This course examines the development and implementation of American foreign policy since the end of World War II. It addresses the perennial question of whether U.S. policy decisions promote both interests and values, goals that sometimes are complementary but can conflict. It examines different perspectives on the concept of ýnational interest,ý and it considers how policy makers identify the ends and means of their decisions. It also analyzes the actors who make American foreign policy, concentrating both on government sources such as the president, Congress, and the foreign policy bureaucracy, as well as external sources such as public opinion, interest groups, and the media. In examining all of this material, the course considers the following questions: Who makes foreign policy in the American political system? What responsibilities should the United States assume in the world today? How, if at all, do those obligations differ from the interests of the United States during the Cold War? What does it mean for the United States to be the only remaining ýsuperpowerý?
Lessons
40 @ 55 min (2.500 Att/wk)
Labs
0 @ 0 min
Special requirements
3,500-word case study of American foreign policy, with graded bibliography and outline; compensatory time provided.
