You may be using an older version of the Adobe Flash Player. To enjoy multimedia content on WGBH.org, please click here to upgrade to the latest version of the free Flash player.

Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism
October 5, 2009
Andrew Bacevich professor, international relations, history, Boston University
Charles M. Sennott executive editor, GlobalPost

Conservative historian Andrew Bacevich discusses his provocative book The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. Bacevich joins Charles Sennott, founder of the online news service GlobalPost, to discuss the challenges the Obama administration faces in Afghanistan.

Written in the days leading up to the 2008 presidential election, The Limits of Power asks us to take a step back from the policies that have not served us well, and calls for a return to respect for power and its limits; aversion to claims of exceptionalism; skepticism of easy solutions, especially those involving force; and a conviction that Americans must live within their means. Only a return to such principles, Bacevich argues, can provide common ground for fixing America's urgent problems before the damage becomes irreparable.

Business & Economics | Culture & Identity | History | Literature & Philosophy | People & Places | Politics & Public Affairs
Afghanistan | America | Authors | conflict | foreign relations | international politics | Non-Fiction | Law & Criminal Justice | Lifestyle | North American | Race | Travel & Adventure
WGBH
Cambridge Forum
Image of The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (American Empire Project)
Author: Andrew Bacevich
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (2009)
Binding: Paperback, 224 pages
Image of The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War
Author: Andrew J. Bacevich
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (2006)
Binding: Paperback, 288 pages
Image of American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy
Author: Professor Andrew J. Bacevich
Publisher: Harvard University Press (2004)
Binding: Paperback, 312 pages
Image of The Body and the Blood: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians and the Possibility for Peace
Author: Charles M. Sennott
Publisher: PublicAffairs (2002)
Binding: Paperback, 512 pages
Login or register to post comments