POL 380: U.S. Foreign Policy
Dr. Brian Anderson

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Books:

Hook, Stephen W. U.S. Foreign Policy: the Paradox of World Power, current edition.

Bennett, Andrew, and George Shambaugh, ed. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on
Controversial Issues in American Foreign Policy
, current edition.

Grade Breakdown:

Test 1 10%
Test 2 15%
Test 3 (final exam) 20%
Memos to the President (5 out of 21) 25%
Issue Analysis Paper 25%
Participation 5%
TOTAL 100%
Course Content:

FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

Making Our Way in an Uncertain World
        -World politics with one superpower
        -American national interests today

The Rise of a Superpower
        -How independence bred isolationism
        -America awakes: the world wars
        -Classic Cold War containment, 1945-1964

The Superpower Matures
        -The lessons of Vietnam
        -Nixon & Reagan: the last Cold Warriors
        -The 1990s: foreign policy paradigms in the New World Order

September 11, 2001: Disaster Brings New Resolve
        -What happened and why
        -Launching and conducting a War on Terror
        -What policymakers (should have) learned

FOREIGN POLICY ACTORS AND THEIR ARTS

How to Make Foreign Policy in a Free Society
        -Adopting a worldview: realism, idealism, etc.
        -Government efficiency v. democracy

President v. Congress: Who's in Charge of Foreign Policy?
        -The White House team and its grip on policy initiation
        -Congress: the power of purse--and investigation
        -Listening to the public, stonewalling the media

Actually, Bureaucrats are in Charge!
        -The growth of foreign policy administration
        -Diplomacy v. military assertiveness
        -Implementing the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002

Organizations: Working from the Inside and the Outside
        -NGOs: lobbying and leading by example
        -IGOs and alliances: shaping the policy context
        -The future of the U.S. in the U.N.

FOREIGN POLICY DOMAINS

Security and Defense: Fighting for What's Right
        -Grand strategy or self-interested reaction?
        -Burying diplomacy in a military age
        -Threats all around: terrorism, WMD, etc.
        -What we are trying to accomplish in Iraq

Economic Relations: Giving to Get
        -Trade policy and its backlash
        -Aid and development: why (not) help?
        -The strings we tie to aid

Other Opportunities, Other Challenges
        -Environmental policy in an age of profound energy consumption
        -Weapons trade: WMD and small arms
        -Can the U.S. truly promote democracy in the world?

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