AMERICAN STUDIES Summer 1993 Vol. 7, No. 2 CONTENTS AMERICA ON THE WORLD STAGE OF THE LATTER HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY Zi Zhongyun （7） The essay is an introduction to A History of Postwar American Diplomacy, which covers the Cold War period featured by the rivalry between the two superpowers. Herein lie the unique characteristics of U.S. diplomacy. Now in the post-Cold War period two questions are usually asked. First, facing serious challenges, is the United States declining Second, as the only world superpower, will it be more assertive in pursuing hegemony The author's answer to both questions is negative. A BLUE-PRINT FOR REVITALIZING U.S. ECONOMY Chen Baosen（29） In his first State of the Union message, Pres. Clinton resolved on reversing Reaganomics from tax cut to tax hike, from benefitting the rich to fairness, from an anti-industrial policy to a de facto industrial policy, and from anti-tuning to fine-tuning in order to cure the U.S. syndrome of high consumption-low investment and high deficit-low saving. His success hinges on whether he can overcome partisanship in Congress and resistance from vested interests, and whether he can narrow the gap between expectations and reality. THE 1992 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND NEW CHANGES IN U.S. POLITICAL TREND Jia Hao（45） The failure of the Bush administration's economic policy disrupted the conservative coalition on which the Republican Party had relied heavily for winning previous elections. In 1992, a new political coalition of the Democrats emerged. It not only retained the Democratic Party's traditional voters but also drew to its side some conservatives who used to support the Republicans or had even been part of them. This helped to form a new Democratic majority in the campaign and resulted in the election of a Democratic president, Bill Clinton. THOUGHTS ON SINO-AMERICAN CULTURAL IMPACT-RESPONSE MODEL Zhu Shida（76） Based on Paul A. Cohen's "China-Centered Approach", the author proposes a "mutually reactive model" in the Sino-American impact-response exchange. The paper studies cultural phenomena in Chinese society at large and in the Chinese mind, and finds in Chinese culture an enormous active ability to assimilate as well as alienate American culture. The author foresees great "mutually reactive" exchange between Chinese and American cultures in the globolization in the 21st century. THE GRADUAL ESCALATION STRATEGY DURING THE VIETNAM WAR AND ITS FAILURE Shi Yinhong（94） The gradual escalation of bombing North Vietnam was closely related to the massive ground war in South Vietnam and was used as an instrument for the U.S. to win the war. Its failure could be attributed to the resistance of the Vietnamese people against the United States, but it was the American public that forced the U.S. Government to abandon the strategy and finally to withdraw from Vietnam. The limit to American media's tolerance of a quick and all-out strike on North Vietnam and the possibility of China's participation in the war were two major factors restricting President Johnson's actions. GEORGE KENNAN'S DIPLOMATIC THINKING Zhou Guiyin（111） Containment and detente were not only part of Kennan's thinking, but were also consistent and mutually complementary. As an expression of realism in international politics, it was in general objective, though there were quite a few flaws. And as a theoretical framework of U.S. diplomacy, it also had significant guiding functions. THE RISE AND DECLINE OF EARLY AMERICAN LIBERALISM Jiang Xinhao（134） Early liberalism was a dominant trend of thought in the United States which prevailed from the founding of the country till after the Civil War. Thomas Paine and H.D. Thoreau were outstanding thinkers among the numerous liberalists, and represented the thought in time of prosperity and transition in American history. The decline of early liberalism did not mean the end of the thought, but rather a periodic change adapted to the evolution of times. The shift from early liberalism to moderm liberalism was a vulgarizing process from revolution to reform. MARK TWAIN ON U.S. IMPERIALISM Shen Zongmei（153） Mark Twain firmly opposed the U.S. conquest of the Philippines at the beginning of the 20th century, accusing President McKinley and his supporters of flagrantly betraying the American ideal by embarking on an imperialist endeavor. Thirty Thousand Killed A Million, a previously unpublished essay of Mark Twain, reminds the American people of this notorious historical episode in the relationship between these two countries. AMERICAN STUDIES, a quarterly, is published jointly by the Chinese Association for American Studies, and the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The content of the articles in this journal should not be construed as reflecting the views either of the Association or the Institute.