American Foreign Policy

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Everyone appears to have an opinion on American foreign policy, however, often such opinions are based on emotion or rhetoric. This course does not want students to be less critical of the United States, rather it strives to inform and educate students on the history, process and source of American foreign policy, so that opinions are based on a sound footing. The course is divided into four sections. The first section will focus on the field of foreign policy analysis as a subfield in International Relations. An overview of the various analytical perspectives on US foreign policy will be covered. This first section will also consider the importance of examining American foreign policy in today’s world. Section two will concentrate on the history of US foreign policy, covering such events as the Age of Imperialism, World War I, the interwar years, World War II, the Cold War, the Post-Cold War world, September 11 and ending with recent world events, such as the Iraq War and the Global War on Terror. Part three will examine the politics and the policy-making process of American foreign policy. Topics for discussion in this section will include the institutions involved in the policy making process, such as the President, various bureaucracies like the State Department, the Department of Defense and the CIA, plus Congress and the Courts. This section will also consider the role the American public plays in the process of making US foreign policy. The final part of this course will study the instruments used to implement American Foreign Policy. This section will include a discussion of America’s use of open or diplomatic instruments, secret instruments, economic instruments and also its military instruments. This section will end with an assignment that discusses the future of American Foreign Policy.