U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
Course Description and Syllabus

Spring 2006

      This course is designed to examine U.S. foreign policy using a number of analytic models and theories of decision making including the rational actor approach, bureaucratic politics approach, autonomous state theories, domestic politics theories, imperialist state models, cognitive modeling, social-psychological models, and group and individual dynamic models. These approaches are applied to a series of Third World case studies in different administrations, different regions of the world, and in different historical eras, although the overwhelming emphasis is on post-World War II cases. The cases are drawn from crisis situations as well as routine decision making. Through these case studies the student not only will become familiar with the critical events in U.S. foreign policy that have influenced the way in which decision making has developed in the U.S. foreign policy establishment, but also the student will develop analytic frameworks that can be applied to other nations' foreign policy making. Towards the end of the semester we will also pay attention to the aftermath of U.S. policy decisions in the target countries. The course begins with an overview of the history of U.S. foreign policy focusing on the various doctrines which have defined U.S. policy. We then explore the various formal models of decision making, followed by a focus on particular case studies and issues such as terrorism.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

     Grades will be assigned on the basis of the following criteria:

      1) On January 24 you will each submit a statement of your goals for the course. This statement should be as specific and detailed as possible. Plan your method for meeting the responsibilities of this course, set weekly goals and time schedules, or whatever will help you to think about why you are taking this particular course and how it fits your over-all learning goals. Then, on the last day of class you will turn in a self-evaluation in which you will analyze how well you met your goals, how your goals changed, and what unforeseen goals emerged. You will then assign yourself an over-all grade based on your performance in this course. Your self-evaluation will constitute five percent of the final grade.

      2) On April 27 peer evaluations are due. Each student will turn in via email an evaluation of each of the other students in the class. At the beginning of each evaluation type the name of the student being evaluated, followed by a letter grade (e.g., A, A-, AB, B+, B, B-, BC, etc.). Clearly separate each evaluation as the evaluations will be distributed to the individual being evaluated. The evaluators will remain anonymous. The grade given should reflect your evaluation of the student's contribution to your OWN education. That is, how thought provoking, helpful, and informative has the student in question been in your own attempts to understand our subject. Below the student's name and the letter grade assigned type as thorough and thoughtful an analysis as possible of the basis for your evaluation, emphasizing strengths, weaknesses and suggestions for improvements. Included in the evaluation is your judgment of the student's performance in the student presentations scheduled for the last weeks of class. The evaluation will represent five percent of the final grade.

      3) A twelve page (maximum) research paper dealing with any U.S. foreign policy decision other than a decision directly involving Western Euopean nations. In the paper you must apply at least two different analytic models to the problem you discuss. You must consult with me early and often on your choice of topics for the research paper and keep me up to date on your progress. You should be working on the paper from now until it is due on March 9. This paper will constitute thirty percent of your grade.

      4) A twelve page (maximum) research paper comparing U.S. policy toward two countries, neither of which can be the same as the country discussed in the first paper. The focus of the paper should be a particular aspect of U.S. policy such as trade policy, military intervention, economic sanctions, development aid, and so forth. The paper is due April 20 and will constitute thirty percent of your final grade.

      5) In lieu of a final exam, you will each write a critical review integrating the material from assigned readings into an overall assessment of of U.S. foreign policy. The critical review will constitute twenty percent of your final grade and is due during the scheduled final exam May 12.

      6) Each week at the start of the Thursday class there will be a brief five question quiz covering reading for the week. All the quizzes will be averaged and will constitute 10 percent of your final grade.

REQUIRED TEXTS

Allison, G., Essence of Decision 2nd edition
Ikenberry, G. John, American Foreign Policy: Theoretical Essays
LaFeber, W., The American Age 2nd edition
Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy, 6th ed.

      All the above are also available in the library if you want to avoid the cost of purchasing personal copies.

Useful Internet Links

SYLLABUS

      All readings must be completed by the date on the syllabus. It should take you less than three hours of reading for each class session. All assignments not included in the required texts are on reserve at Honnold and Mead libraries.

Jan 17: Orientation

Jan 19: LaFeber, W., "The Roots of American Foreign Policy (1492-1789)" in The American

Age, pp. 5-35;

LaFeber, W., "A Second Struggle for Independence and Union (1789-1815)," in The American Age, pp. 40-67;

Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy, pp. 3-12.

Jan 24: LaFeber, W., "The First, the Last: John Quincy Adams and the Monroe Doctrine

(1815-1828)," in The American Age, pp. 71-91;

LaFeber, W., "The Amphibious Expansion of a Sixty-Five-Hundred-Thousand-Horsepower Steam Engine (1828-1850)," in The American Age, pp. 94-126;

Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy, pp. 14-21.

Jan 26: LaFeber, W., "The Climax of Early U.S. Foreign Policy: The Civil War (1850-1865),"

in The American Age, pp. 130-153;

LaFeber, W., "Laying the Foundations for 'Superpowerdom' (1865-1896)," in The American Age, pp. 157-187.

Jan 31: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy, pp. 25-69;

Ole Holsti, "Models of International Relations," in Inkenberry, pp. 14-34.

Feb 2: LaFeber, W., "Turning Point: The Years of McKinley (1896-1900),"

in The American Age, pp. 193-227;

LaFeber, W., "The Search for Opportunity: Rough Riders and Dollar Diplomats (1901-1913)," in The American Age, pp. 232-265.

Feb 7: LaFeber, W., "Wilsonians, Revolutions, and War (1913-1917)," in

The American Age, pp. 269-297;

LaFeber, W., "Victors Without Peace (1917-1920), in The American Age, pp. 302-330;

Jeff Frieden, "Sectoral Conflict and U.S. Foreign Economic Policy, 1914-1940," in Inkenberry, pp. 138-162.

