In the Shadows of the American Century : The Rise and Decline of US Global Power

Alfred W. McCoy

Arthur Morey (Narrator)

01-30-18

12hrs 32min

Abridgement

Unabridged

Genre

Nonfiction/History

As low as $0.00
Play Audio Sample

01-30-18

12hrs 32min

Abridgement

Unabridged

Genre

Nonfiction/History

Description

“Narrator Arthur Morey’s voice has a ring of knowledgeable world-weariness as he provides listeners a history of US hegemony…Delving deeply into our military infrastructure in land, sea, space, and cyberspace, Morey relates McCoy’s critical assessments with equal clarity and intelligence, taking listeners through US strengths and its policy failures. Harrowing but important listening.” AudioFile

In a completely original analysis, prizewinning historian Alfred W. McCoy explores America’s rise as a world power—from the 1890s through the Cold War—and its bid to extend its hegemony deep into the twenty-first century through a fusion of cyberwar, space warfare, trade pacts, and military alliances. McCoy then analyzes the marquee instruments of US hegemony—covert intervention, client elites, psychological torture, and worldwide surveillance.

Peeling back layers of secrecy, McCoy exposes a military and economic battle for global domination fought in the shadows, largely unknown to those outside the highest rungs of power. Can the United States extend the “American Century” or will China guide the globe for the next hundred years? McCoy devotes his final chapter to these questions, boldly laying out a series of scenarios that could lead to the end of Washington’s world domination by 2030.

Praise

“Narrator Arthur Morey’s voice has a ring of knowledgeable world-weariness as he provides listeners a history of US hegemony…Delving deeply into our military infrastructure in land, sea, space, and cyberspace, Morey relates McCoy’s critical assessments with equal clarity and intelligence, taking listeners through US strengths and its policy failures. Harrowing but important listening.” AudioFile

“This provocative study…is history with profound relevance to events that are unfolding before our eyes.” Andrew J. Bacevich, New York Times bestselling author

“McCoy’s detailed, panoramic analysis of the past, present, and future of the American empire covers all spheres of activity…and seasons all of this with some fascinating personal vignettes.” John Dower, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

"The case that Alfred McCoy makes—that much of America’s decline is due to its own contradictions and failures—is a sad one. He provides a glimmer of hope that America can ease into the role of a more generous, more collaborative, if less powerful, world player.” Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

“Provides an autopsy on a dying empire….Scenarios relayed by McCoy in dark terms could in turn provide positive opportunities for societal change as the necessity for constant war is removed.” Progressive

“[A] brilliant and deeply informed must-read for anyone seriously interested in geopolitics, the history of Empire, and the shape of the future.” New York Journal of Books

“Sobering reading for geopolitics mavens and Risk aficionados alike.” Kirkus Reviews

“A meticulous, eye-opening account of the rise, since 1945, and impending premature demise of the American Century of world domination.” Ann Jones, author of They Were Soldiers

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Details
More Information
Language English
Release Day Jan 29, 2018
Release Date January 30, 2018
Release Date Machine 1517270400
Imprint Blackstone Publishing
Provider Blackstone Publishing
Categories History, Americas, Politics & Social Sciences, Politics & Government, Nonfiction - Adult, Nonfiction - All
Author Bio
Alfred W. McCoy

Alfred W. McCoy is the author of several nonfiction books, including In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power. He is also the author of Policing America’s Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State, which won the Kahin Prize from the Association for Asian Studies. His best-known book, The Politics of Heroin, stirred controversy when the CIA tried to block its publication in 1972, but it has remained in print for nearly fifty years, has been translated into nine languages, and is generally regarded as the “classic” work on global drug trafficking. He holds the Harrington chair of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he teaches classes on the Vietnam War, modern empires, and US foreign policy.

Narrator Bio
Arthur Morey

Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.

Overview

In a completely original analysis, prizewinning historian Alfred W. McCoy explores America’s rise as a world power—from the 1890s through the Cold War—and its bid to extend its hegemony deep into the twenty-first century through a fusion of cyberwar, space warfare, trade pacts, and military alliances. McCoy then analyzes the marquee instruments of US hegemony—covert intervention, client elites, psychological torture, and worldwide surveillance.

Peeling back layers of secrecy, McCoy exposes a military and economic battle for global domination fought in the shadows, largely unknown to those outside the highest rungs of power. Can the United States extend the “American Century” or will China guide the globe for the next hundred years? McCoy devotes his final chapter to these questions, boldly laying out a series of scenarios that could lead to the end of Washington’s world domination by 2030.

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