The four ages of American foreign policy: weak power, great power, superpower, hyperpower

The first age: Weak power, 1765-1865. Independence, 1765-1788 ; In the shadow of the French Revolution, 1788-1815 ; The continental republic, 1815-1865

The second age: Great power, 1865-1945. Great-power debut, 1865-1914 ; The offshore balancer, 1914-1933 ; The arsenal of democracy, 1933-1945

The third age: Superpower, 1945-1990. The contest of systems, 1945-1953 ; War improbable, peace impossible ; A superpower dies in bed

The fourth age: Hyperpower, 1990-2015. The new world order, 1990-2001 ; Back to the future, 2001-2015.