to achieving that kind of geopolitical supremacy, but the United States did, and in this book, Mirski explains how and why.
Mirski's prose is stylish and brisk, and despite covering nearly a century of U.S. foreign policy stretching across the globe, he always keeps the focus on the individual characters and decisionmakers in an eminently readable narrative history. It is impossible not to be drawn into Mirski's telling of both the triumph and tragedy of the events of the period, and you will feel like you are sitting at the Resolute Desk with President Theodore Roosevelt as he contemplates the taking of Panama; bobbing in the waters of the Louisiana bayou with soldiers of fortune preparing to overthrow the Honduran government at the behest of corrupt banana companies; and, of course, landing in the surf of Caribbean countries to the sound of machine gun fire as the U.S. Marines wade ashore.
But what comes across most clearly from We May Dominate the World is the many ways in which our world is not so different from the world Mirski describes, from the difficulties of forcible nation-building abroad to reasons why rising powers inevitably conduct aggressive and expansionist foreign policies. It is a testament to the book's research and grounded approach that these issues are handled with nuance and sophistication.
In short, this is history written as history should be written.
October 7, 2023
(3.5 stars) This work looks at how America expanded its territorial “empire” from the post-Civil War days until World War II. This is not a work that will celebrate those American actions. If nothing else, a reader is going to learn about how key Civil War and Union leaders were deathly afraid of action from Mexico during the later stages of the war, that the French-ruled regime would possibly launch operations deep into American territory while the country was a war with itself. Even Grant was planning for a Mexican invasion, and was not real happy when it didn’t come to pass.
After that adventure, the rest of the book focuses on American foreign policy and how various actors, from political to economic, drove American expansion. A combination of real-politick (before it became an actual thing), racism, security desires and the American quest for expansion all played a part in bringing Hawaii into the American fold, as well as lands and territories across the Pacific and Latin America.
This work does not highlight the best of America. It doesn’t really offer to many alternatives, but it showed that the American flaw of not knowing the land and the people was key to the issues that bedeviled America and those lands in the decades after American expansion/influence increased. It can fill in some gaps in American history education, which is a good thing, but probably not a work that will get a lot of people clamoring to read it more, unless they want to highlight more of the worst American actions. Not much more than a library borrow (not sure I’d invest actual money to buy it).
After that adventure, the rest of the book focuses on American foreign policy and how various actors, from political to economic, drove American expansion. A combination of real-politick (before it became an actual thing), racism, security desires and the American quest for expansion all played a part in bringing Hawaii into the American fold, as well as lands and territories across the Pacific and Latin America.
This work does not highlight the best of America. It doesn’t really offer to many alternatives, but it showed that the American flaw of not knowing the land and the people was key to the issues that bedeviled America and those lands in the decades after American expansion/influence increased. It can fill in some gaps in American history education, which is a good thing, but probably not a work that will get a lot of people clamoring to read it more, unless they want to highlight more of the worst American actions. Not much more than a library borrow (not sure I’d invest actual money to buy it).
July 7, 2023
"We May Dominate the World" is an engaging and brisk read. The author does a great job of using interesting (and often hilarious) historical anecdotes and characters to illuminate chapters in U.S. and world history with which I did not have more than passing familiarity. Particularly memorable for me was the chapter on Maximilian I's poorly fated time as Emperor of Mexico, which was equal parts funny and poignant. I haven't had this much fun reading historical non-fiction in a long time. The book's thesis -- that understanding how the United States emerged into a regional hegemon is instructive for understanding current world affairs, including the rise of China -- is interesting and thought-provoking. But I honestly enjoyed the book at least as much for educating me about a part of U.S. history that is not covered well in school, including the relationship between the Civil War and the U.S.'s rise into a global power. If you find U.S. history, the history of the Americas more broadly, or great power politics interesting, this book is worth your time.
November 7, 2023
Whatever you think of the many US interventions in the affairs of its neighbors in the Caribbean and Central and South America were, this book will challenge you to think more deeply about several of the key interventions in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Having done the research, Mirski explores the motivations of the key individuals -- Presidents, Secretaries of State, Diplomats, freelancers, business people, leaders of various neighboring countries, revolutionaries, and leaders of European great powers eager to gain footholds in the western hemisphere. His clear and accessible writing proves that scholarly work need not be boring or impenetrable. Whether you ultimately agree with his thesis, or come up with your own, the book will give you some intellectual tools with which to evaluate the motivations, choices, and actions facing today's leaders in key international fora.
April 2, 2023
A deep dive into US western hemisphere policy from the end of the Civil War to WWII and a little beyond. Mr. Mirski details the successes (not many) and failures (very very many) of the United States enforcing the Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt Corollary and it’s associated policies. Vivid in detail and in substance I found the book well written but accessible to non scholars like myself who want to learn more about the policies that helped to shape the “American Century” No matter what “currant jelly” policy the US tried to make stick to the walls of its closest neighbors, Mr Mirski shows that Americas policy makers were ineffective in making their ideals stick as the model for everyone, a policy that still is tried and tried again even today.
June 27, 2025
An excellent survey of American grand strategy until 1941, and powerful insights beyond. Very easy and enjoyable to read, for the student of political science or international relations this is a must in understanding the ticks of the American colossus. A testament that despite America’s liberal tradition, Man is the same in all places. Altruistically or not, certain political conditions drove that colossus to intervene all throughout the Caribbean basin right until the eve of 1941, and even several times afterward.
August 28, 2025
“The United States is unique among great powers in that it will lose its innocence, again and again and again, only to rebound … believing that this time, things will be different… That good intentions will prevail, that the mistakes of previous generations will be avoided or absolved.”
Very thoroughly researched, extremely well-written, and clear-eyed about the faults and responsibilities of the U.S. I bought without realizing the author was a former Alito clerk, but was pleasantly surprised by his anti-imperialist lens. This was an informative and enjoyable read.
Very thoroughly researched, extremely well-written, and clear-eyed about the faults and responsibilities of the U.S. I bought without realizing the author was a former Alito clerk, but was pleasantly surprised by his anti-imperialist lens. This was an informative and enjoyable read.
January 27, 2025
Well researched history of mostly U.S. interventions in Latin America between the 1865 and 1933. Sort of breezes over WWII, the Cold War, and the war on terror and then cuts to great power competition between the US and China.
June 23, 2023
Oustading analysis of the United States' rise to superpower status.
June 28, 2023
Outstanding analysis of the USA’s rise as a regional hegemon and global superpower. Highly recommend!
April 16, 2025
An insightful look at an important but very underserved part of US and world history. On top of that, Mirski is actually a pretty entertaining writing for such a dense subject
June 5, 2024
A very good book. I am not a history major but recently been on a role reading history books- including the "The Last Emperor of Mexico" which I found interesting and made me curious about this part of the world and its tumultuous history. This book puts the history of the US and Latin America in context with insightful observations and entertaining stories about the way things were in the later parts of the 19th century. The conclusions are moderate and realistic, if not always giving easy answers. The rise of America as the worlds preeminent power between the Civil War and WW1 is almost unparalleled and books like this help explain the unique cultural and political environment that made it possible. Like the book "The Last Emperor of Mexico" European powers were kept out of the America's due to American hard and soft power- but that unintended consequences (frequent interventions) made the outcomes of questionable merit. Another conclusion is that countries and peoples do not like order imposed on them- even if they live in squalor and are killing each other off. Intervention, no matter how pure or noble the goal, frequently make the local populace hate you.
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