Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Discussions: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course. This is an undergraduate course but is open to graduate students.

Course Description

The mission of this course is to explain and evaluate past and present United States foreign policies. We consider questions such as:

• What caused the United States' past involvement in foreign wars and interventions?
• Were the results of U.S. policies good or bad?
• Would other policies have better served the U.S. and/or the wider world?
• Were the beliefs that guided U.S. policy true or false? If false, what explains these misperceptions?

General theories that bear on the causes and consequences of American policy will be applied to explain and evaluate past and present policies.

The history of United States foreign policy in the 20th century is covered, including U.S. military policy, U.S. foreign economic policy, and U.S. policy on human rights and democracy overseas.

Finally, we will predict and prescribe for the future. What policies should the U.S. adopt toward current problems and crises? These problems include the war against Al Qaeda and the wider war on terror; continuing U.S. involvement in Iraq; Iran; the Taiwan Straits; containing the spread of weapons of mass destruction and climate change; threats to global public health; human rights abuses; and more.

Communications Intensive Requirement

This is a HASS-D Communications Intensive course, and counts toward fulfilling the HASS-D and CI requirement.

Communications intensive subjects in the humanities, arts, and social sciences (HASS CI) require at least 20 pages of writing divided among 3-5 assignments. Of these 3-5 assignments, at least one should be revised and resubmitted. HASS CI subjects further offer students substantial opportunity for oral expression, through presentations, student-led discussions, or class participation. In order to guarantee sufficient attention to student writing and substantial opportunity for oral expression, the maximum number of students per section in a HASS CI subject is 18.

Format and Requirements

Class Format

The class has two 1-hour general meetings and one 1-hour discussion section meeting per week. Students are expected to complete required readings before each discussion section meeting and to attend section regularly. Section attendance is mandatory. Unexcused absence from section will be penalized. Sections will include a public speaking exercise in the format of mock presentations to the National Security Council (NSC). You will be asked to frame and defend to the Council a viewpoint on a foreign policy issue.

Writing Requirement

Students will write two short ungraded papers—a response paper that reacts to course readings and lectures, and a paper summarizing their in-section presentation—and two longer papers on questions arising from the course material. The two ungraded papers each will be two pages long, double spaced. The longer papers will be 8 pages. One 8-page paper assignment asks you to explain a past case of American conduct—what accounts for American behavior? A second 8-page assignment asks you to evaluate a past American policy: was the policy appropriate, or would another policy have produced better results?

Quizzes

Two short (15 minute) quizzes will be given. Quiz dates are Ses #8 and Ses #18. You will be asked to answer three short (define-and-identify) questions on each quiz.

Final Exam

A list of study questions will be circulated before the final. The final exam questions will be drawn from this list. Students are encouraged to study together to prepare their answers. The final will also include short-answer questions that will not be distributed in advance.

Films

A couple of optional evening film viewings will be organized during the term, on topics to be chosen by acclamation of the class. Topics could include the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, Iraq, or other subjects.

Textbooks

Books to purchase:

Paterson, Thomas G., J. Garry Clifford, Shane J. Maddock, Deborah Kisatsky, and Kenneth J. Hagan. American Foreign Relations. Volume. 2, A History, Since 1895. Boston, MA, Houghton Mifflin Co, 2005. ISBN: 9780618370733.

Gaddis, John Lewis. Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of Postwar American National Security Policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1982. (rev. and expanded ed., 2005). ISBN: 9780195174472.

Herring, George C. America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2002. ISBN: 9780072536188.

Kennedy, Robert F., and Arthur M. Schlesinger. Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1999. ISBN: 9780393318340.

I also recommend—but don't require—that students buy a copy of the following book that will improve your papers:

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780226823379.

Turabian frames the basic rules for formatting footnotes and other style rules. You will want to follow these rules so your writing looks spiffy and professional.

Grading

Grades are based on:

Students must also complete two ungraded two-page papers, one that reacts to class readings or lectures, and one that summarizes their in-class presentation.