American Foreign Policy

International Relations 270s and History 270s
Joseph Ellis and Vincent Ferraro

Spring 1999

Purpose of the Course

This course places a very heavy emphasis on the role of values in the making of American foreign policy. It is not a course which discusses in great detail the processes by which decisions are made, nor does it analyze deeply the institutions which are involved in decision-making. These topics are undeniably important and, in fact, are covered in some other courses offered within the Five College system.

However, 1989 marked a watershed year in human history and it is fair to say that the emerging diplomatic environment is not at all clear to many observers and analysts. In particular, the United States is finding it very difficult to articulate policies, let alone carry them out, in a world order which is inchoate and extraordinarily complex.

Thus, the emphasis on values is a way to determine the very broad outlines of which might be U.S. preferences in the emerging world order and to assess the likely fit of those preferences to an international political system which is characterized by profound differences and hostilities. As a country with great power, the United States often determines, sometimes inadvertently, the outcome of some of those hostilities. Indeed, as a country with great power the United States often precipitates those hostilities. A close examination of those core values will allow us to predict better the policy choices and options of the United States in the future.

Procedural Matters

There will be a mid-term and a final required for the course. Both will be take-home exams with a choice of questions. The mid-term will be distributed on March 4 and will be due on March 11. The final will be distributed on April 29 and due no later than May 14 (the last day of exams--seniors will have to submit their final earlier). There is also a list of "Important Ideas and Events in American Foreign Policy" that every student should understand and fully grasp.

The books ordered for purchase are at the College Bookstore. The books are:

Major Problems in American Foreign Policy,Vol. 2: Since 1914, edited by Thomas G. Paterson, 4th edition (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1995)

Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938 (New York: Penguin, 1997)

All other readings are on the Internet and can be accessed at:

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/afps98.htm

The readings highlighted in blue are on the Net. Some of them are copyright-protected and are therefore password protected. Whenever you are asked for a password, simply type in: afps97

The reading will then appear on your screen.

Course Outline and Readings

January 28 Introduction

February 2 Three Perspectives on American Foreign Policy

Realism
"The Melian Dialogue," in The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

Kantian
Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace, Sections I and II

Jeffersonian
Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, March 4, 1801
Letters of Thomas Jefferson, To John Jay, Paris, Aug. 23, 1785

February 4 The Idea of American Exceptionalism--The American Enlightenment

Samuel P. Huntington, "American Ideals versus American Institutions," in American Foreign Policy: Theoretical Essays, edited by G. John Ikenberry (Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1989).
C. Vann Woodward, "Free Security"
John Winthrop, "City on a Hill"
The Declaration of Independence
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Book II, Chapters 22, 24, and 26

February 9 Manifest Destiny: American Perceptions of Its Place in the World

George Washington's Farewell Address
John Quincy Adams's Warning Against the Search for "Monsters to Destroy," 1821
Cherokee Nation v. the State of Georgia, 1831
John L. O'Sullivan on Manifest Destiny, 1839
Polk's War Message, 1846
The Significance of the Frontier in American History, 1893

February 11 The War with Spain: American Colonialism and the Open Door

British Foreign Secretary George Canning's Overture for a Joint Declaration with the United States on the Spanish Colonies in America, 1823
John Quincy Adams's Account of the Cabinet Meeting of November 7, 1823
Thomas Jefferson on the Monroe Doctrine, 1823
The Monroe Doctrine
Theodore Roosevelt: Obstacles to Immediate Expansion
William McKinley, "War Message," 1898
The Platt Amendment, 1903
The Open Door Note, Submitted by U.S. Secretary of State, John Hay, September 6, 1899

February 16 World War I: Wilson, Self-Determination, and the League

Woodrow Wilson, "The World Must Be Made Safe for Democracy," War Message to Congress, April 2, 1917
Michael W. Doyle, "Liberalism and World Politics," American Political Science Review, Vol. 80, no 4 (December 1986), pp. 1151-1169.
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, "The League of Nations," (audio playback available) The link will take to the Library of Congress's Search page. Click on "sound recording" and type in the words: "henry cabot lodge." The search engine will pull up the speech.

Major Problems in American Foreign Policy, Vol.2: Since 1914, edited by Thomas G. Paterson (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1995), pp. 43-109.
The First Lusitania Note
The Gore-McLemore Resolution (3rd edition)
Lansing and Bernstorff Discuss Submarine Warfare
The Zimmerman Telegram
Woodrow Wilson's War Message
Robert M. LaFollette's Dissent
Ross Gregory, "Rights, Honor, and Interests" (3rd edition)
John W. Coogan, "Wilson's Unneutrality and Its Costs" (3rd edition)
Arthur S. Link, "Wilson's Higher Realism" (4th edition)
Jam Willem Schulte Nordholt, "The Peace Advocate Out of Touch with Reality" (4th edition)
The Fourteen Points
Article 10 of the League Covenant
Wilson Defends the League
The Lodge Reservations
Arthur S. Link, "Woodrow Wilson's Perspective" (3rd edition)
William C. Widenor, "Henry Cabot Lodge's Perspective" (3rd edition)

February 23  World War II: United States and Collective Security

Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938 (New York: Penguin Books, 1997), Chapters 1-3

