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 1 and will be due on March 8. The final will be distributed on April 26 and due no later than May 11 (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/afps00.htm
The underlined readings 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 29 Introduction
January 31 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
February 5 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
February 7 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 12 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 14 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
Lansing and Bernstorff Discuss Submarine Warfare
The Zimmerman Telegram
Woodrow Wilson's War Message
Robert M. LaFollette's Dissent
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
February 19 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 on the Colonial Issue
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
February 21-March 7 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 12-14 The Cold War: NSC-68
NSC 68: United States Objectives and Programs for National Security, (April 14, 1950)
March 26-28 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"
April 2-4 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 9-11 The Cold War: Vietnam
Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapters 11 and 12
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"
April 16-18 The Post Cold War World: The Human Rights Legacy
Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapter 14
SETH FAISON, "China Assails Human Rights Record of U.S.," New York Times, March 5, 1997
April 23-25 The Post Cold War World: The Use of Force
Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapter 18
Charles, William Maynes "Relearning Intervention," Foreign Policy, no. 68 (Spring 1995)
Barry Blechman, "The Intervention Dilemma," The Washington Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 3 (Summer 1995)
April 30 The Post Cold War World: Humanitarian Intervention
U.S. Department of State, Bosnia Fact Sheet: Chronology of the Balkan Conflict
Adam Roberts, "NATO's 'Humanitarian War' Over Kosovo," Survival, Vol. 41, no. 3 (1 October 1999)
May 2 President Bush and Foreign Policy