From the American Revolution, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, to the waning popularity of the Iraq war, Philip Golub depicts the long American journey to global ascendancy.

Through the study of imperial identity formation, Golub shows how a culture of force and expansion has shaped American foreign policy. Taking a historical and sociological approach to his examination of the US logic of world power, he reveals how entrenched assumptions about America's primacy inhibits democratic transformation at domestic and international levels, forging a new world where America is no longer able to set the global agenda.