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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "PL 330"
COURSE NAME: "American Foreign Policy"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2014
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Lawrence Gray
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 6:00 PM 7:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: PL 209
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will consider the United States foreign policy process and will examine the major foreign policy issues which have confronted the United States since World War II.  The first part of the course will be historical and will analyze the events that led up to the entry of the United States in the Second World War.  The Cold War as it developed and became a significant theatre for American policy will be considered in detail.  The course will also examine the societal factors that shape foreign policy and the manner by which policies are formulated and the way they are conducted.  There will be a close examination of the framework of the foreign policy process accompanied by an analysis of the concepts, institutions and recent issues involved in the implementation of policy. During the latter part of the course more emphasis will be given in lectures, student oral reports, and discussion to contemporary issues in the foreign policy arena.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
The methodology is to identify and develop the major themes concerning American foreign policy in the recent and contemporary period.  During the first half of the course the evolution of United States foreign policy from the inter-war years up to the end of the Cold War will be examined. After the mid-term contemporary issues will be developed through a combination of lectures, discussion and student oral reports.  Student-directed discussions of class themes will be organized on a bi-weekly basis. On occasion films that are relevant to our themes of discussion will be shown.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Requirements:

1.     Mid-term examination.

2.     A research paper of 10 pages due one week before the end of the semester (precise date TBA).   The subject of the paper will be the following:  “What was at stake during the Cold War?”   Sources for the paper will be the texts that are available in the library.

3.     A film review essay of 3 pages covering a film from the attached list that is due one week before the end of the semester (precise date TBA). 

4.     Oral report.  Each student will participate in a two-member team presentation of a fifteen minute oral report.  The topic selection will be made during the third week of class and will come from the attached oral report subject list.

5.     A book review essay of 3 pages due one week before the end of the semester.   Students must select a book from those included on the Book Review List.

6.     At least one tutorial will be held with each student during the term to discuss progress in reading and writing assignments.  

7.     Final exam.

TEXTBOOK:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberCommentsFormatLocal BookstoreOnline Purchase
Please refer to the SchedulePlease refer to the SchedulePlease refer to the SchedulePlease refer to the Schedule     
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberComments
Please refer to the SchedulePlease refer to the SchedulePlease refer to the SchedulePlease refer to the Schedule  

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberComments
Please refer to the SchedulePlease refer to the SchedulePlease refer to the SchedulePlease refer to the Schedule  
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Mid-term 20%
Research Paper 20%
Film Review Essay 10%
Oral Report 10%
Book Review Essay 10%
Class Discussion 10%
Final Exam  20%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
JCU Absence Policy
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Lessons 1 and 2:  Introduction.  The “American National Style” as seen historically in foreign policy. (REQUIRED READING:  Chapter 1: “The Roots of American Foreign Policy” pp. 5 – 40 in Walter LaFeber, The American Age;  Chapters 1 – 2 pp. 11 – 94 in James M. O’Toole, The Faithful; Chapter 1: “The American Foreign Policy Tradition” pp. 3 – 30 and Chapter 2: “The Kaleidoscope of American Foreign Policy” pp. 30 – 56 in Walter Russell Mead, Special Providence. American Foreign Policy and How it Changed the World; Introduction and Chapter 1: “From Washington to Wilson” pp. ix – 41 in Stewart Patrick, The Best Laid Plans; Chapter 1: “Introduction: The American Dream” pp. 3 – 14 in Emily S. Rosenberg, Spreading the American Dream. SUGGESTED READING:  Chapter 1: Theory, History and Grand Strategy” pp. 15 – 39 in Christopher Layne, The Peace of Illusions;  Chapter 1:  “Setting the Stage for Understanding US Foreign Policy”, pp. 1-29 in Joyce P. Kaufman, A Concise History of US Foreign Policy and Chapter 1: “The American Approach to Foreign Policy”, pp. 1-22 in Steven W. Hook and John Spanier, American Foreign Policy Since World War II.)

