United States Foreign Policy

 

POSC 370

Fall 2005

Wednesday, 6:00-8:30 p.m.

 

 

Instructor: Dr. Karen Kwiatkowski

Email: kwiatkku@jmu.edu or ksusiek@shentel.net,

Instant Message: ksusiek2002

Phone: 540-477-2821

Office hours by appointment, generally before or after class

 

 

It is an exciting time to study, analyze and think about United States foreign policy.  The Cold War spectacularly ended in our recent lifetimes, in a way predicted by only a minority of political scientists and analysts.  We live now in an age where the United States is considered the global superpower, with Washington the seat of global unipolarity.  Global terrorism seems to have replaced the Cold War as the defining foreign policy pre-occupation.  Yet, as we pursue a modern yet ill-defined “global war on terrorism,” we hear refrains of previous American foreign policies.  Rebuilding Iraq brings reference to the Marshall Plan, and American Proconsul Jerry Bremer was once held up as a modern General McArthur.  A possible quagmire for young men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan becomes Bush’s “Vietnam.”  Recent intelligence mistakes and overreaches may remind us of the Congressional Committees examining the same kind of issues in the 1970s and 1980s.  Looking further back, we see refrains of the Spanish American war in the modern Iraq occupation, and a 21st mechanism of national propaganda remarkably reminiscent of both World Wars of the twentieth century.  Parallels to U.S. policies and ideals from Wilson and FDR can be seen in the post-Cold war era.  Cindy Sheehan and her recent vigil at the President’s ranch in Crawford reminds many boomers of their own hippie years of camping and protest. 

 

Is American foreign policy just the same thing over and over?  Has foreign policy in the Republic changed and evolved in response to domestic and global transformation?  Who or what makes “foreign policy?”  What are the seminal influences that process?  How can we evaluate and assess the foreign policies and the foreign policy decision-making process of the most powerful economy and military machine in the world?  These questions and more will be explored in this class.

 

Required Textbooks: 

 

Glenn Hastedt, American Foreign Policy: Past, Present, Future. (Fifth Edition) Prentice Hall, New Jersey: 2003.

 

Claes Ryn, America the Virtuous:  The Crisis of Democracy and the Quest for Empire. Transaction Publications, October 2003.

 

Recommended Reading:

           

George E. Reedy, The Twilight of the Presidency.  New American Library, New York: 1970)

 

Other Reading Materials:  Various articles will be assigned and listed in this syllabus, and are available either on the web or within the library database.  Additionally, during this course, you will be expected to stay current on the international political events.  A good way to do this it to request a free email headline subscription to the following newspapers known for international and political coverage:

 

            The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com (requires free registration)

            The Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com (requires free registration)

            The Christian Science Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com

            The International Herald Tribune: http://www.iht.com

            British Broadcasting Network: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

            The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com (requires free registration)

 

Additionally, magazines are helpful:

            The Economist http://www.economist.com/

            Foreign Policy http://www.foreignpolicy.com (requires free registration)

            Foreign Affairs http://www.foreignaffairs.org

 

Course Requirements:  You should come to class prepared to discuss the required readings for that week.  You will also be evaluated on class attendance, class participation via your questions and active listening.  Most of the required readings are either from the course texts, or provided via links in the Blackboard Classroom area entitled “Course Documents.”  The assigned readings and in some cases, the foreign affairs news of the week will be the stepping off point for further discussion and explanation.

 

A summary of the assignments for this class are as follows:

                       

            First Take home exam                          15%     (due 12 October)

            Term Paper                                          20%     (due 2 November)

            Second Take home exam                      15%     (due 30 November)

            Group Project                                      15%     (presented and turned in on 7 December)

Participation/quizzes                              10%     (recurring)

Final Exam                                           25%     (14 December)

           

·        Participation:  (10%) At some time during most class sessions, you will have one or two questions to be answered from that week’s readings and/or current events.  These quizzes will take no more than 5 minutes.  If you come to every class prepared to actively participate, you will be successful.  Participation, attendance, and readiness as evidenced by performance on the quizzes constitute your grade in this category.  

