However, he cautions against blanket attacks on profanity - the lexicon of which, after all, derives power from its own waywardness.

BBC: Should swearing be against the law?

The clear lesson that derives from all forms of contemporary spying is that digitally connected citizens need personal DRM.

ENGADGET: Editorial: We, the digitally naked

Rare among hotel alliances, the association returns all profits to its members and derives only about a quarter of its revenue from membership fees. (The rest comes from guest booking fees and gift certificates.) Of the hundreds of hotels that are prospected and inspected each year, only about 30% are invited to join.

FORBES: Rafael Trapet / Getty Images

After all, not every company embraces CSR because it now understands the opportunities it derives from enlightened self-interest.

FORBES: The Six Reasons Why Companies Actually Wind Up Embracing CSR

All said, Mr Beinart has produced an original and ambitious study, even if the conclusion he derives from history's slippery lessons is somewhat commonplace: that America must continue to engage with the world but accept the limits of its power and concentrate on rebuilding the economy on which its strength has always rested.

ECONOMIST: 20th-century America