Lessons 3 and 4:  Isolationism in American history.  The Monroe Doctrine. The Open Door Policy.  (REQUIRED READING:  Chapter 3: “The First, the Last:  John Quincy Adams and the Monroe Doctrine 1815-1828” pp. 71 – 94 in LaFeber, The American Age ;  Chapter 3: “Changing the Paradigms” pp. 56 – 99 and Chapter 4: “ The Serpent and the Dove: the Hamiltonian Way” pp. 99 – 132 in Mead, Special Providence; Chapter 2: “Capitalists, Christians, Cowboys” pp. 14 – 38 and Chapter 3: “ The Promotional State” p. 38 – 63 in Rosenberg, Spreading the American Dream; SUGGESTED READING:  Chapter 28: “Aftermath” pp. 438 – 463 in Lynne Olson, Those Angry Days; Chapter 2:  “Unilateralism to Engagement:  The Founding to the End of World War I”, pp. 29-55 in Kaufman, A Concise History of US Foreign Policy.)

Lessons 5 and 6: The relative quiet of the inter-war years. Pearl Harbor and World War II. The genesis of US intelligence organizations for the war effort.  (REQUIRED READING:  Chapter One:  “That Man in the White House” pp. 11 – 17 and Chapter Four: “That Man as Commander-in-Chief” pp. 75 – 111 in Robert H. Jackson, That Man. An Insider’s Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt;  Chapter 1 pp. 1 – 101 in Alan Brinkley, Franklin Delano Roosevelt;  Part One: “The Internationalist as Nationalist, 1932-1934” pp. 23 – 101 and Part Two: “The Internationalist as Isolationist 1935 – 1938” pp. 101 – 171 in Robert Dallek, Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy 1932- 1945;  Chapter 12: “FDR and the Entry into World War II” pp. 369 – 413 and Chapter 13: World War II: The Rise and Fall of the Grand Alliance” pp. 413 – 457 in LaFeber, The American Age;   Chapter 11: “The Rise and Fall of the American Structure for World Order 1920-1933” pp. 334 – 369 in LaFeber, The American Age; SUGGESTED READING: Chapter 2: “World War II and the Foundations of American Global Hegemony” pp. 39 – 51 in Layne, The Peace of Illusions; Section 1: “World War”, pp. 9 – 75 in David Reynolds, From World War to Cold War; Chapter 10: “The Lost Alliance:  Widespread Anxiety and Deepening Ideology, July 1945 – March 1946” pp. 359 – 418 in Frank Costigliola,  Roosevelt’s Lost Alliances;  Chapter 3:  “The Interwar Years Through World War II”, pp. 55-75 in Kaufman, A Concise History of US Foreign Policy.)

 

Lessons 7 and 8:  Onset of the Cold War. The creation of the Central Intelligence Agency.  The Truman Doctrine.  The Marshall Plan.  NATO.  The Fall of China.  The Korean War. Intelligence strategies and foreign policy during the Cold War (REQUIRED READING: Chapters 2 – 7 pp. 18 – 135 in Norman Stone, The Atlantic and Its Enemies; Part 1: “The Origins of the Cold War” pp. 11 – 84 in Melvyn Leffler, For the Soul of Mankind;  Chapter 1 “The Dynamics of Postwar Politics Before the Cold War” pp. 1 – 46 in Jonathan Bell, The Liberal State on Trial; Chapter 1: “Into the Fray Against John Foster Dulles” pp. 6 – 38  in Douglas Brinkley, Dean Acheson. The Cold War Years 1953-71;   Chapters 3 – 8 pp. 100 – 361 in Melvyn P. Leffler, A Preponderance of Power; Chapter 1:  “Searching for a Creative Peace” pp. 26 – 54 in Michael Hogan, The Marshall Plan;  Chapters 2 – 5 pp. 31 – 115 in Nicolaus Mills, Winning the Peace; Chapter 9: “The Origins of NATO” pp. 267 – 297 in Stewart Patrick, The Best Laid Plans;  Chapter 14: “The Cold War, or the Renewal of US-Russian Rivalry” pp. 457 – 502 in LaFeber, The American Age.  SUGGESTED READING:   Part 1 “The Genesis” and Part 2 “The Plan In Action” pp. 7 – 328 in Greg Behrman, The Most Noble Adventure;  “Section 5: “Cold War”, pp. 235 – 291 in Reynolds, From World War to Cold War; Chapter 1: “The Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1948:  Stalin and Truman” pp. 11 – 84 in Melvyn Leffler, For the Soul of Mankind. The United States, The Soviet Union, and The Cold War;  Chapter 4:  “The Cold  War”  pp. 75-115 in Kaufman, A Concise History of US Foreign Policy;  Chapter 2:  “From World War to Cold War” pp. 23-49 and Chapter 3:  “Containment:  From Theory to Practice” pp. 50-79 in Hook and Spanier, American Foreign Policy Since World War II.)

