U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
Course Description and Syllabus

Spring 2004

      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 27 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 May 4 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 25. 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 22 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

      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 20: Orientation

Jan 22: LaFeber, W., "The Roots of American Foreign Policy (1492-1789)" in

The American Age, vol. 1, pp. 5-35;

LaFeber, W., "A Second Struggle for Independence and Union (1789-1815)," in The American Age, vol. 1, pp. 40-67;

Mann, M., "Introduction: The New Imperialism," in Incoherent Empire, pp. 1-15.

Jan 27: LaFeber, W., "The First, the Last: John Quincy Adams and the Monroe

Doctrine (1815-1828)," in The American Age, vol. 1, pp. 71-91.

LaFeber, W., "The Amphibious Expansion of a Sixty-Five-Hundred-Thousand-Horsepower Steam Engine (1828-1850)," in The American Age, vol. 1, pp. 94-126;

Mann, M., The Military Giant," in Incoherent Empire, pp. 18-45.

Jan 29: LaFeber, W., "The Climax of Early U.S. Foreign Policy: The Civil

War (1850-1865)," in The American Age, vol. 1, pp. 130-153;

LaFeber, W., "Laying the Foundations for 'Superpowerdom' (1865-1896)," in The American Age, vol. 1, pp. 157-187.

Feb 3: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy,

pp. 3-12, 14-21, 25-69;

Feb 5: Allison, G., The Essence of Decision, pp. 1-11, 13-54

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

Feb 10: LaFeber, W., "Turning Point: The Years of McKinley (1896-1900),"

in The American Age, vol. 1, pp. 193-227;

LaFeber, W., "The Search for Opportunity: Rough Riders and Dollar Diplomats (1901-1913)," in The American Age, vol. 1, pp. 232-265.

Feb 12: LaFeber, W., "Wilsonians, Revolutions, and War (1913-1917)," in

The American Age, vol. 1, pp. 269-297.

LaFeber, W., "Victors Without Peace (1917-1920), in The American Age, vol. 1, pp. 302-330.

Feb 17: LaFeber, W., "The Rise and Fall of the American Structure for World Order (1920-1933),"

in The American Age, vol. 2, pp. 335-363;

LaFeber, W., "FDR and the Entry into World War II (1933-1941),"in The American Age, vol. 2, pp. 369-406;

Feb 19: 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 26: Allison, G., The Essence of Decision, pp. 77-109, 109-129.

Mar 2: Allison, G., The Essence of Decision, pp. 143-185, 197-242.

Mar 4: Allison, G., The Essence of Decision, pp. 255-313, 325-366, 379-405.

Mar 9: 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 11: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy,

pp. 321-356, 359-400.

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

pp. 403-441, 447-481.

Mar 25: LaFeber, W., "The Big Turn: The Era of the Korean War (1949-1952)," in

The American Age, vol. 2, pp. 502-531.

LaFeber, W., "The Era of Eisenhower: The Good Old Days (1953-1960), in The American Age, pp. 536-573.

Mar 30: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy,

pp. 73-106, 109-143.

Apr 1: LaFeber, W., "JFK and LBJ: From the New Frontier through the Great Society to

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

LaFeber, W., "Coming to Terms with History: The Nixon-Kissinger Years (1969-1976)," pp. 633-674,

Apr 6: LaFebre, W., "Back to the Future: The Carter-Reagan Years (1977-1988)," pp. 680-737.

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

Apr 8: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy,

pp. 149-196, 199-236.

Apr 13: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy,

pp. 241-275, 278-316.

Apr 15: Wittkopf, E.R., C.W. Kegley, and J.M. Scott, American Foreign Policy,

pp. 517-545.

LaFebre, W., "New World Order to World Disorder: Bush and Clinton (1989-1993)," The American Age, vol. 2, pp. 745-779.

Apr 20: Falk, R., The Great Terror War, pp. xi-xxviii, 1-81.

Apr 22: Falk, R., The Great Terror War, pp. 82-190.

Apr 27: Mann, M., "The Economic Back-Seat Driver," in Incoherent Empire, pp. 49-76.

Mann, M., "The Political Schizophrenic," in Incoherent Empire, pp. 80-99.

Apr 29: Mann, M., "The Ideological Phantom," in Incoherent Empire, pp. 100-120.

Mann, M., "The War in Afghanistan," in Incoherent Empire, pp. 123-155.

Mann, M., "The War Against (Muslim) Terrorism," in Incoherent Empire, pp. 159-190.

May 4: Mann, M., "The War Against Rogue States and North Korea," in Incoherent

Empire, pp. 195-204.

Mann, M., "Iraq Attack," in Incoherent Empire, pp. 206-247.

Mann, M., "The New Militarism," in Incoherent Empire, pp. 252-267.

May 6: FitzGerald, F., "George Bush and the World," New York Review of Books,

vol. xlix, #14, pp. 80-86;

Zakaria, F., "Annals of Foreign Policy: Our Way," New Yorker, October 14 & 21, 2002, pp. 72-81.