Jürgen Gebhardt Book order

The post-World War II order of an Atlantic West based on common values emerged from a complex, conflict-ridden Atlantic history and established itself as a powerful actor in world politics.00This volume critically addresses the topics, processes, and problems of transatlantic relations from a multi-disciplinary angle, and marked by a worldwide pandemic. It thematizes the political, economic, and cultural dimensions from the seventeenth century to today and reflects them in categories of order and disorder, cooperation and conflict, convergence and divergence to get a deeper understanding of the present critical state of transatlanticism: the American retrenchment and the vanishing American vision of ?world leadership? in terms of ?America First? politics, the respective consequences impacting on the political and military development of the NATO alliance, and the Euro-American relations.

In their contributions political scientists, public intellectuals and writers discuss the cultural foundations of politics, policies, and the polity and how all three mark different types of social order within transatlantic communities. From a decidedly international and transatlantic perspective, the 14 authors investigate the cultural framework of political action and decision making in the United States, Canada, and in Germany. Topics include, among others, the impact of political culture on public order; its institutional make-up, and political interaction; the challenges of multiethnic and multicultural diversity with respect to national unity and social coherence; the socio-cultural basis of foreign policy formation; the effects of economic factors in the realm of politics; and, finally, intellectual discourse as a formative force in public affairs.

Set against the backdrop of the late 20th-century resurgence of religious forces in both East and West, these collected essays examine the role of religion in the transatlantic world. While it's commonly believed that Western societies are undergoing a thorough process of secularization, this view is challenged by the enduring vitality of religion in the United States. This creates a transatlantic divide, with Europe appearing as the only truly secular continent. However, the decline of traditional church authority does not necessarily indicate the rise of a secular Euro culture. Instead, recent arguments suggest that a transformation of religious expression is occurring in Europe, where people are not less religious than others globally, but differently so. Written by esteemed scholars, the essays explore various religious forms and belief communities from a transatlantic perspective. They adopt an interdisciplinary approach, presenting diverse angles on this complex topic. While these discussions may not cover every aspect, they provide a fresh insight into the relationship between spiritual and religious forces and public affairs in a modernized transatlantic West.

The American Revolution introduced a transformative power that shaped the political, social, and intellectual landscape of contemporary America. Jurgen Gebhardt's analysis, originally in German, delves into the origins of American public philosophy, coining the term civil theology to describe a belief system rooted in social and religious ideals, encapsulated by the phrase "one nation, under God." His study emphasizes the interplay between founding concepts and order in the self-perception of early American leaders, revealing the symbolic self-interpretation of American society. By closely examining the writings of the Founding Fathers, particularly John Adams, Gebhardt explores the philosophical and Christian foundations of American republicanism and revolution. He discusses how the founders' envisioned design for living, represented by the concept of the paradigmatic republic, manifested in the new society's political, economic, and social institutions, ultimately forming a civil theology recognized as Americanism. This ideology asserted a universal claim about the interconnectedness of God, humanity, and history within American practices. However, Gebhardt argues that in the twentieth century, Americanism has been undermined by a rise in individualism indifferent to the common good and an industrialized society that conflicts with the republic's political-spiritual ethos. His work offers a critical examination of the Americ