Feb 9: LaFeber, W., "The Rise and Fall of the American Structure for World Order

(1920-1933)," in The American Age, pp. 335-363;

LaFeber, W., "FDR and the Entry into World War II (1933-1941)," in The American Age, pp. 369-406.

Feb 14: LaFeber, W., "World War II: The Rise and Fall of the Grand Alliance (1941-1945),"

in The American Age, pp. 413-451;

LaFeber, W., "The Cold War, or the Renewal of U.S.-Russian Rivalry (1945-1949)," in The American Age, pp. 457-494.

Feb 16: Allison, G., The Essence of Decision, pp. 1-11, 13-54;

Morley, M.H., Imperial State and Revolutions: The United States and Cuba, 1952-1986, pp. 1-39.

Feb 21: Allison, G., The Essence of Decision, pp. 77-109, 109-129;

Allison, G., "Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis," in Inkenberry, pp. 402-441. (This article is a summary of the book and repeats much of the material, but is a very useful summary.)

Feb 23: Allison, G., The Essence of Decision, pp. 143-185, 197-242.

Feb 28: Allison, G., The Essence of Decision, pp. 255-313, 325-366.

Mar 2: Allison, G., The Essence of Decision, pp. 379-405;

Janis, I., "The Cuban Missile Crisis," in Groupthink, pp. 132-158;

Janis, I., "The Groupthink Syndrome," in Groupthink, pp. 174-197;

Janis, I., "Generalizations," in Groupthink, pp. 242-259;

Janis, I., "Preventing Groupthink," in Groupthink, pp. 260-276.

Mar 7: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy,

pp. 359-400, 447-481;

Krasner, Stephen D., "Are Bureaucracies Important? (Or Allison Wonderland), in Inkennbery, pp. 447-459.

Mar 9: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy,

pp. 321-356, 403-441.

Mar 21: LaFeber, W., "The Big Turn: The Era of the Korean War (1949-1952)," in

The American Age, pp. 502-531;

Leffler, M., "The American Conception of National Security and the Beginnings of the Cold War, 1945-1948," in Inkenberry, pp. 84-107;

Inkenberry, G.J., "Rethinking the Origins of American Hegemony," in Inkenberry, pp. 111-131;

Kohng, Y.F., "Seduction by Analogy in Vietnam: The Malaya and Korea Analogies," in Inkenberry, pp. 501-510.

Mar 23: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy,

pp. 73-106, 109-143;

Waltz, K., "Anarchic Orders and Balances of Power," in Inkenberry, pp. 60-82.

Mar 28: LaFeber, W., "The Era of Eisenhower: The Good Old Days (1953-1960), in The

American Age, pp. 536-573;

Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy, pp. 485-512.

Mar 30: Jervis, R., "Hypotheses on Misperception," in Inkenberry, pp. 462-478;

Tetlock, P. and C.B. McGuire, Jr., "Cognitive Perspectives on Foreign Policy," in Inkenberry, pp. 484-495;

Winter, D. M.G. Hermann, W. Weintraub, and S.G. Walker, "The Personalities of Bush and Gorbachev Measured at a Distance: Procedures, Portraits, and Policy," in Inkenberry, pp. 511-534.

Apr 4: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy,

pp. 149-196, 199-236.

Apr 6: LaFeber, W., "JFK and LBJ: From the New Frontier through the Great Society to

Vietnam (1961-1969)," pp. 580-625;

Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy, pp. 241-275, 278-316.

Apr 11: Wade, R.H., "The Invisible Hand of the American Empire," in Inkenberry, pp. 200-211;

Roskin, M., "From Pearl Harbor to Vietnam: Shifting Generational Paradigms and Foreign Policy," in Inkenberry, pp. 312-330;

George, A., "Domestic Constraints on Regime Change in U.S. Foreign Policy: The Need for Policy Legitimacy," in Inkenberry, pp. 333-355;

Jacobs, L.R. and B.I. Page, "Business Versus Public Influence in U.S. Foreign Policy," in Inkenberry, pp. 357-377.

Apr 13: LaFeber, W., "Coming to Terms with History: The Nixon-Kissinger Years (1969-1976),"

pp. 633-674;

Inkenberry, G.J., "America's Liberal Grand Strategy: Democracy and national Security in the Post-War Era," in Inkenberry, pp. 268-286.

Apr 18: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy, pp. 241-275,

278-316;

Trubowitz, P., "Political Conflict and Foreign Policy in the United States: A Geographical Interrpretation," in Inkenberry, pp. 383-396.

Apr 20: LaFebre, W., "Back to the Future: The Carter-Reagan Years (1977-1988)," pp. 680-737.

Apr 25: Huntington, S., "American Ideals Versus American Institutions," in Inkenberry,

pp/ 214-245;

Bacevich, A., "Strategy of Openness," in Inkenberry, pp. 167-194.

Apr 27: Mastanduno, Michael, "The United States Political System and International Leadership:

A 'Decidedly Inferior' Form of Government?" in Inkenberry, pp. 248-265;

Keohane, R.O., "Ironies of Sovereignty: The European Union and the United States," in Inkenberry, pp. 290-306.

May 2: LaFebre, W., "New World Order to World Disorder: Bush and Clinton (1989-1993),"

The American Age, pp. 745-779;

Inkenberry, G.J., "America's Imperial Ambition," in Inkenberry, pp. 564-575;

Jervis, R., "Understanding the Bush Doctrine," in Inkenberry, pp. 576-592.

May 4: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy,

pp. 517-545.