A classmate yesterday passed along a video of my
SAIS professor, Michael Mandelbaum, appearing on
The Daily Show to discuss his book,
The Case for Goliath: How America Acts as the World's Government in the Twenty-First Century. The interview is a few years old, and America's influence has arguably decreased since its publication, in large measure due to this country's economic headaches (as Prof. Mandelbaum predicted in the interview, noting that "the great challenge to the American role as the world's government comes not from China, but from Medicare"). Still, Prof. Mandelbaum's argument remains relevant, though controversial*: Despite all the anti-Americanism across the globe, "America is the benign Goliath," a "global good guy" that the world secretly appreciates.
*John Stewart, for one, sounded somewhat skeptical. "You're suggesting," he asked Prof. Mandelbaum, "that the burning of a flag in many countries -- a compliment?"