 

·        Two take home exams (30% total): 3-5 short essay questions, taken home over a two-week period.  Each question should require about 1 to 2 typed (12 pitch 1.5 spaced pages) and outside research should be used.  Acceptable grammar, spelling, and intellectual coherence are required, in addition to a demonstration of mastery of the subject matter.

 

·        Group project:  (15%):  Each student will participate as a member of a group that will address and propose a strategy for dealing with a current foreign policy challenge facing the United States.  Suggested topics for group projects include but are not limited to:   

 

Terrorism (“War on Terror,” anti-terror strategy abroad, terrorism in US foreign relations, etc)

Immigration (national policy, state strategies, Minuteman Project, post 9-11 challenges, Department of Homeland Security)

National Security (National Security Strategy, nuclear proliferation, defense posture and global basing, long-term strategies, intelligence reform)

Trade (NAFTA, CAFTA, WTO, China, foreign debt, trade deficit, Federal Reserve policy and foreign relations, etc)

War and Democracy (Iraq, Iran, Russia, China, North Korea, etc.)

Energy Policy and Practices (peak oil, military subsidy of overseas oil, energy trade)

Environmental Challenges (Kyoto, global warming, H5N1 flu virus, Depleted Uranium, land mines, etc)

Media and foreign policy (prowar/antiwar, corporate media, independent media, the global internet, etc)  

 

o       Each group will present their proposed policy approach/remedy or strategy to the rest of the class.  Powerpoint slides and a written summary (not to exceed 6 pages) will be turned in for grading. 

o       Group members will also be given the opportunity to evaluate their teammates, and this peer evaluation is considered in the assignment of a grade.

o       In the development of the strategy or policy approach, the material from Hastedt describing how American foreign policy is developed, its tools, techniques, constraints should all be address.  In other words, each group will need to consider policy history, the president, Congress, the Constitution and other legal precedents and international agreements, economic instruments, media impact, technology and decision-making process as they develop and present their proposal.  Dissenting views must also be recognized and included, even if they are not accommodated.

 

·        Paper on an U.S. Foreign Policy Topic (20%):  This is a research paper on a topic of your choice.  It may be historical or current, but should address a foreign policy dilemma or decision facing the United States.  It should not be a duplication of your group project.  The memo will include:

 

o       A one page executive summary of your paper.

 

o       10-12 page (12 pitch, 1.5 spaced) essay, containing a concise background of the problem at hand.  The essay must also include a detailed analysis of the various foreign policy options available to decision-makers.  You should examine the suitability and application of traditional as well as non-traditional foreign policy tools, e.g. military force, covert action, intelligence, economic tools, treaties, diplomacy, etc.  You should also clearly identify the roles played by Congress, Judiciary, the media and the American people in this issue, and how the policy decision (either already made or to be made) will play to these interests.   

o       I prefer footnotes provided rather than end notes or in-text references. Use the Word “Insert-Reference-Footnote” function which will automate your footnoting.  A separate bibliography page at the end is also required.  Ensure all footnoting and referencing adheres to a consistent formatting style.

 

·        Final Exam: (25%).  This exam will be closed book, no notes, and will include short definitions, short essay and longer essay questions.  It will be held during exam week, in the same place and time as class. 

 

Other points to remember:

 

·        Plagiarism is wrong and easy to catch.  Don’t waste your time (or mine) doing it.

·        If you don’t understand something or have a problem, come talk to me, email me, or call.

·        Sloppy writing reflects sloppy thinking, and will be penalized.  Write, edit, and repeat.

·        Late work will be penalized 10 points per week (a letter grade per week!)

 

 

Course Schedule and Reading Requirements (See Blackboard for articles)

 

Week 1 (31 August):  Introduction and Context of American Foreign Policy

 

Assigned Readings:  Hastedt, Chapters 1-2, and syllabus.

