America - Book Report/Review Example

Literature Review The article The World American Made by Robert Kagan is an assertion of how the prosperity of the world, the spread of democracy and continued practice of peace in the world has been influenced by the United States. According to him, the world is held together by America and this implies if the power America possesses declines, the world order would be disturbed. Eric Rauchway on the other hand in the book Blessed among Nations: How the World Made America gives a chronological report of how the world at large has contributed to what America is today.

This paper compares the arguments presented in these two publications.Rauchway makes a convincing argument in his book compared to the hazy generalizations that Kagan makes. Rauchway gives a detailed account of how the world historical events such as immigration, financial flow and technological development in the world have lead to the development of America as we know it today (Rauchway, 88). He explains in an intriguing way how the historical engagement of America in the global economic development has influenced its development in the social, political and economic arena.

According to him, globalization which has led to free flow of capital and labor into America has led to its growth into its current status. America has historically been the largest recipient of foreign investment. His writing is very clear and he presents rational arguments. However, he fails to connect the past history of American development to the present status of things (Rauchway, 152). This disconnects makes the author fail in a way to deal with the problem that at first led him to scrutinize the past.

Kagan asserts that the balance of the world order where America continue to be the lead is the only way that peace can be promoted in the world. American strength is defined by its high level of democracy, great resources and large borderline along the pacific and Atlantic oceans. Kagan in his argument makes an imperative remark that in the current digitalized world territorial conquest has become outmoded which I agree with (Kagan, 96). However, he also asserts that the people have been socialized to opt for peace other than war which I tend to differ with considering that many countries including America continue creating weapons preparing for a war that may erupt.

I disagree with the way in which Kagan measures the power of a country. He uses military power and the sole gauge of the power that a country has and this puts America on the top of things. America has reached its peak in development today and has not room for further expansion. However, there are other countries such as China which are emerging and have potential for growth. When an economy reaches its peak, it cannot continue to grow upward but it would start declining. It is therefore possible that emerging economies such as China could grow and be more powerful than America (Kagan, 137).

He also asserts that great powers do not decline suddenly. He goes ahead to give the example of how the great British kingdom declined within a few decades. This is sudden and America just like any other great empires in the past is not immune to collapsing. In conclusion, it can be observed that Rauchway gives more convincing argument in his books which are logical and clear. Kagan on the other hand makes fuzzy generalization that is not based on verifiable evidence. Rauchway has made important contribution in understanding the American historical development to what it is today.

Work CitedKagan, Robert. The World America Made. , 2013. Print.Rauchway, Eric. Blessed Among Nations: How the World Made America. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007. Print.