Tobias Endler Knihy

How to Be a Superpower focuses on the role and self-perception of public intellectuals in 21st-century America. Drawing on a series of interviews conducted with the most prominent ‘professional thinkers’ in the field of foreign policy since 9/11, from Noam Chomsky via Francis Fukuyama to Michael Walzer. With his fascinating interviews, Tobias Endler illustrates how intellectuals inspire, influence, and participate in the nation’s current public discourse and opinion-shaping process. This unique and insightful book explores the role and self-perception of 21st-century American intellectuals. Challenging the idea that intellectuals are becoming increasingly irrelevant, this book argues that they have managed to stake out a significant role in present society. Accelerated and intensified by the events of September 11, renowned experts in the field of foreign policy such as Zbigniew Brzezinski, Noam Chomsky, Francis Fukuyama, Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Michael Walzer have engaged in a vibrant public political debate on the global status of the United States – and very successfully so.

After 9/11 features 17 interviews with prominent political thinkers discussing America's foreign policy in the post-9/11 era. Experts like Zbigniew Brzezinski, Francis Fukuyama, and Noam Chomsky reflect on their roles in society and the challenges they face. The conversations capture the hopes, frustrations, and convictions of leading minds during a pivotal transition from George W. Bush to Barack Obama. The discussions delve into critical questions about America’s global position: What should its foreign policy be? What caused the September 11 attacks? How can future attacks be prevented, and how can America restore its reputation? The intellectuals grapple with defining the nation’s role in a transformed world while also contemplating their own contributions to public discourse in the 21st century. This work is aimed at students, graduates, and lecturers in political science, sociology, cultural studies, philosophy, and history, but it also appeals to anyone interested in the perspectives of America’s foremost thinkers and their reflections on their roles and responsibilities. The interviews include insights from notable figures such as Benjamin Barber, John Bolton, and Cornel West, among others.