American Foreign Policy

American Foreign Policy

Course Syllabus

Dr. Behlül Özkan

 

Course Purpose:

Political scientists employ a variety of theories to explain American Foreign Policy.  The purpose of this course is to review and critique such theories, testing each against recent and historical evidence. The goal is not to condemn or defend U.S. foreign policy, but to explain its political origins and logic.

The classes and reading assignments are structured to answer the following questions: What are the major determining factors of US foreign policy? Does the US tend to respond to external threats, or do domestic politics drive foreign policy decisions? Do ruling elites’ perceptions and bureaucratic politics considerably shape foreign policy? Are there static themes or approaches to US foreign policy? Is the Bush Doctrine in keeping with the foreign policies of previous administrations, or does it represent a radical rupture with the past? What are the early signs of the Obama administration’s foreign policy?

Course Reading Materials

Students are required to complete approximately 100 pages of assigned readings each week. Required readings are assembled in the course pack.

Required books:

Throughout the course of the semester, participants will read significant portions of the books listed below.

• Walter Lafeber, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad, Vol. I and Vol. II (New York: Norton, 1994).
• Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, 8th edition (Penguin Books, 1997).

 

Grading

Grades for this course will be calculated as follows:

• 20% Participation
• 30%:  Mid Term Exam
• 50%: Final exam

 

Course Meetings and Reading Assignments

Week 1: Introduction

• Gertjan Dijkink, “The March of Civilization: Destiny and Doubts,” in National Identity and Geopolitical Visions (London: Routledge, 1996), 49-58.
• Gertjan Dijkink, “The Last Frontier,” in National Identity and Geopolitical Visions, 59-71.
• Walter Lafeber, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad, Vol. I (New York: Norton, 1994), 5-69.

 

Week 2: From American Neutrality to the Emergence of American Empire

• Walter Lafeber, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad, Vol. I, 71-128 and 157-189.
• George Washington, “Farewell Address to the People of the United States,” 1796, 1-4.
• James Monroe, “Message of President James Monroe to Congress,” 2 December 1823, 1-2.
• Theodore Roosevelt, “Obstacles to Immediate Expansion: Letter to Admiral Mahan,” 1897, 1-2.

 

Week 3: American Foreign Policy During the Interwar Period

• Walter Lafeber, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad, Vol. I, 269-330.
• Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, 8th edition (Penguin Books, 1997), 1-14.
• James A. Field, “American Imperialism: The Worse Chapter in Any Book,” American Historical Review, Vol. 83, no. 3, (June 1978), 644-668.
• Woodrow Wilson, “14 Points,” 8 January 1918, 1-5.
• Woodrow Wilson, “War Message,” 2 April 1917, 1-6.

 

Week 4: Emergence of the Cold War

• Walter Lafeber, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad, Vol. II, 413-494.
• Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, 52-74.
• Mr. X (George Kennan), “The Sources of Soviet Conduct,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 25, no. 4, (July, 1947), 1-12.
• Walter Lippman, “The Cold War,” New York Herald Tribune, 1947, pp 1-6.
• The Truman Doctrine, 1947.
• Winston Churchill, “Iron Curtain Speech,” 5 March 1946, 1-3.

Week 5: Strategies of Containment

• Walter Lafeber, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad, Vol. II, 502-573.
• Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, 74-94.

 

Week 6: Kennedy, Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam War

• Walter Lafeber, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad, Vol. II, 580-630.
• Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, 171-189.
• Graham Allison, “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis” in American Foreign Policy, ed. John Ikenberry (New York: Harper Collins, 1989), 332-380.
• John Mueller, “The Search for the ‘Breaking Point’ in Vietnam,” International Studies Quarterly Vol. 24, Vol. 4, (Dec.1980), 497-519.
• Yuen Foong Khong, “Seduction By Analogy in Vietnam” in American Foreign Policy, ed. John Ikenberry (New York: Harper Collins, 1989), 501-510.
• Michael Roskin, “From Pearl Harbor to Vietnam: Shifting Generational Paradigms and Foreign Policy,” Political Science Quarterly Vol. 89 (Fall 1974): 563-88.
• John F. Kennedy, “Inaugural Address,” 20 January 1961, 1-3.
• John F. Kennedy, “Berlin Speech,” 25 June 1963, 1.

