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Instructor: Dr. Harbour
Office: East Ruffner 228
Office telephone: 395-2219
Office hours:
MWF 10:00-11:00 TR 9:30-10:30
harbourwr@longwood.edu
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.
Steven W. Hook and John Spanier. American Foreign Policy Since World War II.
Eighteenth Edition. CQ Press: Washington, D.C., 2009.
Glenn Hastedt.
American Foreign Policy: Past, Present, Future. 8th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Person/Prentice Hall, 2011.
Students will also be required to purchase an electronic
subscription to the New York Time. This can be done by going to the
following website: http://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/edu/lp1999.html?campaignId=384XU
Being aware of current political developments is
important to good citizenship. Each exam will have at least one question
requiring students to reflect on current political news and relate such
developments to the material we are studying about American foreign policy.
Students may also benefit from reading the online articles
and debates on foreign policy issues by going to the online site of The
National Interest: http://nationalinterest.org/articles
Very good articles on international issues and American foreign policy may be
found at the site of The Council on Foreign Relations: http://www.foreignaffairs.org/
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.washingtonpost.com/
http://www.gallup.com/
http://www.foxnews.com/
http://www.bbc.com/
For U.S. State Department information on major international issues go to: http://www.state.gov/issuesandpress/
For U.S. State Department information on various countries go to: http://www.state.gov/countries/
Congressional Quarterly Library online at: http://library.cqpress.com/
After you login, click on The CQ Researcher (which is a valuable source
for articles on current political issues)
Students can also make use of Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
and Issue Briefs found online at:
http://www.opencrs.com/ 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 Thinking About American Foreign Policy
Week 1 (Jan. 16-20) Sources of American Foreign Policy; Global Context –
the International System
Read: Hastedt, Preface and Chpt. 1, Chpt. 2
Hook and Spanier,
Chpt. 1
Special Topics:
T: Classes do not start at the University
this day until 4:00, so this class does not meet on Tuesday.
R: Introduction to the study of American Foreign Policy
The Global Context of American
Foreign Policy – the International System
Week 2 (Jan. 23-27) Societal Background; American Values, Culture, Democratic
Institutions; Economic Forces
Read: Hastedt, Chpt. 3
Hook and Spanier,
Chpt. 1
Read the following online version of Washington’s Farwell Address: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp
Read the following article (“The Campaign and Feckless Foreign Policy Debate”
by Paul Pillar in the Jan-Feb Issue) from the online version of The National
Interest: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/paul-pillar/the-campaign-feckless-foreign-policy-debate-6353?page=show
Read the following article (“The more enemies, fewer friends doctrine” by James
Traub from the January/February 2012 online version
of The Washington Monthly: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/january_february_2012/features/foreign_affairs034475.php#
Special Topics:
T: The role of national values and democratic institutions in shaping
foreign policy; national style
R: The significance of economic values,
institutions, and interests in shaping foreign policy; the role of ideology and
presidential politics
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 1
Write a three page essay on the role played by national style and core national
values in shaping American foreign policy.
This assignment is due on Thursday.
Week 3 (Jan. 30 – Feb. 3) Historical Background; The Cold War
Read: Hastedt, Chpt. 4
Hook and Spanier, Chpts. 7, 9
Special Topics:
T: The Cold War, Part I: Containment
from Truman to Vietnam
R: The Cold War, Part II: From Détente
to the End of the Soviet Union
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 2
Write a three page essay in which you explain the most important lessons for
American foreign policy that one should learn from the cold war.
This assignment is due on Thursday.
Week 4 (Feb. 6-10) Historical Background; After
the Cold War
Read: Hastedt, Chpt. 4
Hook and Spanier,
Chpts. 10-14
Special Topics:
T: Foreign policies issues since the end
of the cold war; 9/11 and the War on Terror
R: NOTE: You will have your first
test on Thursday, Feb. 9. This test will count for 1/6 of your semester
grade.
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 3
Write a three page essay in which you discuss how key features of the
international state system have influenced the competing world views that have
shaped the evolution of American foreign policy. Discuss different beliefs about national
interests and how the world works that shape the competing views about whether
or not the United States should be actively involved in world affairs. What
forces and circumstances seem to shape which beliefs become dominant in
different period of our national history?
This assignment is due on Friday.
Part II Weeks 4-8 Domestic Forces; Decision Making Institutions and Players
Week 5 (Feb. 13-17) Domestic Forces Influencing Foreign Policy
Read: Hastedt,
Chpt. 5
Go to the websites for various think tanks.
