America Through Foreign Eyes.

• Author: Antwi-Boasiako, Kwame Badu

Jorge G. Castaneda. America Through Foreign Eyes. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. VII+ 307 pages. Hardcover, $27.95.

It is difficult to revisit the history of the United States of America objectively without offending the slave masters--people of European descent who took over the land, North America, from the indigenous people (Native Americans) and later enslaved Africans. In his book, America Through Foreign Eyes, Jorge Castaneda, a Princeton graduate, a former foreign minister of Mexico, and a college professor who lived most of his life in the United States, chronologically attempts to present both sides of America, the good and evil, through the lens of a foreigner. His ten-chapter, 307-page book chronicles America's exceptionalism, culture, dysfunctional democracy (i.e., the Electoral College), greed, religion, race, attitude toward guns, and immigration. The book is not written from a Mexican immigrant outsider perspective, but from that of a broader "sympathetic foreign critic" (p. 1) who knows the ins and outs of American policies and can amalgamate both historical and current events to throw more light on structural and institutional inequalities and racism in America. The author goes on to express the personal observations and experiences that led him to write the book, which is rooted primarily in Latin America and Western Europe, with a few references to Africa and other parts of the world.

Even though the author admits this is not a scholarly work, but rather a reflection on his nearly five decades of direct contacts with Americans, I strongly argue otherwise, as this book is more likely to meet the standard of any academic thesis given the depth of the research, citations, references, and how well it is written. Ideally, given the book's title, it was expected to provide an in-depth account of the author's personal experiences and reflections in America, yet it also includes numerous citations from other foreigner observers of the United States. Castaneda seeks not to explain the superfluously complex American political system to outsiders, but "to share one foreigner's view of the United States with Americans themselves" (p. 3). It was expected that the number of contemporary issues covered by the author would have been filtered through his personal experiences and observations, but rather he allows the literature to influence and eclipse his writing at times, which leads to a number of questionable dates with the...