 

Week 7: Nixon and Realpolitik, Carter and Human Rights

• Walter Lafeber, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad, Vol. II, 633-700.
• Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, 224-253 and 281-302.
• John Lewis Gaddis, Strategies of Containment (London: Oxford University Press, 2005), 272-308.
• Jimmy Carter, “Human Rights and Foreign Policy,” speech delivered at Notre Dame University, June 1977, 1-6.
• Jimmy Carter, “State of the Union Address,” 23 January 1980, pp. 1-7.

 

Week 8: Reagan and “Evil Empire”

• Walter Lafeber, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad, Vol. II, 700-737.
• Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, 303-351.
• John Lewis Gaddis, “The Long Peace: Elements of Stability in the Postwar International System,” International Security Vol. 10. no.4 (Summer 1984), 99-142.
• Steven W. Hook and John Spanier, American Foreign Policy Since World War II (Washington, D.C.: QC Press, 2000), 193-218.
• Ronald Reagan, “Letter to Brezhnev,” April 1981, pp. 1-2.
• Ronald Reagan, “Westminster Speech,” 8 June 1982, pp. 1-8.

Week 9: The Cold War’s Aftermath

• Walter Lafeber, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad, Vol. II, 745-781.
• Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, 353-380.
• John Ikenberry, “The Myth of Post Cold War Chaos,” Foreign Affairs Vol. 75, no.2 (May/June 1996), 79-91.
• Bill Clinton, “National Security Strategy of Engagement and Enlargement,” February 1995, 1-33.
• Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History,” in America and the World: Debating the New Shape of International Politics (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2002), 1-28.
• Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?,” America and the World: Debating the New Shape of International Politics (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2002), 43-70.
• Douglas Brinkley, “Democratic Enlargement: The Clinton Doctrine,” Foreign Policy, no.106, (Spring 1997), 110-127.

 

Week 10: Post 9/11 Foreign Policy

• Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, 398- 428.
• John Lewis Gaddis, “Bush Grand Strategy in the Second Term,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 84, no.1 (Jan/Feb 2000), 2-15.
• Stephen Walt, “Beyond Bin-Lade: Reshaping U.S. Foreign Policy,” America and the World: Debating the New Shape of International Politics (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2002), 320-347.

 

Week 11: American National Interests; Strategy; Strategic Options Memos

• Condoleezza Rice, “How to Pursue the National Interest,” Hoover Digest, no. 2, (2000).
• Condoleezza Rice, “Promoting the National Interest.” Foreign Affairs 79 (January-February, 2000), 45-62.
• George W. Bush, “West Point Commencement Speech,” America and the World: Debating the New Shape of International Politics (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2002), 364-371.
• Shibley Telhami, “After a War with Iraq: Democracy, Militancy and Peacemaking,” International Studies Perspectives, Vol. 4, no. 2, (2003), 182-185.

 

Week 12: A New World (Dis)Order?

• Henry Kissinger, “Peace and Justice” in Does America Need a Foreign Policy? Toward a Diplomacy for the 21st Century (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001), 234-288.

• National Intelligence Council Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World, pp. 4-12; from http://www.dni.gov/nic/PDF_2025/2025_Global_Trends_Final_Report.pdf
• John Mearsheimer and Zbigniew Brzezinski, “Clash of the Titans,” Foreign Policy, Vol. 146 (Jan/Feb 2005), 46-49.

 

Week 13: Conclusion

• Barack Obama, “A New Strategy for a New World” July 15, 2008 http://www.cfr.org/publication/16791
• Gerard Toal, “‘In No Other Country on Earth’: The Presidential Campaign of Barack Obama,” Geopolitics 14 (2009): 376-401.