This course will cover major themes concerning American foreign policy across three distinct periods.  The first part of the course looks at the origins of American foreign policy through the First World War. The second part of the course tracks the evolution of American foreign policy from the inter-war years through the Cold War. After spring break, the course will focus on post-Cold War foreign policy decisions, the impact of 9/11, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The debates over free trade versus protectionism, intervention vs. isolation, civil liberties vs. security will be discussed in depth. We will analyze contemporary issues through a combination of lectures, discussion, student oral reports, and policy debates.

Upon completion of the course students will have developed a broad understanding of American Foreign Policy in the 20^th and beginning of the 21^st century.  They will also have acquired instruments to discuss and analyze contemporary issues of American Foreign Policy.  

PART I: ORIGINS OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

WEEK 1 -  Monroe Doctrine

January 19: Introduction to the Course

January 21:  Post-revolutionary America and the Monroe Doctrine

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 5 – 24

·       Washington’s Farewell Address (1796), http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/ washing.asp

·       Monroe Doctrine (1823), http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/monroe.asp

Week 1 Discussion Questions:

1.     How would you describe the “American national character” of the early 19^th century?

2.     What is the central thesis of the Monroe Doctrine?

3.     Prior to the adoption of the Monroe Doctrine, how would you characterize the U.S.’s relations with Europe? Latin America? Native Americans?

4.     Which events and circumstances contributed to the need/desire for U.S. sovereignty on the North American continent/ sphere of influence?

WEEK 2 – Manifest Destiny 

January 26: 19^th Century America – Manifest Destiny

Readings:

·       Clinton Rossiter, “The American Mission,” The American Scholar 20,1 (Winter 1950-1), pp. 19 – 28 [JSTOR]

·       We are a city upon a hill, https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/winthrop.htm

January 28: The Age of Imperialism

Readings:

·       John L. Offner, “McKinley and the Spanish –American War,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 34:1 (2004), pp. 50 – 61 [JSTOR]

·       John Mearsheimer, “Imperial by Design,” The National Interest (Jan/Feb 2011), pp.16-34. http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/A0059.pdf

Week 2 Discussion Questions:

1.     How would you characterize mid – late 19^th century American foreign policy? How did it change over the course of the century?

2.     Who were the key decision-makers?

3.     What was the role of religion and religious beliefs?

4.     What are the major contradictions in the traditional approaches to American foreign policy?

5.     Why did the U.S. go to war with Spain in 1898? What were the objections to going to war? What were the consequences and outcomes of the war?

PART II: THREE WORLD WARS

WEEK 3 – World War I

February 2:  Isolationism vs. Interventionism

Readings:

·       Brian M. Pollins and Randall L. Schweller, “Linking the Levels: The Long Wave and Shifts in U.S. Foreign Policy, 1790 – 1993,” American Journal of Political Science 43:2 (Apr 1999), pp. 431-464. [JSTOR]

·       TBD

February 4: Wilson and World War I

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 25 – 29

·       Wilson’s 14 Points, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/wilson14.asp

Week 3 Discussion Questions:

1.     What is “isolationism”? What is “interventionism”?  Do you agree with Klingberg’s cycles of “introversion” and “extroversion”?

2.     What do you think is the primary motivation behind the U.S.’s involvement in World War I?

3.     To what extent do traditional values constrain and/or guide American policy makers?

4.     How would you describe the role of the U.S. military in World War I?

5.     Why did the League of Nations fail?

WEEK 4 – World War II

February 9: FDR and World War II

Readings:

·       Charles O’Donnell, “American Foreign Policy: A Review of Some Recent Literature on Isolationism and Collective Security,” The Review of Politics 1:3 (Jul 1939), pp. 333-347 [JSTOR]

·       Graham Stuart, “A New Foreign Policy for the United States,” World Affairs 103:1 (March 1940), pp.41-47 [JSTOR]

·       Charles G. Stefan, “Yalta Revisited: An Update on the Diplomacy of FDR and His Wartime Summit Partners,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 23:4 (Fall 1993), pp.755-440 [JSTOR]

·       Stephen Schlesinger, “FDR’s Five Policemen: Creating the United Nations,” World Policy Journal 11:3 (Fall 1994), pp. 88-93 [JSTOR]

February 11: Nuclear Weapons

Readings:

·       Rinjiro Sodei, “Hiroshima/Nagasaki as History and Politics,” The Journal of American History 83:3 (Dec 1995), pp. 1118-1123 [JSTOR]

·       TBD

Week 4 Discussion Questions:

1.     What events led the U.S. to abandon its isolationist policies?

2.     What were the arguments for and against intervening in Europe?

3.     How important is the reality of “assured destruction”?

4.     What makes modern nuclear deterrence different from pre-1945 conventional (non-nuclear) deterrence?

5.     Did the advent of nuclear weapons constitute a punctuated equilibrium in global political affairs?

WEEK 5 – Cold War Beginnings

February 16: Truman’s Containment

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 35 – 53.

