This book provides an important assessment of the international standing of the United States, the most powerful nation in history. Josef Joffe examines the burdens created by such supremacy, and argues that the foreign policy developed under the Bush administration has failed to gain acceptance for America’s leadership.
In contrast to many Europeans, Joffe refuses to diabolise America as the Great Satan. He contends that anti-Americanism cannot be blamed entirely on U.S. actions, and he traces its roots to Europe and to European resentment, envy and fear. He argues that Europeans reject power because they feel powerless.
At the same time, the United States must resist the temptation of imperial hubris. As history has shown, too much power generates rejection and resistance. Will the United States escape the fate of all earlier hegemonies in history? Or will it find a way of acquiring legitimacy and of creating consensus?
These crucial contemporary issues are addressed here by a leading specialist in international relations.

“Josef Joffe is a brilliant observer of international politics. He is also a keen student — and admirer — of the United States. He combines these two passions in this remarkable reflection on America’s role in the world. It is the best book on the subject in years.”
Fareed Zakaria, author of The Future of Freedom and editor of Newsweek International

“With impressive analytical skill and intellectually provocative verve, Joffe takes the reader on a global tour of the challenges confronting the world’s only superpower — and the result is both truly enlightening and genuinely engaging.”
Zbigniew Brzezinski, author of The Grand Chessboard and The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership


Josef Joffe is the publisher-editor of the German weekly Die Zeit and a leading contributor to journals specialising in international relations, such as Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy. He has taught at several universities, most notably Johns Hopkins, Harvard and Stanford Universities.