★ A masterpiece that deeply analyzes the history and reality of American foreign policy.
★ Author Ivan Kurilla, with his solid academic background and rich research experience, explores the key elements of the American model and the evolution of its foreign policy.
★ The book traces the historical trajectory of the United States from isolationism to expansionism, interprets the interweaving and game between idealism and pragmatism in diplomacy, and reveals the far-reaching impact of the formation and evolution of the American model on the world political landscape.
★ It provides profound insights into the historical evolution of U.S. foreign policy and helps readers understand the potential role of the United States in the future world order and the many possibilities of world-order reshaping.
★ Rich visual materials—including archival photos, contemporary images, lithographs, engravings, and posters—not only enhance readability but also help readers understand the historical context of U.S. foreign policy more intuitively.
★ Suitable for scholars of international relations, history lovers, readers interested in international relations and America’s role in world politics, and those who desire to deeply understand the real motives and reasons behind U.S. foreign-policy decisions.

In today’s era of globalization, the United States has always been a key player on the international stage. No matter how the world situation evolves, every move of the United States affects the nerves of other countries. Some countries long to copy the American model, some are determined to go the opposite way, and still others try to draw on American experience. For centuries, the “American model” has never ceased to be hotly debated, but where exactly do its real charm and influence lie? How have America’s domestic and foreign affairs shaped this model?
Written by the famous Russian American-history expert Ivan Kurilla, *Americans and the World: Origins and Substance of U.S. Foreign Policy* deeply analyzes the key elements of the American model—such as democracy, exceptionalism, and sense of mission—and their formation processes. The book traces the historical trajectory of the United States from isolationism to expansionism and interprets the interweaving and game between idealism and pragmatism in foreign policy. Kurilla points out that the shaping of the American model stems to a large extent from its continuous search for “others” and confrontation with them—from early British colonists and Native Americans to later slavery supporters, Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union, and more recently the rise of China and Russia’s return.
The book not only discusses the historical evolution of U.S. foreign policy but also analyzes its role and influence in the contemporary world. The author believes that we are living in an era of change, that the construction of a new world order is unfolding before our eyes, and that the role of the United States in the future world order is still full of uncertainties. Nevertheless, the reshaping of the world order will either be led by the United States or be promoted by other countries to balance U.S. power.
A feature of this book is its rich visual materials—including archival photos, contemporary images, lithographs, engravings, and posters—which not only enhance readability but also help readers understand the historical context of U.S. foreign policy more intuitively. The book also cites the allusion used by Puritan ministers of calling the colony a “city upon a hill,” revealing the high hopes Americans place on their future society and how this ideal has influenced U.S. foreign policy.

Author: Ivan Kurilla
A famous Russian expert on American history, focusing on the history of Russian-American relations, public history, historical politics, and the role of historians in contemporary society. He has a solid academic background and rich research experience and is a Doctor of Historical Sciences and Professor at the European University at St. Petersburg. Kurilla’s works include *History, or the Past of the Present* (2017), *Friends and Foes: A History of Russian-American Perceptions, Fantasies, Contacts, and (Mis)understanding* (2018), and *The Battle for the Past: How Politics Reshapes History*. His research has not only exerted a profound influence in academia but also provided a valuable perspective for the public to understand the relationship between the United States and the world.

Introduction
Chapter One “Out of Many, One”: The Formation of the American Nation
- New England, or “City upon a Hill”
- An Alternative Plan for a New World Order
- “…the Pursuit of Happiness”

Chapter Two From Republic to Democracy: America’s Road to State-building and the Birth of Foreign Policy
- The Conservative Republic
- “Avoid Entangling Alliances”
- “Searching for Monsters to Destroy”
- “Jacksonian Democracy” and the Struggle for the Purity of the American Nation
- Communism and American Democracy

Chapter Three “The Strength of Our Republic”: American Expansion and the Inspiration of the “Springtime of Peoples”
- “We Are No Longer the Small Commercial Empire of the Past”
- “Manifest Destiny”
- The Technological Turn
- The Irish, the Mexicans, and Internal Division
- “Not to the Tsar, but to the People”

Chapter Four Civil War and Reconstruction: The United States Almost Split into Two Countries
- Rebellion, Inter-state War, or Civil War
- Southern Reconstruction and “Indian Wars”: Attempts to Reshape the Nation
- The Dimming Luster of the Republican Model
- From Value Conflict to Value Disillusionment

Chapter Five From the “Gilded Age” to the Progressive Era: America’s Way of Coping with Crisis
- A Sense of Power
- Constructing the Other
- Democracy Was Born in the West!
- America from Pole to Pole
- Excluding the Superfluous
- The Imperialist America in His Eyes

Chapter Six From High Expectations to the Great Depression: America’s Attempt to Reshape the World
- “Make the World Safe for Democracy”
- “Return to Normalcy” and “Prosperity Is Just Around the Corner”
- “Red Scare” and the “Soviet Ark”
- “The Passing of the Great Race”
- “Neither East nor West,” “Fordization,” and the Lesson of “Lebensraum”

Chapter Seven From the Great Depression to Victory: The United States Almost Lost Capitalism but Won the World War
- The Great Depression and the New Deal
- “The Four Freedoms” and the Atlantic Charter
- The Racial Issue and the World War
- Leader of the Anti-fascist Alliance

Chapter Eight From Hiroshima to the Caribbean Crisis: How the United States Adapted to Superpower Life
- Containment and Exclusion, the Truman Doctrine and the “Domino” Principle
- Cognition, Attitude, and Action Toward the World
- Anti-Americanism: A Product of Intimate Contact
- The Enemy Within

Chapter Nine “Great Society,” Crisis, and “Great Return”: The United States Steps into the Modern World
- Achieving Security through Advantage or Fear-based Balance?
- The Internal “Other” Changes the American Nation
- The Vietnam War: An Attempt at American National Cohesion
- The Transformation of America’s Role
- The End of Détente

Chapter Ten The End of History: How the United States Won the Cold War
- From Cold War Victory to the Final Victory of the Cold War
- Democracy Promotion
- The War on Terror
- New Threats Emerge

Chapter Eleven The Beginning of Rebellion: America’s Tranquility Is No More
- Cold War Nostalgia and the Intensification of Culture Wars
- American Rebellion
- American Disillusionment
- American Debates About the Future

Conclusion: Why Do We Need to Know These Things?
Postscript: What to Read Next?