R. W. Van Olsteen and Fight Against American Uniqueness: Historiography of Genesis of US Foreign Policy in 1940s — 1960s
https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2021-11-332-346
Abstract
The relevance of the study is due to the low degree of study of the revisionist historian R. W. Van Olsteen views in historiography. The purpose of the article is to concretize the scientist’s views on the genesis of US foreign policy. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the creation of a conceptual framework for the intellectual biography of the researcher and determination of his assessment of the emergence of the United States foreign policy. The methodological complex of research consists of two levels: the first includes the principles of historicism, objectivity, consistency, the second — historical-chronological, historical-biographical, descriptive and prosopographic methods. A tendentiousness in the concept of the scientist is established in the article: throughout his career, he debunked the myth of American uniqueness. In this context, R. W. Van Olsteen considered the emergence of US foreign policy, which he associated exclusively with the British experience. It is proved that initially the scientist based his assessment on political realism (late 1930s — mid 1940s); and in a later period — a synthesis of history, political science and psychology (late 1940s — 1960s). The author revealed the failure of the historian’s theoretical developments and established the secondary nature of his assessment of the emergence of US foreign policy. The research results are focused on their application in the study of the history of the North American state.
About the Author
D. V. Dorofeev
V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal UniversityV. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Denys V. Dorofeiev, PhD in Political Science, Associate Professor
Simferopol
References
1. Bogue, A. G. (1964). The Fifty-Seventh Annual Meeting of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association. The Journal of American History, 51 (2): 267—290. DOI: 10.2307/1888014.
2. Brauer, K., Hogan, M. J. (ed.). (2000). The great American desert revisited: recent literature and prospects for the study of American foreign relations. In: Paths to Power: The Historiography of American Foreign Relations to 1941. New York: Cambridge University Press. 44—78. ISBN 9780521664134.
3. Combs, J. A. (1983). American diplomatic history: two centuries of changing interpretations. Berkeley: University of California Press. 413 р. ISBN 9780520045903.
4. Combs, J. A. (1997). The History of American Foreign Policy: To 1920. New York: McGraw-Hill. 230 р. ISBN 9780765629081.
5. Deconde, А. (1961). Book Review: Van Alstyne R. W. The Rising American Empire. The American Historical Review, 66 (4): 1059—1060. DOI: 10.2307/1845917.
6. Dennis, D. L. (1971). A history of American diplomatic history. PhD Diss. Santa Barbara: University of California. 398 p.
7. Doty, R. (1978). History as a moving stage. Pacific Review, 13 (3): 7.
8. Graebner, N. A. (1956). The New Isolationism: A Study in Politics and Foreign Policy since 1950. New York: Ronald Press Co. 289 р.
9. Kaplan, L. S. (1966). Book Review: Van Alstyne R. W. Empire and independence: the international history of the American Revolution. The Historian, 28 (3): 483—484.
10. List of Research Projects in History, Exclusive of Doctoral Dissertations, Now in Progress in the United States and the Dominion of Canada. (1940). The American Historical Review, 45 (3): 57—88. DOI: 10.2307/1843828.
11. Morris, R. B. (1965). The peacemakers; the great powers and American independence. New York: Harper & Row. 572 p.
12. Morris, R. B. (1967). The American revolution reconsidered. New York: Harper & Row. 178 p. ISBN 9780060130718.
13. Nationalist, realist, and radical: three views of American diplomacy. (1972). New York, Harper & Row. 90—103. ISBN 0060413484, 9780060413484.
14. Patenaude, B. M. (2019). The Message. The Hoover Digest, 1: 9—18.
15. Ranlet, P. (2004). Richard B. Morris and American history in the twentieth century. Dallas: University Press of American. 216 р. ISBN 9780761829171.
16. Schutz, J. A. (1984). Richard W. Van Alstyne, 1900—1983: in memoriam. Pacific Historical Review, 53 (1): 118—119. DOI: 10.2307/3639412.
17. Stuart, G. H. (1968). Foreword. In: Van Alstyne R. W. American diplomacy in action. Gloucester: P. Smith. vii—viii.
18. Weeks, W. E., Hogan, M. J. (ed.). (2000). New directions in the study of early American foreign relations. Paths to Power: In: The Historiography of American Foreign Relations to 1941. New York: Cambridge University Press. 8—43. ISBN 9780521664134.
Review
For citations:
Dorofeev D.V. R. W. Van Olsteen and Fight Against American Uniqueness: Historiography of Genesis of US Foreign Policy in 1940s — 1960s. Nauchnyi dialog. 2021;(11):332-346. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2021-11-332-346
Views:
371
Email this article 