The Bubble of American Supremacy

Allen and Unwin, 2004. Pages yellowing at edges, foxing to endpapers.

A spirited, polemical book from a man who wants passionately to defend American values from the threat of the careless arrogance embodied by the Bush administration. George Soros brilliantly demonstrates how the mechanisms that have made us strong - market capitalism, the rule of law, and our moral authority - are at risk from the supremacist attitudes of some in Washington. This is a timely, urgent, essential critique, offering a necessary corrective to prevent a catastrophic collapse of American global influence. Nobel prize-winning and bestselling author Professor Joseph Stiglitz In this compelling and heartfelt analysis of the United States' role in the post-9/11 world leading financier and philanthropist George Soros challenges the Bush administration's disastrous conduct of foreign policy and the War on Terror. Drawing on his vast experience in the financial markets, Soros launches his argument with an artful comparison of the Bush administration's misguided pursuit of American supremacy to the boom-bust phenomenon of a stock market bubble. He goes on to deliver a broadside against the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive military action, a potentially catastrophic policy grounded in the belief that international relations are relations of power, not law. For Bush and the Neocons controlling the White House, Soros argues, legality and legitimacy are mere decorations and military power the true currency of all international relations. But Soros does more than present a damning critique of the direction in which Bush is leading the country and the world. In the second half of the book, he looks beyond the Bush Doctrine to propose an alternative vision of multilateral engagement and preventive action of a constructive and affirmative nature. This alternative doctrine outlines proposals for increased foreign aid and better international trade rules and insists that military action remain a last resort...