Introduction 1
Notes 9
PART I: IDEOLOGY 11
1 Gramsci’s understanding of ideology 13
Gramsci’s critique 13
Ideology as worldview and political force 16
Liberalism as ideology 25
Toward applying Gramsci’s concepts 29
Notes 30
2 Elements of common sense in America 35
Denominational religion: American destiny, isolationism, evangelism, and crusaderism 37
Liberalism: competitive individualism, property, and the market 44
Faith in science 48
Elements of contradictory consciousnesss in America 51
Notes 52
3 Ideology and American foreign policy 58
American destiny and the legitimation of American foreign policy 58
The United States as a minor power 60
The United States as a great power 66
The troubled superpower 70
Notes 72
4 The case of foreign assistance 75
Philosophical perspectives on American aid policy 75
The changing mix of motivations for American aid 80
Conflicting ideologies as constraints on American aid policy 92
Notes 94
5 Reagan and American common sense 97
Understanding Reagan’s ascendancy 98
Reagan as an intellectual 99
Reagan and old-fashioned liberalism 102
Reagan and the religious 103
Reagan’s faith in science 105
Was there an alternative? 106
Ideology: summary and conclusion 111
Notes 113
PART II: SUPREMACY 115
6 Gramsci’s understanding of supremacy 117
Gramsci on hegemony 117
Gramsci on supremacy 126
Toward applying Gramsci’s concepts 134
Notes 134
7 The Third World and the challenge to American supremacy 138
America’s historical bloc 139
The significance of the economic growth of Europe and Japan 141
The Third World and the new US demands on its allies 142
America’s inability to shield allies from the oil shocks 145
America’s failure to respond to the New International Economic Order 145
The failure to quiet the Third World with economic development or force 147
The failure of the alternative bloc’s leadership 149
Notes 151
8 Force and consensus in the world economy 154
Reagan’s domestic economic policy mix 156
Force in the world economy 160
Hegemony and domination in the world economy 171
Notes 175
9 Force and consensus in international civil society 179
The rhetorical value of the military 180
Force in international civil society 182
International civil society and attempts to extend hegemony to the Third World 189
Supremacy: summary and conclusion 197
Beyond American common sense 199
Notes 200
Index 203