Contemporary History

Henry Wallace is the most prominent progressive American political figure of the 1940s—one who very nearly became president at a critical moment in U.S. and world history.  Benn Steil’s fascinating “What if?” study of Wallace’s eventful career, based on troves of new Russian and FBI archival finds, sheds an important new light on how U.S. and Soviet foreign policy were forged at the dawn of the Cold War.

If You Will It analyzes the problems facing the American Jewish community today, and describes the steps needed to rebuild a sense of peoplehood—of Jewish identity and common purpose. The relationship between American Jews and Israel is at the heart of this book.

In this book, CFR Senior Fellow Walter Russell Mead argues that the United States has had a more successful foreign policy than any other great power in history, and attributes this unprecedented success (as well as recurring problems) to a vigorous interplay among four powerful political traditions that have shaped foreign policy since the Revolution. Teaching notes by the author.

In this book, CFR Senior Fellow Walter Russell Mead—one of the most original writers on U.S. foreign policy—provides a fascinating and timely account of the Bush administration’s foreign policy and its current grand strategy for the world. Teaching notes by the author.

In this book, CFR Fellow Stephen E. Flynn argues that three years after September 11, the United States is still dangerously unprepared to prevent or respond to another attack on its soil. The United States should be operating on a wartime footing at home, but despite the many new security precautions that have been proposed, America’s most serious vulnerabilities remain ominously exposed. Teaching notes by the author.

In this book, CFR President Richard N. Haass offers a concise and engaging analysis of international relations and American Foreign policy in the post-Cold War era. Haass argues that the United States sits at a unique juncture in world history, one in which much of what it seeks to achieve in the world has the potential to be broadly acceptable to other major powers. Teaching notes by the author.