Very good articles on international issues and American foreign policy may be
found at the site of The Council on Foreign Relations: http://www.foreignaffairs.org/
Very good articles on international issues and America foreign policy (and
links to public opinion polls on the views of ordinary Americans and elites on
those issues) may be found at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs site at:
http://www.ccfr.org/
Be very sure to look at the following study: http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/UserFiles/File/POS_Topline%20Reports/POS%202010/Global%20Views%202010.pdf
You may find useful material at the Trilateral Commission website at: http://www.trilateral.org/
You may read studies representing contemporary liberalism by going to the
online site of the Center for American Progress at:
http://www.americanprogress.org/ and Brookings at: http://www.brookings.edu/
You may read studies
representing contemporary conservatism by going to the online site of The
Heritage Foundation at:
http://www.heritage.org/ and
the American Enterprise Institute For Public Policy Research at: http://www.aei.org/
Neoconservative views may be found at the website for the Project for a New
American Century at: http://www.newamericancentury.org/
Libertarian and neo-isolationist views may be found at the website of the Cato
Institute at: http://www.cato.org/
Special Topics:
T: Public Opinion and the Media
W: Interest Groups and Think Tanks
Critical
Thinking Writing Exercise No. 4
For this assignment you are to write a three page essay in which
you explain the impact of interest groups, elite organizations, and think
thanks such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the Heritage Foundation to
the making of American foreign policy. Go to the web sites of these and
other 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 on Thursday.
Week 6 (Feb. 20-24) Presidential Primacy versus Congress
Read: Hastedt, Chpts. 6, 7
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
Congressional Quarterly
Library online at: http://library.cqpress.com/
After you login, click on The CQ Researcher (which is a valuable source
for articles on current political issues) where you then can do a search for
the following article: Jost, K. (2006, February 24). Presidential power. CQ Researcher, 16,
169-192. From CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2006022401
Special Topics:
T: The Constitution and the Debate over War Making Powers: Presidential Dominance
R: The Role of Congress
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 5
Write a three page essay in which you discuss the basic issues at stake in
the debate over presidential war making powers.
This assignment is due on Thursday.
Week 7 (Feb. 27 – March 2) Institutional Forces; The Bureaucracies
Read: Hastedt, Chpt. 8
To access information about the
Department of Defense, go to: http://www.defense.gov/
To access information about the
Department of State, go to: http://www.state.gov/
To access information about
Central Intelligence Agency, go to: https://www.cia.gov/
To access information about the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence, go to:
http://www.dni.gov/index.html
To access information about all
the agencies that are part of the United States Intelligence Community, go to:
http://www.dni.gov/overview.pdf
Special Topics:
T: The Role of the State Department; The
Role of the Defense Department
R: The Role of the Intelligence
Community; The Role of Domestic Departments
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 6
Write a three page essay on the extent and limits of the State Department
as an important player in the making of United States foreign policy. Discuss the conditions under which the State
Department is useful and has a good chance for having influence and the
conditions under which the State Department sees it influence as diminished.
This assignment is due on Thursday.
Week 8 (March 5-9) Competing Policy Making Models
Read: Hastedt,
Chpt. 9
Special Topics:
T: Competing models that try to explain
how foreign policy should or does get made
R: Second Test
Note: You will have your second test on Thursday, March 8.
This test will count for 1/6 of your semester grade.
Spring Break March
12-16
Part III - Weeks 9-12 - Decision Making; Policy Instruments; Contemporary
Issues; Alternative Futures
Week 9 (March 19-23) Decision
Making; Rational Choice and Game Theory
Read: Hastedt, Chpt.
9
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, search under game theory:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/224893/game-theory
There you can also search the prisoner’s
dilemma: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/477240/prisoners-dilemma
Special Topics:
T: Decision Making and the Role of
Individuals
R: Introduction to Rational Choice Theory;
Applications of Game Theory to Decision Making in Foreign Policy
Week 10 (March 26-30) Policy Instruments; Debate over Humanitarian
Intervention
Read: Hastedt,
Chpts. 10, 11
Go to the Congressional Quarterly Library online at: http://library.cqpress.com/
After you login, click on The CQ
Researcher (which is a valuable source for articles on current political
issues) where you then can do a search for the following article: “Human Rights
Issues” in the October 30, 2009 Volume 19, Issue 38 at: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2009103000
Read the following online article (“Triumph of the New Wilsonianism”
by Nikolas A. Gvosdev and Ray Takeyh
in the Jan-Feb Issue of The National
Interest) of about humanitarian intervention in Libya: http://nationalinterest.org/article/decline-western-realism-6274?page=show
T: The Role of Diplomacy; Economic
Statecraft
R: Human Rights and
Humanitarian Intervention; Should American foreign policy attempt to protect human
rights and promote democracy?
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 7
Write a three page essay on whether advancing human rights, the promotion of
democracy, and humanitarian intervention ought to be important aspects of
American foreign policy.
