Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy since 1938

“The Manhattan Project was the beginning of the marriage between science and government in the United States, and thus one of the most important legacies of World War II.”

Ambrose and Brinkley discuss the development of an atomic bomb within the framework of the Second World War. They view the postwar nuclear proliferation as part of the same trajectory, in which important scientific development was subordinate to the government goals.

“The Big Three mistrusted each other, but each of the partners knew he needed both of the others. No combination of two was powerful enough to defeat Germany. It took all three to do the job.”

The authors emphasize the fact that the World War II Allies were also called the “Strange Alliance.” They credit the power of Hitler’s army of bringing the three unlikely countries together. Ambrose and Brinkley suggest that all three were necessary to beat Nazi Germany, and that, despite its contradictions, the Alliance was successful.

“American domination of the Alliance reflected, in turn, a new era in world history. The United States had replaced Great Britain as the dominant world power.”

The authors underscore the American domination of the Grand Alliance in the realm of the decisions made about the western front of Europe by the US and Britain. As Britain waned as the dominant colonial power in the world, the US rose as a superpower out of the Second World War.