Andrew S.

Terrell
HIST 6393-03 - 31478
Spring 2010

Précis 19 January 2010: Hoff, Joan. A Faustian Foreign Policy from Woodrow Wilson to George W.
Bush: Dreams of Perfectibility. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.

According to Joan Hoff, there were striking similarities between Goethe’s Faust and twentieth

century U.S. foreign policies. State myopia urged foreign policy decision makers to disregard founding

principles of the country in order to pursue and maintain global hegemony; like Faust, America made a

pact with the devil in a search for seeming omnipotency. The United States, since Wilson’s

administrations, exploited terms such as liberty, democracy, freedom, and self-determination in policy

rhetoric in order to justify questionable decisions. Hoff quickly pointed out American exceptionalist

belief stemmed from 17th century oratory and expanded throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The

premise of the monograph is that the United States is an empire, but not a traditional mercantilist or

colonialist entity. From this approach Hoff points out that the United States--especially since WWII--

sought to maintain global hegemony through military might and economic monopoly. While the point

may be cliché, Hoff compares successive administrations and foreign policy decisions to the story of

Faust. Hoff also asserts capitalism and democracy cannot be forced onto certain societies lacking similar

ideals and cultures to the West. For this reason, much of what could be construed as well-intended policy

implementations and state building from Wilson to Bush ended up causing more harm than good.

Hoff’s argument and comparative approach to U.S foreign policy is valid. Even throughout the

Cold War and post-9/11 eras, moral rhetoric united Americans behind decisions from Washington. The

American public was clueless about secret alliances and brokerages, though. Thereby, American

principles and ideals are only half-hearted. Whether one contends the United States was and remains a

global empire is subjective, but Hoff is careful in defining her definition of a neoimperialist entity. Hoff

defends well how ethical principles were overlooked in the name of liberty and open markets.

Some issues open for debate were whether the 9/11 attacks were solely against the United States

or against globalized capitalism, and how many of the foreign policy mistakes during and after the Cold

War could have been avoided had the executive branch not been so autonomous in foreign affairs.

Furthermore, Hoff asserts that the split between the executive and legislative branches (mostly dealing

with presidential powers) began with FDR during the 1930s. During whose administration did

presidential power climax, or has it yet even into 2010?