Major Problems in American Foreign Policy, Vol. 2: Since 1914, edited by Thomas G. Paterson (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1995) pp. 140-173; 190- 202.
Japan's Minimum Demands, September 1941
American Proposals to Japan, November 1941
The Japanese Position, Presented on December 7, 1941
Akira Iriye, "Clash of Systems: The International Community Confronts Japanese Aggression"
Hosoya Chihiro, "Miscalculation and Economic Sanctions: US Hardliners Ensure War with Japan"
Roosevelt's Promise of a Second Front
Josef Stalin's Impatience over a Second Front
Roosevelt and Stalin on the "Four Policeman" at Teheran
The Churchill-Stalin Percentages Deal
The Yalta Protocol of Proceedings
Agreement on Soviet Entry into the War Against Japan
Roosevelt's Anger with Stalin
Roosevelt's Last Letter to Churchill

Mid Term Exam

March 4 The Cold War: 1945-1950

Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapters 4-6

Major Problems in American Foreign Policy, Vol. 2: Since 1914, edited by Thomas G. Paterson (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1995), pp. 242-295.
Henry L. Stimson's Appeal for Atomic Talks with Russia
Harry Hopkins and Josef Stalin Discuss Lend-Lease and Poland
George F. Kennan's "Long Telegram"
Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain Speech"
Henry A. Wallace Questions the "Get Tough" Policy
The Truman Doctrine
The Marshall Plan
Barton J. Bernstein, "Secrets and Threats: Atomic Diplomacy and Soviet-American Antagonism"
Vladislav Zubok and Constantine Pleshakov, "Stalin's Inexorable Aggression"

March 11 The Cold War: NSC-68

NSC 68: United States Objectives and Programs for National Security, (April 14, 1950)

Hegemonic Stability Theory

March 25 The Cold War: Korea, Berlin, and Guatemala

Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapters 7-9

Major Problems In American Foreign Policy, Vol. 2: Since 1914, edited by Thomas G. Paterson (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1995), pp. 366-404;
Dean Acheson on the Defense Perimeter in Asia
North Korea Blames South Korea for Starting the War
Truman and His Advisers at the "Blair House Meeting"
The Defense Department's Case for Crossing the 38th Parallel to Reunite the Two Koreas
Douglas MacArthur on the Likelihood of Chinese Intervention
The Chinese Case for Intervention
Truman Defends American Policy
MacArthur's "No Substitute for Victory" Speech
James I. Matray, "Ensuring Korea's Freedom: The Decision to Cross the Thirty-Eighth Parallel"

Multinational Oil Corporations and U.S. Foreign Policy - REPORT together with individual views, to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, by the Subcommittee on Multinational Corporations; (Washington, January 2, 1975, US Government Printing Office)

Donald Moore, "The Clandestine Grandaddy of Central America," Monitoring Times, 1989

CIA and Assassinations: The Guatemala 1954 Documents by Kate Doyle and Peter Kornbluh

April 1 The Cold War: The Cuban Missile Crisis

Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapter 10

Major Problems in American Foreign Policy, Vol. 2: Since 1914, edited by Thomas G. Paterson (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1995), pp. 460-509.
CIA Assassination Plots Against Fidel Castro
John F. Kennedy Vows to "Show our Will" After the Bay of Pigs
General Gribkov Recalls the Soviet Buildup In Cuba
Cuba protests US Aggression
Missiles Photographed in Cuba: Kennedy's First Meeting with His Advisers, October 16, 1962
John F. Kennedy's Television Address
Khruschev Asjs for a US No-Invasion Pledge
Fidel Castro Urges Khrushchev to Resist a US Invasion
Khrushchev Asks for US Removal of Jupiter Missiles from Turkey
Paterson, "Spinning Out of Control"
George, "Kennedy's Prudent, Successful Crisis Management"

Executive Committee Meeting, The Oval Office, 18 October 1962, 11:00 a.m.
Note: The parts of the transcripts in blue can be heard if you are using Netscape 3.0 or Internet Explorer 3.0. Click on those parts to hear the individuals as they were taped.

April 6 The Cold War: Vietnam

Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapters 11 and 12

United States Minutes of the First Meeting Between President Truman and Prime Minister Pleven, Cabinet Room of the White House, January 28, 1951, 2:30-5 p.m.

United States Minutes of the Second Meeting Between President Truman and Prime Minister Pleven, Cabinet Room of the White House, January 30, 1951, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Major Problems in American Foreign Policy, Vol. 2: Since 1914, edited by Thomas G. Paterson (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1995), pp. 532-584.
The Vietnamese Declaration of Independence
Eisenhower Explains the Domino Theory
Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference on Indochina
General Giap on People's War
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Lyndon B. Johnson Explains Why Americans Fight in Vietman
Johnson Questions the Dissenting George Ball
J. William Fulbright on the "Arrogance of Power"
Clark Clifford Recalls his Post-Tet Questions to the Military
Paul Meadlo Explains the My Lai Massacre
Berman, "Lyndon Johnson's Tragic Decision to Escalate"
Kolko, "America's Quest for a Capitalist World Order"

Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapter 14
REMARKS BY SAMUEL R. BERGER ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS, "Building a New Consensus on China," COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS NEW YORK, NEW YORK, JUNE 6, 1997
SETH FAISON, "China Assails Human Rights Record of U.S.," New York Times, March 5, 1997

U.S. Department of State, Bosnia Fact Sheet: Chronology of the Balkan Conflict
John R. Bowen, "The Myth of Global Ethnic Conflict," Journal of Democracy 7.4 (1996) 3-14

May 5 Conclusion

Final Exam