Theme -- Adams's statecraft -- The paradigm -- Progressivism and policy -- Structural features of modern U.S. foreign policy -- Post-World War II U.S. national security policy -- Unseriousness about war -- Believing your own propaganda is dangerous -- Diplomatic malpractice -- Neither nation nor empire -- Evolving America -- John Quincy Adams's priorities -- Neighbors and relatives -- Muslim contagion -- The Indus and the Ganges -- Post-European Europe -- What is Russia to US? -- China and the Pacific balance -- What is possible? -- Practicing the principles

"An "America first" agenda pursues what benefits our national character and advances our legitimate interests, and regards all foreign relations from that perspective. Minding our own business while leaving other peoples to mind theirs was the basis of the United States' successful foreign policy from 1815-1910. Best described by John Quincy Adams and carried out by his successors, this is the foreign policy by which America grew prosperous in peace. And this remains the American people's common sense. America's Rise and Fall among Nations contrasts this original "America first" foreign policy with the principles and results of the subsequent century's Progressive policy. This book shows the transformation of a culture of peace and victory into that of statesmen who eliminate the concepts of victory and peace from the military's official vocabulary as they manage endless wars. Finally, America's Rise and Fall among Nations examines how John Quincy Adams's insights are applicable to the current domestic and international environment and exemplify what "America First" can mean in our time"--