 

Week 2 (7 September):  National Style and Media Roles

 

Assigned Readings: 

o       Hastedt, Chapters 3 and  6

o       John McManus “Remember the Maine” Stanford University “Grade the News Project. http://www.stanford.edu/group/gradethenews/dreamhost%20files/pagesfolder/Remember%20the%20Maine1.htm

o        “Clarifying the CNN Effect: An Examination of Media Effects According to Type of Military Intervention” Research Paper R-17, JFK School of Government, Harvard, June 1997.   

o       Charley Reese, “Powerless Nonexperts” http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese219.html

o       Reedy, Chapter 8 “The Presidency and the Press” pp. 100-117. (handout)

 

Week 3 (14 September):  Historical Review of Foreign Policy

 

Assigned Readings:

 

o       Hastedt, Chapter 4

o       Murray Rothbard “The Foreign Policy of the Old Right” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol 2, No 1, pp.85-96.

o       Denise M. Bostdorff and Steven R. Goldzwig, “Idealism and Pragmatism in American Foreign Policy Rhetoric: The Case of John F. Kennedy and Vietnam,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 24, 3 (Summer 1994), pages 515-530
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/goldzwig.htm

o       Discussion of the famous "X" article (Kennan and containment) http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/04/documents/x.html

o       Owen Harries, “What Conservatism Means” The American Conservative, November 17, 2003, http://www.amconmag.com/11_17_03/feature.html

 

 

Week 4 (21 September):  Historical Context/Case Review
 

Assigned Readings:

 

o       Hastedt, Chapters 5

o       Michael Mandelbaum, "Foreign Policy as Social Work," Foreign Affairs 75 (January/February 1996): 16-32

o       "Prudence and Restraint in Foreign Policy: An Interview with Owen Harries" (Discusses recent presidents and critiques their foreign policy approaches from a classical liberal (paleoconservative) perspective. http://www.cis.org.au/Policy/aut2002/polaut02-6.pdf

 

Week 5 (28 September):  Foreign Policy and the Constitution

 

Assigned Readings:

 

o       Hastedt, Chapter 7

o       Frederick L. Holborn “U.S. Constitution Invites "Tug And Pull" On Foreign Policy” U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda, USIA Electronic Journals, Vol. 1, No. 9, July 1996. http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itps/0796/ijpe/pj9holbe.htm

o       A short note regarding the Ludlow Amendment, Jan 6, 1938, http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/interwar/ludlow.htm

o       "Foreign Policy for Tyros" by Jacob Hornberger. http://www.fff.org/comment/com0308m.asp

o       U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html

 

 

FIRST TAKEHOME EXAM ISSUED – DUE END OF WEEK 7 (IN TWO WEEKS)

 

 

 

 

Week 6 (5 October):  Congress and the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy

 

Assigned Readings:

 

o       Hastedt, Chapters 9-10

o       Reedy, Chapter 5-6, pp. 66-87

o       Ralph Carter, James Scott, and Charles Rowling, “Setting a Course:  Congressional Foreign Policy Entrepreneurs in Post World War II U.S. Foreign Policy” International Studies Perspectives, Volume 5, Issue 3, August 2004. pp. 278-299. 

o        “Foreign Aid after September 11” Congressional Quarterly Researcher, April 26, 2002.

 

Week 7 (12 October): The President and Foreign Policy, and Foreign Policy Decision-Making Models

 

Assigned Readings:

 

o       Hastedt, Chapters 8 and 11

o       Reedy, Chapters 1-4, pp. 1-65.

o       Sebastian Mallaby “The Bullied Pulpit: A Weak Chief Executive Makes Worse Foreign Policy” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2000

 

FIRST TAKEHOME EXAM TURNED IN

 

Week 8 (19 October):  Selected Case Studies

 

Assigned Readings:

 

o       Hastedt, Chapter 12

o       Winslow Wheeler "The Week of Shame" January 2003, Center for Defense Information.

o       Here is John Pilger's documentary called “Breaking the Silence”. It is worth watching, and if we have time we'll try to watch in class.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/pilger_breaking_the_silence_35mb.htm

