This volume is the result of the third international conference The United States and the World: from Imitation to Challenge held in Cracow on May 29–30, 2009. The event was organized by the Chair of American Studies at the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora, Jagiellonian University. It was one in a series of international conferences organized by the Institute, each of which has gathered numerous researchers from Europe, America, and Asia. The conferences reflect the research agenda of the Chair of American Studies, which is not limited to the United States exclusively, but also embraces Canada and Latin America. What is of special importance is that the present conference as well as two earlier ones, The United States and Europe: Conflict versus Collaboration in 2005 and U.S. Foreign Policy: Theory, Mechanisms, Practice in 2007 were a vivid sign of endless interest in “America,” as a widely understood concept. She, and the country of the United States in particular, inspires admiration, irritation, and, in research activities, raises various questions and issues to be studied. All three conferences that we hosted met with interest in the academic community, and the papers and contributions had a certain explanatory impact on the main themes of the conferences.

The conference The United States and the World: from Imitation to Challenge was meant to gather those interested in various aspects of the mutual connections between the United States and the world.