Recounting the actors and events of U.S. foreign policy, Zoellick identifies five traditions that have emerged from America's encounters with the world: the importance of North America; the special roles trading, transnational, and technological relations play in defining ties with others; changing attitudes toward alliances and ways of ordering connections among states; the need for public support, especially through Congress; and the belief that American policy should serve a larger purpose. These traditions frame a closing review of post-Cold War presidencies, which Zoellick foresees serving as guideposts for the future. Both a sweeping work of history and an insightful guide to U.S. diplomacy past and present, AMERICA IN THE WORLD serves as an informative companion and practical adviser to readers seeking to understand the strategic and immediate challenges of U.S. foreign policy during an era of transformation.

Aspen Policy Books is a series of brief books devoted to developing new thinking on U.S. national security, cooperative measures to reduce conflict, and international polices of the United States from national defense strategy to issues of international political economy. The books are collections of "memos to the president" on one of these selected global policy issues.

America and Russia is organized around four topics related to U.S.-Russian relations: "America and Russia's Domestic Political Future," "America and Russia's Economic Future," "International Strategic Issues," and America, Russia, and the New States." Each topic begins with a list of questions for discussion, is followed by a series of policy memos by guest experts, and concludes with a summary of the discussion on that topic.

Arranged as a collection of memos from experts in academia and government to a president facing a policy challenge, each book in the series offers succinct explanations of the background and context behind a handful of key issues in a particular region of the world.