 

 

Week 9 (26 October):  Policy Tools of Diplomacy and Economics

 

Assigned Readings:

 

o       Hastedt, Chapters 13 and 15

o       Joseph G. Gavin, III, “Economic Sanctions: Foreign Policy Levers or Signals?” Cato Policy Analysis No 124, November 7, 1989 http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa124es.html

o       Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. “Jobs Overseas?  Another Attempt to Explain.” Mises Institute, November 27, 2003 http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1385

o       Begin reading American the Virtuous

 

Week 10 (2 November):  Policy Tools of Covert Action, Military Power, and Arms Control

 

Assigned Readings:

 

o       Hastedt, Chapters 14, 16, and 17

o       Charles V.Peña, “Missile Defense: Defending America or Building Empire?” May 28, 2003 http://www.cato.org/pubs/fpbriefs/fpb-077es.html

o       Lawrence J. Korb, “Our Overstuffed Armed Forces,” Foreign Affairs (November/December 1995): 22-34

o       Chalmers Johnson, "America's Empire of Bases", January 15, 2004. http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0115-08.htm

o       “Neocons: the men behind the curtain” by Khurram Husain, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Nov/Dec 2003, Vol 59, Number 6, pp: 62-71. (NOTE: This article discusses theories of strategic nuclear weapons, deterrence and its origins, and the current shift in defensive thinking in US foreign policy circles)
http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2003/nd03/nd03husain.html

o       Continue reading America the Virtuous

o       Recommended:  Winslow T. Wheeler, The Wastrels of Defense (Naval Institute Press, 2004)

 

TERM PAPERS TURNED IN (HARD COPY, EMAIL NOT ACCEPTED). 

SECOND TAKEHOME EXAM ISSUED – DUE END OF WEEK 12 (IN TWO WEEKS)

 

Week 11 (9 November):  The Bush Doctrine and the Future

 

Assigned Readings:

 

o       Critiques of Bush Foreign Policy: 

o       John Brown “The Return of the World Warriors” October 7, 2004 http://www.tompaine.com/articles/the_return_of_the_world_warriors.php

o       Joshua Micah Marshal “Remaking the World: Bush and the Neoconservatives” Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2003.  http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20031101fareviewessay82614/joshua-micah-marshall/remaking-the-world-bush-and-the-neoconservatives.html

o       Praise for Bush Foreign Policy:

o       Jonah Goldberg, “Bush’s Strong Foreign Policy Successful” http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/jg20031224.shtml

o       Melvin Leffler, “Think Again:  Bush’s Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, Sep/Oct 2004. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=2671&print=1

o       David Gordon’s review of “The War Over Iraq: Saddam’s Tyranny and America’s Mission” by Lawrence F. Kaplan and William Kristol (Encounter Books, 2003, x + 153 pgs.) http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1221

o       Irving Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" The Weekly Standard, 25 August 2003, Vol 8, Issue 47) http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/000tzmlw.asp

o       Claes Ryn “The Ideology of American Empire” Orbis, Summer 2003. http://fpri.org/pubs/orbis.4703.ryn.ideologyamericanempire.pdf

 

 

Week 12 (16 November): Discussion of Ryn’s America the Virtuous

 

Assigned Readings:

 

o       Ryn, all.

o       Mises Institute Review of "America the Virtuous" http://www.mises.org/misesreview_detail.asp?control=246&sortorder=issue

o       Commentary on "America the Virtuous"  http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0202-04.htm

 

THANKSGIVING BREAK

 

 

Week 13 (30 November):  Presentation and Discussion of Group Projects

 

SECOND TAKEHOME EXAM TURNED IN

 

 

Week 14 (7 December):  Wrap-up and review for final exam. 

 

Assigned readings.

o       Hastedt, Chapter 18

o       Reedy, Chapters 11-13, pp. 149-185.

 

 

Week 15 (14 December):  Final exam to be taken at normal class time and location.  Bring your own blank lined paper, blue books not required.