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Table of Contents
Course
Description
Texts
Course
Objectives
Class
Schedule
Course
Requirements
Grading
Attendance
Policy
Honor
Code
Class
Discussion
Critical
Thinking Writing Exercises
Taking
Exams
Bibliography
Course Description:
A
study of U.S. foreign policy with special attention to the policy making
process, current problems in foreign affairs, and the development of long-range
foreign policy.
Texts:
Steven W. Hook. U.S.
Foreign Policy: The Paradox of World Power. CQ Press: Washington,
D.C.,
2005.
Bruce W. Jentleson,
American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st
Century.
Second
Edition. W.W. Norton & Company:
New York, 2004.
The 9/11
Commission Report (authorized edition) Final Report of the National
Commission on
Terrorist
Attacks Upon the United States
Foreign Affairs. January/February
2005 Issue. Published by The Council on Foreign Relations.
Other Reading:
Students are expected to keep up with current foreign policy
developments and may follow the news through the following online sites:
http://www.cnn.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/
http://www.gallup.com/
Students should also
make use of Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and
Issue Briefs found online at:
http://fpc.state.gov/fpc/c4763.htm
Many of these reports are excellent reviews of foreign policy issues.
Click HERE for the Study Guide which contains questions for reading and thinking about the assignments, links to useful web sties containing materials on the topics being explored, and suggestions on developing your research for the critical thinking writing assignments.
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a capacity for critical and analytical thought about issues
central to
American foreign policy.
2. Demonstrate an ability to communicate their knowledge and beliefs
about American
Foreign policy both orally and in writing.
3. Describe the essential features of American foreign policy.
4. Identify information regarding American foreign policy that is
necessary for useful
and responsible citizenship.
5. Discuss important philosophical and ethical issues associated with the
making and
substance of American foreign policy.
6. Discuss the major ways in which political scientists have tried to
understand
American foreign policy.
7. Discuss how American foreign policy has shaped and been shaped by the
dynamic
social forces contemporary society.
8. Demonstrate an awareness of the diversity of persuasions and interests
regarding
various aspects of American foreign policy.
9. Discuss elements of continuity and change within American foreign policy.
Part I Weeks 1-4 Historical Review
Week 1 (Jan. 17-21) Sources of American Foreign Policy; The Origins of the
Cold War
Read: Jentleson, Chpt. 1 and readings 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4; Chpt.
3 and readings 3.1,
3.2
Chpt. 4 and
readings 4.1, 4.2, 4.3
Hook, Chpt. 2
Special Topics:
M: Introduction to American
Foreign Policy; Competing Views on the Sources of American Foreign Policy
W: American Foreign Policy Before and During WWII; The Origins of the
Cold War
F: The Doctrine of Containment; Economic Plans; Alliance
Systems; Nuclear Balance of Terror
Critical Thinking
Writing Exercise No. 1
Discuss the ideas behind the most
important doctrines and policies developed by the Truman administration. Explain
how these ideas served as the basis for American foreign policy for the next 40
years.
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Friday, Jan. 21.
Week 2 (Jan. 24-28) The Third World, Cuba, Vietnam, Détente, and Continued
Superpower Competition
Read: Hook, Chpt. 2
Jentleson, Chpt. 5
and readings 5.1, 5.2
Special Topics:
M: America and the Third
World; The Cuban Missile Crisis
W: Vietnam, Nixon, Détente
F: The
Carter Years and the Collapse of Détente
Critical
Thinking Writing Exercise No. 2
Write a three page essay on why
the United States failed in Vietnam and the various lessons foreign policy
analysts drew from that failure.
A good website with links to good research
sources on the war in Vietnam may be found
at:
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/vietnam.htm
This
assignment is due at the beginning of class on Friday, Jan. 28.
Week 3 (Jan. 31-Feb. 4) Superpower Confrontation and Conciliation; The End
of the Cold War, The 1990s
Read: Jentleson, Chpt. 5 and readings 5.3,
5.4
Hook, Chpt. 2
Special Topics:
M: The Reagan Years
W: The Bush Years
F:
The Clinton Years
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 3
Write
a three page essay in which you explain the doctrine of democratic enlargement
advanced by the Clinton administration. How did the Clinton administration
try to apply the doctrine and what problems did this doctrine and its
applications face?
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on
Friday, Feb. 4.
Week 4 (Feb. 7-11) Models of Policy Making; Rational Choice and Game
Theory
Read: Take a look at the following web site that provides a
good introduction to game
theory:
http://www.econ.rochester.edu/eco108/ch17/micro17/index.htm
Also go to the
Britannic website, click under History & Humanities, search under game
theory <http://search.britannica.com/search?query=game+theory>
and study material under the following sites: <http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/5/0,5716,117275+1+109420,00.html?query=game%20theory>
<http://search.britannica.com/frm_redir.jsp?query=game+theory&redir=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/game-theory/>
<http://www.britannica.com/bcom/magazine/article/print/0,5746,213696,00.html>
Special Topics:
M: Introduction to Rational Choice Theory
W:
Applications of Game Theory to Decision Making in Foreign Policy
F: First
Test
NOTE: You will have your first test on Friday, Feb.