·       Spanier and Hook, pp. 47 - 73

·       John W. Coffey, “The Statesmanship of Harry S Truman,” The Review of Politics 47:2 (Apr 1985), pp. 231-251 [JSOTR}

February 18:  North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Readings:

·       Alfred J. Hotz, “NATO: Myth or Reality?” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 288 (Jul 1953), pp.126- 133. [JSTOR]

·       TBD

Week 5 Discussion Questions:

1.     What impact did the rapid demobilization of U.S. forces following World War II have on the formulation of American security policy?

2.     What was the importance of NSC-68?

3.     What is an alliance? To what alliances is the United States tied to today? Why do nations align?

4.     What is “balance of power” politics? What is a superpower? Can you quantify “national power”?

5.     How to alliances impact bargaining strategy?

6.     Why did the U.S. lead in the formation of NATO?

7.     How did the Soviet Union respond to the expansion of NATO?

WEEK 6 – Eisenhower and Kennedy’s Cold War

February 23: Eisenhower and the Korean War

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 59 – 63.

·       Robert Jervis, “The Impact of the Korean War on the Cold War,” The Journal of Conflict Resolution 24:4 (Dec 1980), pp. 563-592 [JSTOR]

February 25: Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 87 – 90.

·       Spanier and Hook, pp. 74 - 100

·       Graham Allison, “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” American Political Science Review 63:3, (1969) pp.687-718. http://www3.nccu.edu.tw/~lorenzo/Allison%20Conceptual%20Models.pdf

Week 6 Discussion Questions

1.     The policy of containment was based on the perception of an aggressive, monolithic communist bloc of nations. What events in the late 1940s and early 1950s caused the U.S. to view the nature of the communist threat?

2.     What impact did such an assessment have on established U.S. political processes?

3.     Why did the Soviets place missiles in Cuba? What could they gain by their deployment?

4.     What is a “sphere of influence” and how is it relevant in the context of the Monroe Doctrine?

5.     In the early 1960’s the United States adopted a strategic policy of “flexible-response.” What changes in technology and the international environment led to this change?

WEEK 7 – Vietnam War

March 2:  U.S. Foreign Policy in Vietnam

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 90 – 97

·       Spanier and Hook, pp. 129 - 149

·       James C. Thompson, Jr., “How Could Vietnam Happen?” (1968) http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1968/04/how-could-vietnam-happen-an-autopsy/306462/

·       John F. Shiner, “Reviewed Work: The Limits of Air Power: The American Bombing of North Vietnam” The Journal of Military History 55:1 (1991), pp. 129-130 [JSTOR]

March 4: Midterm

Week 7 Discussion Questions

1.     How did the U.S. become involved in the Vietnam conflict?

2.     How is the Vietnam War viewed in the larger context of the Cold War?

3.     Did the U.S. win or lose the Vietnam War?

WEEK 8 – Oral Presentations (Policy Debate - NATO)

March 9:   Oral Presentations – Group A

March 11: Oral Presentations – Group B

WEEK 9 – Nixon and Carter’s Cold War

March 16: Strategic Arms Limitations, Nixon goes to China

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 103 – 114

·       Spanier and Hook, pp. 150 - 173

·       Jeffrey Kimball, “The Nixon Doctrine: A Saga of Misunderstanding,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 36:1 (Mar 2006), pp. 59-74 [JSTOR]

·       Beth Bloomfield, “Strategic Arms Limitation,” Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science 32:4 (1977), pp. 184-194 [JSTOR]

March 18: Carter, Camp David, and the Iranian Hostage Crisis  

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 115 – 129

·       Spanier and Hook, pp. 174 - 196

·       Betty Glad, “Personality, Political and Group Process Variables in Foreign Policy Decision-Making: Jimmy Carter’s Handling of the Iranian Hostage Crisis,” International Political Science Review 10:1 (Jan 1989), pp.35-61. [JSTOR]

·       A.G. Naidu, “Camp David Accords: A Study in American Foreign Policy,” The Indian Journal of Political Science 53:3 (July-Sep 1992), pp. 397-414 [JSTOR]

Week 9 Discussion Questions

1.     How did Nixon’s Vietnam War strategy differ from Johnson’s?

2.     By entering into cooperative agreements with the Soviet Union, did the U.S. pursue the best strategy for ensuring global stability?

