The Case for American Power

“Hamid is a patriot — in the self-critical, hopeful tradition of Baldwin and King. Fueled by a deep and well-founded hatred of autocracy, he argues that American power is better than the alternatives, because America has the capacity to transmute our errors and hypocrisy through the better angels of our nature. In this intensely personal book, Hamid wills himself to optimism, realism, and reason, and calls for an America worthy of its ideals.” — Noah Feldman, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard University “Hamid makes the case for democracy as a political system despite its recent setbacks, and for dominant American power despite the hypocrisies and mistakes of those who wielded it, in a clear-eyed assessment of the current global situation. Highly recommend.” — Francis Fukuyama, author of Liberalism and its Discontents “At a time when U.S. decline has become conventional wisdom around the world, Hamid offers a clear and compelling rebuttal. He marshals sweeping evidence and powerful logic to make his case for American power. Hamid has persuaded me what side I’m on!” — Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, and author of Autocrats vs. Democrats “A surprising and valuable book. Hamid poses tough questions both for those who believe that the United States can be a force for good in the world and for those who don’t.” — Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America and author of The Idea That Is America

Shadi Hamid is a columnist at The Washington Post and a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. From 2023 to 2024, he served on the Post’s editorial board. Hamid is the author of several books, including The Problem of Democracy and Islamic Exceptionalism, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Lionel Gelber Prize for the best nonfiction book on foreign affairs. In 2019, he was named one of the world’s top fifty thinkers by Prospect magazine. Hamid lives in Washington, DC.