11. This test will count for 1/6 of your semester grade.
Part II Weeks 5-8 Contemporary Issues After the Cold War
Week 5 (Feb. 14-18) The United States after the Cold War
Read: Jentleson, Chpt. 7; Readings 10.1,
10.2
Hook, Chpts. 1, 3
Special Topics:
M: What issues are involved in the debate over
what Fukuyama calls the "End of History" and what are the implications for
American foreign policy?
W: What issues are involved in the debate over what
Huntington calls the "Clash of Civilizations" and what are the implications for
American foreign policy?
F: What are the competing world views employed by
contemporary defenders and critics of American foreign policy?
Critical
Thinking Writing Exercise No. 4
Write a three page essay in which you
evaluate Huntington's claims about a "clash of civilizations" and what you think
are the implications for American foreign policy that flow from your own
assessment of his claims.
This assignment is due by the beginning of class
on Friday, Feb. 18.
Week 6 (Feb. 21-25)Terrorism, Islamism, and the Middle East
Read: The 9/11 Commission
Report
Hook,
Chpt. 10
Jentleson, Chpt.
7
James Dobbins,
"Iraq: Winning the Unwinnable War" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
Edward N.
Luttwak, "Iraq: The Logic of Disengagement" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
Dennis
Ross, "The Middle East Predicament" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
Mahmood
Mamdani, "Whither Political Islam" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
The Council
On Foreign Relations has established, in cooperation with The Markle Foundation,
a new online encyclopedia on terrorism at:
http://www.terrorismanswers.com/home/
Special Topics:
M: What are the issues involved in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
W: What issues face American foreign policy
with the rise of Islamism and the War on Terror?
F: What are the stakes
involved in the current war in Iraq?
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise
No. 5
Write a three page essay in which you explain why the United
States is so hated in much of the Middle East. Then explain how you would
advise President Bush, if asked, as to what should be done about this.
This
assignment is due at the beginning of class on Friday, February 25.
Week 7 (Feb. 28-March 4) Strategic Doctrine and National Security
Policy
Read: Jentleson, Chpt. 7 and Readings 7.1 7.2,
7.3
Hook, Chpt.
10
John Lewis
Gaddis, "Grand Strategy in the Second Term" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
John
Deutch, "A Nuclear Posture for Today" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
Selig S.
Harrison, "Did North Korea Cheat?" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
Jon B.
Wolfsthal, "The Next Nuclear Wave" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
William
Drozdiak, "The North Atlantic Drift" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
Special Topics:
M: What are the main ideas behind the
Bush Doctrine?
What are the principal
arguments advanced by defenders and critics of the Bush Doctrine?
W:
Other Defense Issues: Nuclear Weapons Policies, Proliferation of WMDs
F: What are the most important issues involved in American relations
with Western Europe?
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 6.
Evaluate the explanation advanced by Robert Kagan for the current foreign
policy differences between the United States and much of Western Europe.
Use his article "Power and Weakness" as a beginning point for your essay.
Is he right? Does he ignore other causes of those differences? Does
he overstate his case?
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on
Friday, March 4.
Week 8 (March 7-11) America and other Major Powers
Read: Jentleson, Chpt. 7 and Reading
7.1
Hook,
Chpt. 10
Francis
Fukuyama, "Re-Envisioning Asia" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
Asmus,
Blinken, Gordon, "Nothing to Fear" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
Special Topics:
M: What are the most important issues
involved in American-Russian relations?
W: What are the most important
issues involved in American relations with China and Japan?
F: Second Test
Note: You will have your second test on Friday, March
11. This test will count for 1/6 of your semester grade
SPRING BREAK MARCH 12-20
Part III Weeks 9-12 Decision Making Institutions and Players
Week 9 (March 21-25) Domestic Forces Influencing Foreign Policy
Read: Jentleson, Chpt. 2 and readings 2.2, Chpt. 6 and reading
6.3
Hook, Chpts. 7,
8
The 9/11
Commission Report
Special Topics:
M: The Media and Public
Opinion
W: Electoral Politics
F: Interest Groups
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 7
For this
assignment you are to write a three page essay in which you explain the impact
of elite organizations and think thanks such as the Council on Foreign
Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Brookings Institution, and the
Heritage Foundation to the making of American foreign policy. Go to the
web sites of these organizations, find out about their missions, history, and
membership, and then look up the backgrounds of the key foreign policy
individuals in the current and recent administrations in order to develop some
ideas for this essay.