3.     How did détente with the Soviet Union affect the U.S. position in the Middle East?

4.     What advantages/disadvantages did the Middle East and the U.S. derive from the Camp David Accords?

WEEK 10 – Reagan’s Cold War

March 22: Reagan’s Peace through Strength

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp .129 – 147

·       Spanier and Hook, pp. 197 - 225

·       Chester Pach, “The Reagan Doctrine: Principle, Pragmatism and Policy,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 36:1 (Mar 2006), pp. 75-88 [JSTOR]

·       Gerold Yonas, “The Strategic Defense Initiative” Daedalus 114:2 (Spring 1985), pp. 73-90 [JSTOR]

March 24: Film - Reagan - The American Experience 

Week 10 Discussion Questions:

1.     What was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)?

2.     Why did the Reagan administration fund a guerilla insurgency against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua?

3.     Why did Reagan order the invasion of the Caribbean island of Grenada in 1983?

PART III: POST COLD WAR U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

****SPRING BREAK****

WEEK 11 – The 1990’s

April 5:  Bush’s New World Order  

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 155 – 178

·       Spanier and Hook, pp. 226 - 253

·       Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History and the Last Man” http://www.wesjones.com/eoh.htm

·       Charles Krauthammer, “The Unipolar Moment” Foreign Affairs (1990) https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/1991-02-01/unipolar-moment

·       Steve A. Yetiv, “The Outcomes of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm: Some Antecedent Causes,” Political Science Quarterly 107:2 (Summer 1992), pp. 195-212 [JSTOR]

April 7: Clinton’s Engagement and Enlargement

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 178 – 198

·       Jon Western, “Sources of Humanitarian Intervention: Beliefs, Information, and Advocacy in U.S. Decisions on Somalia and Bosnia”

·       Joseph S. Nye, Jr., “Soft Power,” Foreign Policy (Autumn 1990) [JSTOR]

·       Patrick E. Tyler, “U.S. Strategy Plan Calls for Insuring No Rivals Develop in A One-Superpower World,” The New York Times (March 8, 1992).

Week 11 Discussion Questions

1.     What are the differences between “hard” power and “soft” power?

2.     What did Francis Fukuyama mean by the “end of history”?

3.     What was meant by “engagement and enlargement”?

4.     How has NATO changed since the fall of the Soviet Union?

5.     What should the role of the U.S. be in Europe?

WEEK 12 – 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan

April 12:  9/11 and American Decision-Making

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 205 – 222

·       Stanley Hoffmann, ”Why don’t they like us?” - http://prospect.org/article/why-dont-they-us 

April 14: Bush’s Interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq  

Readings:

·       McCormick, pp. 222 – 240

·       Bush’s Address to Graduating Class West Point, 2002 - http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/01/international/02PTEX-WEB.html 

Week 12 Discussion Questions

1.     How did the events of 9/11 shape U.S. foreign policy in the 21^st century?

2.     What events led to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003?

3.     Which countries were part of the coalition?

4.     Did the U.S. win in Iraq?

5.     How did the ongoing debates between free trade vs. protectionism and security vs. civil liberties change during the second Bush administration?

WEEK 13 – Obama, Iraq, and Afghanistan, continued

April 19: Foreign Policy of the Obama Administration 

Readings:

·       Barack Obama, “Renewing American Leadership,” Foreign Affairs 86:4 (Jul/Aug 2007): pp. 2-16. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2007-07-01/renewing-american-leadership

·       Zbigniew Brzezinski, “From Hope to Audacity: Appraising Obama’s Foreign Policy,” Foreign Affairs 89:1 (Jan/Feb 2010), pp. 16-30. [JSTOR]

April 21:  The Future of American Foreign Policy – 2016 and beyond

Readings:

·       Walter R. Mead, “The American Foreign Policy Legacy,” Foreign Affairs 81:1 (Jan-Feb 2002), pp. 163 -176 [JSTOR]

·       Jack Snyder, “One World, Rival Theories,” Foreign Policy 145 (Nov/Dec 2004), pp. 52-62. http://slantchev.ucsd.edu/courses/pdf/Snyder%20-%20One%20World,%20Rival%20Theories.pdf

·       Fareed Zakaria, “The Future of American Power,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2008): https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2008-05-03/future-american-power 

·       Joseph Nye, “The Future of American Power,” Foreign Affairs (Nov/Dec 2010): https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2010-11-01/future-american-power 

Week 13 Discussion Questions

1.     What would you single out as the biggest national security threat to the U.S. today?

2.     How is the U.S. responding to that threat?

3.     Can you define an optimal role for the U.S. in global affairs today?  

4.     How has the U.S. responded to the ongoing crises of government in the Middle East and North Africa?

5.     How has the “Global War on Terror” and the U.S.’s involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan changed U.S. foreign policy?

6.     Does the world see a decline in U.S. power?

WEEK 14 – Oral Presentations (Policy Debate – Iraq & Syria Intervention)

April 26:  Oral Presentation II – Group B

April 28:  Oral Presentation II – Group A

WEEK 15

April 30- May 6: Final Exam (Look for Announcements)