The Revolutionary Years, 1775-1789, reveals how the nation's leaders asserted power during the fourteen crucial years from the Revolution's first shots at Lexington in April 1775 to the adoption of the Constitution in 1789.The American Revolution unfolded in two phases, winning independence and then creating -a more perfect union- that guaranteed representation and natural rights for all citizens. To prevail in those struggles the Founders had to tap and eventually master two powerful historic forces--nationalism and liberalism.National leadership is about mastering the dynamic among a...

This book offers an in-depth exploration of all dimensions of geoeconomics, including the internal and international forces which explain why most countries remain mired in poverty; the conflicts between the poor on the rich countries; and the global environmental crises threatening the future of humanity.

This book explores humanity's most persistent and tragic problem by answering some crucial questions including: How is military power created and asserted? What are weapons of mass destruction and what is the likelihood of them being used? What are the source, methods, and results of terrorism and counterterrorism?

How did globalization come to dominate our lives? What have been, are, and most likely will be globalization's potential benefits and costs? This book explores the world's most powerful force for good and evil from the Renaissance through today and beyond.

From 1789 to 1800, the Federalist and Republican parties held opposing visions for America's future. Led by Alexander Hamilton, the Federalists sought to establish a strong central government that would lead an American commercial, financial, technological, industrial, and military revolution, and thus propel the United States into the ranks of the world's great powers. Thomas Jefferson and the Republicans feared that new wealth, power, and competing interests would corrupt the classic republic they envisioned. Instead, they extolled the romantic notion of a republic of yeoman farmers,...

Haunted Victory: The American Crusade to Destroy Saddam and Impose Democracy on Iraq explores the dynamic trajectory of beliefs, actions, and their consequences in what will forever be debated as among the most controversial and costly operations in U.S. history in terms of security, power, wealth, and honor. While many others have written about the Iraq War, William Nester unveils the moral dilemmas that entangled the George W. Bush administration and the American public through each stage of planning, selling, fighting, and attempting to end the Iraq War.

Nesterincludes...

A small library could be stocked with books written about Napoleon Bonaparte the general, whose battles and campaigns have been studied extensively. Warriors, however, are not generally known for their diplomatic skills and Napoleon is no exception. After all, conquerors are accustomed to imposing rather than negotiating terms. For Napoleon, however, the arts of war and diplomacy meshed. Napoleon was often as brilliant and successful at diplomacy as he was at war, although at times he could also be as disastrous at the diplomatic table as he was on his final battlefield. William R. Nester s...

Insurgencies are like the hydra, the many-headed beast of Greek mythology. Once one begins, the measures a government takes to eliminate militants--to cut off the insurgency's head--can provoke countless others to join the enemy ranks. Tactical victories often breed strategic defeats. Traditional -search, destroy, and withdraw- missions that rely on firepower to wipe out rebels frequently destroy the livelihoods and loved ones of innocent people caught in the cross fire. U.S. troops have seen the pattern repeated as their initially successful offensives toppled enemy regimes in Afghanistan...

The Jeffersonian Vision, 1801-1815, reveals how the nation's leaders understood and asserted power during those crucial years between Thomas Jefferson's inauguration as the third president and the firing of the last shots at the Battle of New Orleans. Seeking to overcome the bitter political animosities that had plagued the years leading up to his presidency, Jefferson declared in his inaugural address that -we are all Federalists, we are all Republicans.- His words proved to be prescient. The Republican Party, soon to be renamed the Democratic Party, would dominate American politics...

Although Abraham Lincoln was among seven presidents who served during the tumultuous years between the end of the Mexican War and the end of the Reconstruction era, history has not been kind to the others: Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses S. Grant. In contrast, history sees Abraham Lincoln as a giant in character and deeds. During his presidency, he governed brilliantly, developed the economy, liberated four million people from slavery, reunified the nation, and helped enact the Homestead Act, among other accomplishments. He proved...