This assignment is due by the
beginning of class on Friday, March 25.
Week 10 (March 28-April 1) Presidential Primacy versus Congress
Read: Hook, Chpts. 4,
5
Jentleson, Chpt. 2,
Reading 2.1
The
9/11 Commission
Report
Go to
the following online site for a Congressional Research Service Report
on
the War
Powers Act and Presidential Compliance: http://www.fas.org/man/crs/IB81050.pdf
Special Topics:
M: The Constitution and the Debate over War
Making Powers
W: The Role of the Presidency
F: The Role of Congress
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 8
Write a three page essay
in which you explain the most important intelligence and policy failures made by
the United States government prior to the 9/11 terrorist attack.
This
assignment is due by the beginning of class on Friday, April 1.
Week 11 (March 4-8) Institutional Forces; The Bureaucracies; Policy
Instruments
Read: Hook, Chpt.
6
The 9/11
Commission Report
Special Topics:
M: The State Department,
Diplomacy, and Economic Tools
W: Intelligence Agencies and Covert Action
F: The Pentagon and Use of Force
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise
No. 9
Write a three page essay in which you explain and evaluate the key
recommendations of the 9/11 Commission on how to improve protection of the
United States from terrorist attacks.
This assignment is due at the
beginning of class on Friday, April 8.
Week 12 (April 11-15) International Institutions, Multilateralism,
Unilateralism
Read: Hook, Chpt.
9
Jentleson, Chpt. 8
and readings 6.1, 6.2, 8.1,
8.2
Robert Kagan, "A
Matter of Record" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb. 2005
Special
Topics:
M: The United States and International Institutions
W: Multilateralism vs. Unilateralism
R: Third test
NOTE: You will have your third test on Friday, April
15. This test will count for 1/6 of your semester grade.
Part IV Weeks 13-14 The Future
Week 13 (April 18-22) Globalization and the Environment
Read:
Jentleson, Chpt. 9 and readings 9.1, 9.2,
9.3
Hook, Chpt. 11,
12
Jeffrey E. Garten,
"The Global Economic Challenge" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb. 2005
Special Topics:
M: American Policy and The World Economy
W:
Information Revolution and Globalization
F: Environmental Issues
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 10
There has been much
written about globalization. Write a three page essay in which you discuss
the most important consequences of this phenomenon for American foreign policy.
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Friday, April 22.
Week 14 (April 25-29) Democratization and Human Rights
Read:
Jentleson, Chpt. 10 and reading 10.3; Chpt. 8 (pp.461-477)
Hook, Chpt.
12
Scott Straus,
"Darfur and the Genocide Debate" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
Edward P. Joseph,
"Back to the Balkans" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
Eizenstadt,
Porter, Weinstein, "Rebuilding Weak States" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb.
2005
Salman Ahmed, "No
Size Fits All" in Foreign Affairs Jan./Feb. 2005
Special
Topics:
M: Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention
W: Should
American foreign policy attempt to promote democracy?
F: Alternative Futures
Classes end April 29
Reading Day: April 30
Exam Period: May 2-6
Final Exam: The
final exam will be on Monday, May 2 at 11:30 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. The
final exam will be worth 1/6 of your semester grade.
Commencement:
May 14
Course Requirements:
Three tests
Ten Critical
Thinking Writing Exercises
Final comprehensive
examination
Class discussion
Grading:
Your
semester grade will be based on three tests, the combined score on 10 critical
thinking writing exercises, the final exam, and your contribution to class
discussion. Each will count for 1/6 of your semester grade.
Attendance Policy:
The
attendance policy for this course is the University policy found in the
University Catalog and Student Handbook:
Students are expected to
attend all classes. Failure to attend class regularly impairs academic
performance. Absences are disruptive to the educational process for others. This
is especially true when absences cause interruptions for clarification of
material previously covered, failure to assume assigned responsibilities for
class presentations, or failure to adjust to changes in assigned material or due
dates. It is the responsibility of each instructor to give students a copy
of his or her attendance policy in the course syllabus. Instructors may assign a
grade of “0” or “F” on work missed because of unexcused absences. Instructors
have the right to lower a student's course grade, but no more than one letter
grade, if the student misses 10 percent of the scheduled class meeting times for
unexcused absences. Instructors have the right to assign a course grade of
“F” when the student has missed a total (excused and unexcused) of 25 percent of
the scheduled class meeting times. Students must assume full responsibility for
any loss incurred because of absence, whether excused or unexcused. Instructors
should permit students to make up work when the absence is excused. Excused
absences are those resulting from the student's participation in a University
sponsored activity, from recognizable emergencies, or from serious illness.
Faculty may require documentation for excused absences in their attendance
policy. Student Health Services can provide documentation only for students
hospitalized locally or absent at the direction of Student Health Services
personnel.
