Anxious About Empire: Theological Essays on the New Global Realities.Wes Avram, ed. Anxious About Empire: Theological Essays on the New Global Realities Brazos Press, 2004, 218pp. Anxious About Empire is the perfect title for this thought-provoking series of largely progressive theological essays on the development and deployment of the 'Bush Doctrine,' reflecting upon its consequences for the world. Contributions from such luminaries in the arena of religion and intellectual life as Jean Bethke Elshtain Jean Bethke Elshtain (born 1941) is a neoconservative American feminist political philosopher. She is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and is a contributing editor for The New Republic. and Wendell Berry Wendell Berry (born August 5, 1934, Henry County, Kentucky) is an American man of letters, academic, cultural and economic critic, and farmer. He is a prolific author of novels, short stories, poems, and essays. He is also an elected member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. make this collection a valuable contribution to the ongoing dialogue surrounding the current, American-dominated political landscape. Wes Avram invites a group of leading Christian thinkers to comment on the long-term impact of the doctrine its implicit assumptions regarding America's role in the global culture. Essays are divided into five sections, each titled with a question, such as, for example, 'How Might We Talk?', which explores communication across religious and political divides. Not all the essayists The following is an abbreviated list of essayists, arranged alphabetically by last name (years of birth and death, if applicable, and country of birth, are noted in parentheses). Note: An individual's country of birth is not always indicative of his or her nationality. agree with the premise of anxiety. Room is allowed for divergent viewpoints. Several contributors respond decidedly in favor of America's engagement in what Professor Stephen Webb calls 'evangelical Kantianism.' In Webb's view, the role of America is to spread democracy throughout the world. Only the intellectual community is confused on this issue, he argues, whereas to most Americans interventionism in·ter·ven·tion·ism n. The policy or practice of intervening, especially: a. The policy of intervening in the affairs of another sovereign state. b. remains the promise of the future, one the Christian community should support. The majority of these essays, however, outline the issues that make the intellectual community so anxious. Professor Elshtain provides a compelling counterargument coun·ter·ar·gu·ment n. 1. An argument in opposition to another. 2. Something that undermines an argument or deters someone from action: to Webb; it is precisely because of the Bush Doctrine that the United States has lost its ability to provide real assistance in areas of great need, such as he Sudan. The National Security Strategy of the United States The National Security Strategy of the United States of America is a document prepared periodically by the executive branch of the government of the United States for congress which outlines the major national security concerns of the United States and how the administration plans of America--the White House's controversial 2002 articulation of the principles justifying pre-emptive pre·emp·tive or pre-emp·tive adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of preemption. 2. Having or granted by the right of preemption. 3. a. war--is included in the appendix. Avram has compiled a work of great importance for understanding the doctrine outlined in its pages, and the significance of this doctrine for moral discourse far beyond a particular administration or political cycle. |
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