Lesson 9:   Rollback and brinkmanship:  the style of the 1950s. The Suez crisis.  Sputnik diplomacy.  The United States and colonialism.  The Good Neighbor Policy. Cuba.  (REQUIRED READING:  Chapter 15: “The Big Turn:  The Era of the Korean War” pp. 502 – 536 in LaFeber, The American Age; Chapter 1:  “Politicizing Culture:  Suspicious Minds” pp. 1 – 27 in Stephen Whitfield, The Culture of the Cold War;  Part IV:  “The White House Years”, pp. 637 – 725 in Michael Korda, Ike. An American Hero;  Chapters 1 – 3 pp. 1 – 87 in Walter L. Hixson, Parting the Curtain; Chapter 7: “Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright” pp. 218 – 264 in Mead, Special Providence; Chapter 3: “The Changing Political Climate in Europe 1957-60” pp. 75 – 108 in Brinkley, Dean Acheson;  Part 1: “Honeymoon” pp. 11 – 39 and Part 5: “It Could Have Been Worse” pp. 313 – 405 in Jim Rasenberger, The Brilliant Disaster;  Part 1: “The Players” pp. 3 – 129 in Frederick Kempe, Berlin 1961;  SUGGESTED READING: Chapter 5: The Containment of Europe:  American Hegemony and European Responses” pp. 94 – 118 in Layne, The Peace of Illusions;  Chapter 2: “The Chance for Peace, 1953-1954: Malenkov and Eisenhower” pp. 84 - 151 in  Leffler, For the Soul of Mankind. The United States, the Soviet Union, and The Cold War;  Chapter 4:  “Developing Countries in the Crossfire” pp. 80-109 in Hook and Spanier, American Foreign Policy Since World War II.)

 

Lesson 10:  Mid-Term Examination

Lessons 11 and 12:  NATO and nuclear sharing.  Dilemma in the Middle East.  Containment in Asia. Vietnam.  (REQUIRED READING: Chapters 4 – 17 pp. 46 – 203 in Seymour Hersh, The Price of Power. Kissinger in the Nixon White House; Chapter 1: “Kennedy” pp. 1 – 23 and Chapter 2: “The Cold War” pp. 23 – 67 in W. J. Rorabaugh, Kennedy and the Promise of the Sixties; Introduction and Part 1 pp. 15 – 53 in Robert M. Gates, From the Shadows; Chapter 16: The Era of Eisenhower:  The Good Old Days” pp. 536 – 580 and Chapter 17: “JFK and LBJ: From the New Frontier through the Great Society to Vietnam” pp. 580 – 633 in LaFeber, The American Age; Chapter 4: “JFK, NATO Review, and the Berlin Crisis of 1961” pp. 108 – 154 and Chapter 5: “The Cuban Missile Crisis” pp. 154 – 175 in Brinkley, Dean AchesonSUGGESTED READING:  Chapter 3: “Retreat From Armageddon, 1962-1965: Kruschev, Kennedy and Johnson” pp. 151 – 254 in Leffler, For the Soul of Mankind. The United States, The Soviet Union, and The Cold War;  Chapter 5:  “Vietnam and the Cost of Containment” pp. 110-135 in Hook and Spanier, American Foreign Policy Since World War II.)