Honor Code:
Students are expected
to live by the Longwood University Honor Code. All work done for the class must
be pledged. Your instructor will not tolerate any form of cheating.
Class Discussion:
Your instructor values class participation. Students are
encouraged to ask questions and to express their knowledge and beliefs about the
material and issues being dealt with in class. Students are expected to
make contributions to class discussion.
Your grade in this regard (which is
worth 1/6 of your semester grade) will be based upon your daily
contributions during the semester.
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Critical Thinking
Writing Exercises:
There will be 10
critical thinking writing exercises. These papers will usually be 3 pages in
length and be handed in at the beginning of class on the day they are due.
They are not to be sent as an email attachment. Late papers will lose
points. They will be done in Microsoft Word with a Font size 12 and double
spaced. Any documentation for these exercises will be done according to the
Turabian format for a research paper. Failure to cite sources properly will cost
points and may result in a 0 for the paper. A shorter version of that style
manual can be found on the History style manual at the following web address:
<http://www.longwood.edu/history/HDPTSTS2.htm>
Taking Exams:
All tests and
exams must be taken on time. You are expected to provide proof for any
legitimate reason (illness, participation in a University sponsored activity, or
recognizable emergency) you have for missing a test or exam. Critical
thinking writing exercises handed in past the time they are due will lose
points.
Required Texts:
Steven W. Hook. U.S. Foreign Policy: The Paradox of World Power. CQ
Press: Washington, D.C., 2005.
Bruce W. Jentleson, American
Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century.
Second Edition. W.W. Norton & Company: New York,
2004.
The 9/11 Commission
Report (authorized edition) Final Report of the National Commission on
Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
Additional Material:
Graham T. Allison, Albert Carnesale & Joseph S. Nye, Jr. Editors.
Hawks, Doves, and
Owls: An agenda for avoiding nuclear
war. New York: W. W. Norton, 1985.
Graham Allison and Gregory F.
Treverton. Rethinking America’s Security. Editors.
New York: W.
W. Norton & Company, 1992.
Gar Alperovitz. Atomic
Diplomacy. New York: Vintage Books, 1967.
Richard
Betts. Conflicts After the Cold War: Arguments on the Causes of War
and
Peace. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company,
1994.
Zbigniew Brzezinski. Power and Principle. New York:
Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1983.
Colton C. Campbell, Nicol C. Rae, John F.
Stack, Jr. Congress and the Politics of Foreign
Policy. Upper Saddle River, Jew Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
2003.
David Louis Cingranelli. Ethics, American Foreign Policy, and
the Third World.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993.
Cecil V.
Crabb, Jr. The Doctrines of American Foreign Policy. Baton Rouge:
Louisiana
State University, 1982.
David A. Deese. The New
Politics of American Foreign Policy. New York: St. Martin’s
Press,
Inc., 1994.
From Foreign Affairs – America and the World: Debating
the New Shape of International Politics. Introduction by Foreign
Affairs Managing Editor Gideon Rose.
William J. Fulbright. Arrogance
of Power. New York: Random House, 1966.
Morton H. Halperin.
Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy. Washington, D.C.:
Brookings Institution, 1974.
Harvard Nuclear Study Group.
Living with Nuclear Weapons. Cambridge Mass.:
Harvard
University Press, 1983.
Irving Janis. Groupthink: Psychological Studies
of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes.
Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1983.
Bruce W. Jentleson. Editor. Perspectives on American Foreign
Policy: Readings and
Cases. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company, 2000.
Robert Kennedy. Thirteen Days. New York:
W. W. Norton, 1971.
Henry A. Kissinger. Nuclear Weapons and Foreign
Policy. New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1957.
Henry A.
Kissinger. The White House Years. Boston: Little, Brown, 1979.
Walter
Laqueur. The Age of Terrorism. Boston: Little, Brown, 1987.
Robert J.
Maddox. The New Left and the Origins of the Cold War. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1973.
Richard Nixon. RN: The
Memoirs of Richard Nixon. New York: Grosset & Dunlap,
1978.
Joseph S. Nye. Nuclear Ethics. New York: The Free Press,
1986
Joseph S. Nye, Jr. The Paradox of American Power. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2003..
Richard Smoke. National Security
and the Nuclear Dilemma. Third Edition, New York:
Random House,
1993.
Donald M. Snow. National Security: Defense Policy for a New
International Order.
Third Edition. New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1995.
John Spanier and Eric M. Uslaner. American Foreign Policy and the
Democratic
Dilemmas. Sixth Edition. Pacific Grove,
California: Brooks/Cole Publishing
Company, 1994. Richard Smoke.
Eugene R. Wittkopf and James M. McCormick. The Domestic Sources of
American
Foreign Policy: Insights and Evidence. Third
Edition. Lantham, MD: 1998.