Week 11 (April 2-6) The United States and the Middle East; Afghanistan
and Pakistan
Read: Hook and Spanier,
Chpts. 11 pp 269-288, 12, 13 pp 328-331
The following article involves a debate on American policy in Afghanistan: http://nationalinterest.org/greatdebate/debating-afghanistan-3795
Congressional Quarterly Library online at: http://library.cqpress.com/
After you login, click on The CQ Researcher (which is a valuable source
for articles on current political issues) where you then can do a search for
the following articles: “America at War” by Peter Katel
in the July 23, 2010 Volume 20, Issue 26 (Updated August 13, 2010) at:
http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2010072300#Update
“Afghanistan Dilemma” by Thomas
J. Billitteri in online CQ Researcher article found in August 7, 2009 Volume 19, Issue 28.
Go to http://library.cqpress.com/ and
access article at: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2009080700
Jost, K. (2006, November 3). Understanding
Islam. CQ Researcher, 16, 913-936. From CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2006110301
Katel, P. (2006, October 27). Middle East Tensions. CQ Researcher, 16,
889-912. From CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2006102701
T: The United States and the
Israeli/Palestinian Conflict
R: The United States, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 8
Write a three page essay on the problems the Obama administration faces in
trying to advance the Israeli/Palestinian peace process.
This assignment is due on Thursday.
Week 12 (April 9-13) Competing Visions of the Future
Read: Hastedt, Chpt. 14
The following is an article by John J. Mearsheimer
about alternative “grand strategies”:
http://nationalinterest.org/article/imperial-by-design-4576
Take note of his critique of American foreign policy and his advocacy of an
“offshore balancing” strategy.
Special Issues:
T: Alternative visions of the
direction American foreign policy should take in the future.
R: NOTE: You will have
your third test on Thursday, April 12. This test will count for
1/6 of your semester grade.
Part IV Weeks 13-14 Contemporary Issues
Week 13 (April 16-20) Globalization, Economics, and the
Environment: China
Read: Hook and Spanier
Chpt. 13 pp 334-345
Below are links to two competing articles debating what the rise of China means
for the United States:
http://nationalinterest.org/greatdebate/dragons/menace-3818?page=show
http://nationalinterest.org/greatdebate/dragons/myth-3819?page=show
http://nationalinterest.org/topic/security/rising-powers
Also read the following online article (“Why are the Republican Candidates
Bashing China?” by Jacob Heilbrunn) in the Jan/Feb
Issue of The National Interest:
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/jacob-heilbrunn/why-are-the-republican-candidates-bashing-china-6349
Congressional Quarterly Library online at: http://library.cqpress.com/
After you login, click on The CQ Researcher (which is a valuable source
for articles on current political issues) where you then can do a search for
the following articles: “U.S. – China
Relations” by Roland Flamini in the May 7, 2010
Volume 20, Issue 18 at: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2010050700
and “Emerging China” by Peter Katel in the November
11, 2005 Volume 15, Issue 40 at: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2005111101
Special Issues:
T: Globalization, Economics, and the Environment
R: China
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 9
Write a three page essay on the principal problems facing American foreign
policy in dealing with China.
Explain how you would advise President Obama, if asked, as to what policies we
should have regarding China.
This assignment is due on Thursday.
Week 14 (April 23-27) Military Doctrines and the Use of Force; Terrorism and
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Read: Hastedt, Chpts. 12, 13
Special Topics:
T: Military Doctrines, Application of
Power, the Use of Force
R: Iran and North Korea
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 10
Write a three page essay on the issues
at stake as the United States tries to deal with the Iranian nuclear
program. What are the problems facing
the various options being discussed?
This assignment is due on Thursday.
Classes end April 27
Reading Day: April 28
Exam Period: April 30 – May 4
Final Exam: The final exam will be on Thursday, May
3 at 8:00-10:30 a.m. The final exam will be worth 1/6 of your semester
grade.
Course Requirements:
Three tests
Ten Critical Thinking Writing Exercises
Final comprehensive examination
Class discussion
Grading:
Your grade will be based upon three
tests given during the course of the semester, combined score on 10 critical
thinking writing exercises, your contributions to class discussion, and a final
exam. Each of these will count for 1/6 of your semester grade. All tests will
involve an essay format. The final examination will be comprehensive.
Grading: This course
uses the + and – grading scale.
The total
possible number of points to earn for the course is 600. Grades will be assigned according to the
following percentages:
A+ = 98-100%
A = 92-97%
A-
= 90-91%
B+ = 88-89%
B = 82-87%
B-
= 80-81%
C+ = 78-79%
C = 72-77%
C-
= 70-71%
D+ = 68-69%
D = 62-67%
D- = 60-61%
F = 59% and
below
Students with
Disabilities:
If you have
a documented disability and require accommodations to obtain equal access in
this course, please let me know at the beginning of the semester or when given
an assignment for which an accommodation is required. The Director of Disability Support Services
can be reached at x2391.
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 and John Spanier. American Foreign Policy Since World War II.
Eighteenth Edition. CQ Press: Washington, D.C., 2009. ISBN 978-0-87289-969-8
G. John Ikenberry. Editor. American Foreign Policy: Theoretical Essays. Boston, Mass.:
Wadsworth Cenage Learning,
2011. ISBN 13:978-0-547-192828-6 or
10:0-547-19828-0 whichever is cheaper
Glenn Hastedt.
American Foreign Policy: Past, Present, Future. 8th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Person/Prentice Hall, 2011. Paperback.
ISBN 13:978-0-205-79122-4 or 10:0-205-791222-0 whichever is cheaper
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.
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