The Great Anglo-Celtic Divide in the History of American Foreign Relations

Thomas A. Breslin

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9780313397936
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798216091721
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Comparative Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Positing that presidents shape America's foreign policy according to their ethnic heritage, this intriguing volume examines two groups that have dominated the presidency and the distinctly different agendas that have resulted.

How is American foreign policy determined? The Great Anglo-Celtic Divide in the History of American Foreign Relations approaches that question from a fascinating perspective, arguing that, to a large extent, the answer lies in the ethnicity of the president. To make its point, this book examines the key foreign policies of American presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush and shows how their most important foreign policy decisions have tended to follow an ethnic pattern.

The presidency has been dominated by Americans from English or Celtic backgrounds since the nation's founding, and as readers will discover, the foreign policies of the two groups have been very different. To document those differences, this book analyzes seven alternating periods of political domination by Anglo-Americans and Celtic-Americans, demonstrating how the cycle of change affected the shape and distinguishing characteristics of U.S. foreign policy in matters of war and peace and in relations with other countries.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Series Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The Bi-Cultural Roots of American Foreign Policy
• Chapter 2 Rum versus Whiskey: The Faithless First Anglo-American Republic, the Break with France, and the Persecution of the Alien Irish
• Chapter 3 Cavaliers and Irish: An Alliance Renewed in America
• Chapter 4 The Rapacious First Celtic-American Republic: The Age of Jackson
• Chapter 5 From the Mexican War to the Brink of Civil War
• Chapter 6 The Crusading Second Anglo-American Republic: Puritan Counterattack and Global Ambitions
• Chapter 7 Confronting the English Cousins
• Chapter 8 The Second Celtic-American Republic: McKinley’s Anti-Catholic Crusade
• Chapter 9 Bullies in the Pulpit: Foreign Warfare under the Celts from Theodore Roosevelt to Wilson
• Chapter 10 “Normalcy”: The Grand Plan of the Third Anglo-American Republic and the Global Pursuit of Raw Materials
• Chapter 11 The Age of Terror: The Third Celtic-American Republic: Truman’s Presidency and the Birth of the Cold War
• Chapter 12 German-American Interlude: Eisenhower’s Legacy of Fear and Ashes
• Chapter 13 From Brink to Bog to Helicopter
• Chapter 14 War Drums: Carter and Reagan
• Chapter 15 The Fourth Anglo-American Republic: Oil and Petrodollar Wars
• Chapter 16 Virginia Cassidy’s Son: An Irish-American Interlude
• Chapter 17 The Prodigal Son: Bush Junior and the Second Oil and Petrodollar War
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author
• eCopyright