American Foreign Policy
International Relations 270s
Vincent Ferraro and Joseph Ellis
Spring 2006

Purpose of the Course

This course places a very heavy emphasis on the role of values in the making of American foreign policy. The processes by which decisions are made and the institutions which are involved in decision-making will, however, also be addressed. The justification for the emphasis on values rests in the unique circumstances in which foreign policy is now being conducted. The year 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.

Indeed, in 2006 the rate of change in the foreign policy of the United States seems to have accelerated dramatically. Whether these changes were required because of changes in the external security environment or whether these changes were made because of new policy objectives is a matter of heated debate. The course will attempt only to frame these competing perspectives, not to resolve them.

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 weekly quizzes and a final required for the course. Each will count for 50% of the final grade. There will be ten quizzes and only the highest eight scores will be used to compute the quizzes grade.The final will be a take-home exam with a choice of questions. The final will be distributed on April 26 and due no later than May 18 (the last day of exams--seniors will have to submit their finals earlier).

The book ordered for purchase is at the Odyssey Bookstore. The book is:

Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas G. Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, 8th edition, revised (New York: Penguin Books, 1997)

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

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pol270/spring06.htm

The underlined readings are on the internet. Some of them are copyright-protected and are therefore password protected. Whenever you are asked for a password, simply type in afps97 and click on "submit" (simply hitting the enter button does not work)

The reading will then appear on your screen.

Course Outline and Readings

January 30 Introduction

President George W. Bush, Second Inaugural Address, 20 January 2005

February 1 Three Perspectives on American Foreign Policy

Realism

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

Idealism

Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace, Sections I and II

Jeffersonian

Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, March 4, 1801

February 6 Native American Policy as Foreign Policy

Richard I. Melvoin, New England Outpost: War and Society in Colonial Deerfield (New York: W.W. Norton: 1989) Chapter Eight, "The Wheel Turns Again: Deerfield and Queen Anne's War," pp. 209-48.
"Captive Lands, Captive Hearts," produced by Susannah Lee, WFCR in Amherst, Massachusetts, for the 300th anniversary of the 1704 raid on Deerfield
Cherokee Nation v. the State of Georgia, 1831

February 8 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 13 Manifest Destiny: American Perceptions of Its Place in the World

George Washington's Farewell Address
John L. O'Sullivan on Manifest Destiny, 1839
Polk's War Message, 1846
The Significance of the Frontier in American History, 1893
US Territorial Acquisitions, 1783-1947

February 15 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
Walter L. Williams, "United States Indian Policy and the Debate over Philippine Annexation: Implications for the Origins of American Imperialism," The Journal of American History, Vol. 66, No. 4 (March 1980), pp. 810-831
The Platt Amendment, 1903
The Open Door Note, Submitted by U.S. Secretary of State, John Hay, September 6, 1899

February 20 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--look for "League of Nations."

February 22  World War II: United States and Collective Security

Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapters 1-3
The Atlantic Charter, August 14, 1941
Sumner Welles, Under Secretary of State, Memorial Day Address at the Arlington National Amphitheater, May 30, 1942

February 27-March 1  The Cold War: 1945-1950

Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapters 4-7
John Lewis Gaddis, We Now Know: Rethinking the Cold War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 1-25.
NSC 68: United States Objectives and Programs for National Security, (April 14, 1950)
Hegemonic Stability Theory

March 6-8 The Beginnings of American Middle Eastern Policy

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)
Attitude of American Government Toward Palestine: Letter From President Roosevelt to King Ibn Saud, April 5, 1945
United States Proposal for Temporary United Nations Trusteeship for Palestine: Statement by President Truman, March 25, 1948
Peter Grier, "The US and Israel," Christian Science Monitor, 26 October 2001

March 13-15 The Cold War: The Cuban Missile Crisis

Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapters 9 and 10
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 st least Netscape 3.0 or Internet Explorer 3.0. Click on those parts to hear the individuals as they were taped.

March 27-29 The Cold War: Vietnam

Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapters 11 and 12
Franklin Roosevelt Memorandum to Cordell Hull, January 24, 1944 from Major Problems in American Foreign Policy, Volume II: Since 1914, 4th edition, edited by Thomas G. Paterson and Dennis Merrill (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1995), p. 189.
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.

April 3-5 The End of the Cold War

Ambrose and Brinkley, Chapters 14-16
Fred Kaplan, "Paul Nitze: The man who brought us the Cold War," Slate, October 21, 2004
Tim Weiner and Barbara Crosette, "George F. Kennan Dies at 101; Leading Strategist of Cold War," The New York Times, 18 March 2005
John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War: A New History (New York: Penguin, 2005), "Epilogue: The View Back," pp. 259-66.

April 10 The New World Order? Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention

Bernard Lewis, "The Roots of Muslim Rage," The Atlantic Monthly, September 1990
Osama bin Laden, Text of Fatwah Urging Jihad Against Americans, Published in Al-Quds al-'Arabi on February 23, 1998
George W. Bush, Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People, 20 September 2001

Final Exam The final is due no later than 18 May. For seniors the final is due 15 May at noon..