Lessons 13 and 14:  Lessons from Vietnam.  The “Vietnam Syndrome”.  Post-Vietnam interventions.  (REQUIRED READING:  Part I “Why Did It Start” pp. 11 – 81 and Part II “Why Did It Last So Long” pp. 81 – 243 in Gordon S. Barrass, The Great Cold War;  Chapter 8: The Vietnam War” pp. 237 – 263 in Brinkley, Dean Acheson; Chapter 8: “The Rise and Retreat of the New  World Order” pp. 264 – 310 in Mead, Special Providence.  SUGGESTED READING: Chapter 6:  “Détente and World Order Politics” pp. 136-165 in Hook and Spanier, American Foreign Policy Since World War II.)

 

Lesson 15:  A “Unipolar World”?  America alone? The shifting priorities of American power. (REQUIRED READING: Chapter 9: “The Future of American Foreign Policy” pp. 310 – 335 in Mead, Special Providence; Chapter 18: “Coming to Terms with History” pp. 633 – 680 in LaFeber, The American Age;  Part 1: “9/11 and War” pp. 3 – 109 in Ahmed Rashid, Descent Into Chaos;   SUGGESTED READING: Chapter 7:  “The End of the Unipolar Era” pp. 134 – 159 in Layne, The Peace of Illusions;  Section VI:  “Perspectives” pp. 291 – 352 in Reynolds, From World War to Cold War; Chapter 5:  “Beyond the Cold War” pp. 115-144 and Chapter 6:  “What Next for US Foreign Policy” in Kaufman, A Concise History of US Foreign Policy;  Chapter 8:  “The End of the Cold War”  pp. 193-218 and Chapter 9:  “America’s Unipolar World” pp. 219-245 and Chapter 10:  “Old Tensions in a New Order” pp. 246-271 in Hook and Spanier, American Foreign Policy Since World War II.)

Lessons 16 and 17 and 18:  Student Oral Reports.  

Lesson 19:  Review

Lesson 20:  Quiz


Core Texts:

The principle core texts for the course are:  Stephen Kinzer, The BrothersJohn Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and their Secret War; Alfred F. Young, Gary B. Nash, and Ray Raphael, Revolutionary Founders: Rebels, Radicals, and Reformers in the Making of a Nation; Helen Laville and Hugh Wilford, The US Government, Citizen Groups and the Cold War.  These books may be ordered directly from Amazon.

 

Reserve Readings:

Texts used for the lectures and available on reserve in the library are  Nicolaus Mills, Winning the Peace; John Kiehler, Spies in the Vatican:  The Soviet Unions Cold War Against the Catholic Church;  Hans Krabbendam and Giles Scott-Smith, The Cultural Cold War in Western Europe 1945-60; Carl Mirra, The Admirable Radical:  Staughton Lynd and Cold War Dissent 1945-1970; Vali Nasr, The Dispensable Nation:  American Foreign Policy in Retreat; Philip Jenkins, The Cold War at Home; Frank Costigliola, Roosevelt’s Lost Alliances:  How Personal Politics Helped Start the Cold War; Lynne Olson, Those Angry Days:  Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America’s Fight Over World War II 1939-1941; William Lee Miller, Two AmericansTruman, Eisenhower, and a Dangerous World; Tom Engelhardt, The End of Victory Culture; Stephen Whitfield, The Culture of the Cold War; Walter LaFeber, The American Age. US Foreign Policy At Home And Abroad, James M.O’Toole, The Faithful; Walter L. Hixson, Parting the Curtain;  Dan Kurzman, A Special Mission;  Melvyn P. Leffler, A Preponderance of Power; Melvyn Leffler, The Specter of Communism; Michael J. Hogan, A Cross of Iron; Michael Hogan, The Marshall Plan;  Robert J. McMahon, Dean Acheson and Creation of an American World Order; Walter Russell Mead, Special Providence. American Foreign Policy And How It Changed The World,  Emily S. Rosenberg, Spreading The American Dream,   John E. Haynes, Red Scare or Red Menace?,  Mark Perry, Partners in Command; Chris Tudda, The Truth Is Our Weapon; Stewart Patrick, The Best Laid Plans; and Robert Dallek, Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945.  

