Winter 2009 course syllabus (.pdf)

Description: This course introduces students to key concepts and debates in the study of American foreign policy. The lectures and readings are designed to answer the following questions: What are the major determinants of US foreign policy? Does the US tend to respond to external threats, or do domestic politics drive foreign policy decisions? Do decision-maker perceptions and bureaucratic politics significantly influence foreign policy? Are there consistent 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 break with the past?  What are the early indicators of the Obama administration’s foreign policy? The first few weeks of the course will examine the American Federal (c.1800) and Imperial (c.1900) periods. Using these two periods as parameters and baselines for comparison, the course will examine US foreign policy from WWI to the present. Along with paying close attention to America’s policies toward peer competitors – Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and the Soviet Union – we will also focus on US policy toward the United Nations, the effects of the “nuclear revolution,” and contemporary problems including rogue states and international terrorism. Each lecture will have dual purposes: (1) to familiarize students with key concepts and broader theoretical debates in the study of foreign policy, and (2) to familiarize students with a specific period in US history. 

Required Readings:

1. Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938,
   8th edition (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1997).

2. Richard Pipes, Communism: A History (New York, NY: Modern Library, 2001).

3. PS127 Course Reader (available at Alternative Copy).

Prerequisites: PS 7 or PS 121