Additional Readings:

The following texts are complimentary to our lectures and are available for use in the library.   Susan Jacoby, The Age of American Unreason; Thomas Slawson, In Pursuit Of Shadows; Paul Boyer, By The Bomb’s Early Light; Andrew Bacevich, The Limits Of Power; Massimo Franco, Parallel Empires; Adam Garfinkle, Telltale Hearts; Gredrik Logevall, Choosing War; Joyce P. Kaufman, A Concise History of US Foreign  Policy,  Christopher Layne, The Peace of Illusions,  Steven W. Hook and John Spanier, American Foreign Policy Since World War II,  Tim Weiner, The Legacy of Ashes, Robert Beisner, Dean Acheson. A Life in the Cold War, David Milne, America’s Rasputin. Walt Rostow and the Vietnam War, David Reynolds, From World War to Cold War,   Arnold Offner, Another Such Victory. President Truman and the Cold War 1945-1953,  Samantha Power, A Problem From Hell. America and Age of Genocide,  Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower , and Pat Buchanan, A Republic, Not an Empire. 

 

Book Review List:

Douglas Brinkley, Dean Acheson.  The Cold War Years 1953-71;  Ahmed Rashid, Descent Into Chaos;  Jim Rasenberger, The Brilliant Disaster;  Mark Perry, Partners in Command; Frederick Kempe, Berlin 1961; David Halberstam, The Coldest Winter; Robert Beisner, H.W. Brands, Traitor To His ClassDean Acheson. A Life in the Cold War; Melvyn P. Leffler, For the Soul of Mankind.  The United States, the Soviet Union, and The Cold War;   Jim Newton, Eisenhower; Greg Behrman, The Most Noble Adventure;  Arnold Offner, Another Such Victory.  President Truman and the Cold War 1945 – 1953;   Michael J. Hogan, A Cross of Iron;    Michael Korda, Ike. An American Hero;   Nicolaus Mills, Winning the Peace;  John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War; Robert Dallek, Franklin Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932 – 1945; David McCullough, Truman; John Lamberton Harper, American Visions of Europe;  Kenneth S. Davis, FDR. The War President 1940 – 1943;  Frank Costigliola, Roosevelt’s Lost Alliances;  and Randall B. Woods and Howard Jones, Dawning of the Cold War.

Films:

Films that have foreign policy themes during times of war and peace will be used and will be assigned for review essays.  Among the films suggested are: “Remembrance of Things to Come”; “Speaking Freely, vol. 3: Ray McGovern on the Corruption of US Intelligence”, “Speaking Freely, vol. 4: Chalmers Johnson on American Hegemony”, “Julian Assange: A Modern Day Hero?”, “The Battle of Chile”,  “An Injury to One”, “Secrecy”, “War on Whistleblowers”,  “The Dark Side”, The Dark Art of Interrogation”, “Pearl Harbor—Legacy of Attack”, “The Best Years of Our Lives”, “The Atomic Café”, “The Gathering Storm”, “Path To War”,  “Conspiracy”, “Decision Before Dawn”, “Come and See”, “The Counterfeit Traitor”, “Operation Amsterdam”, “No Man’s Land”, “Charlie Rose:  A Conversation About Foreign Policy”, “Fog of War”, “Redacted”, “War and Truth”, “Julia”, “A Walk In The Sun”, “Bataan”, “Objective Burma”, “Destination Tokyo”, “My Country, My Country”, “Terror Storm”, “21 Hours at Munich”, “Dirty War”, “Syriana”, “White Light Black Rain”, “The Devil Came on Horseback”, “The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl”, “Uncovered:  The Whole Truth About the Iraq War”, “The World According to Bush”, “No End In Sight”, and “Arguing the World”, “Taxi to the Dark Side”, “Oswald’s Ghost”, “No End in Sight”, “The War Room”.