Well over two decades removed from the Cold War, the United States continues to grapple and struggle with the evolution from a geopolitical world of relative clarity to one of cacophony; from seeming stability to turbulence, and from traditional military threat to a world of myriad national security challenges.  While anti-terrorism and counter-terrorism are critical pieces of foreign policy, an entire world of other issues still demands American attention.  In a position of unprecedented global influence and power, the United States as a global leader faces a world of rapid change, new threats, and promising opportunities and challenging questions. 

What is the future of American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan?   What is the way forward and how is “success” defined at this point?  Should North Korea be next?  What can be done about the spread of weapons of mass destruction?  Is National Missile Defense the answer?  Would you send American soldiers abroad to stop genocide in Europe?  What about Africa?  How should the United States react to the worldwide AIDS epidemic?  Does globalization help American citizens or hurt them?  Will the United States face a war against a new enemy like China or develop and unprecedented partnership?  What does it mean to wage a war against terrorism?  Or taken together and put more broadly:  What is America’s role in the world?

This seminar provides you with an opportunity to explore and answer these and other questions central to American foreign policy.  This course will help you understand why America acts as it does in the world, and you will confront many of the critical issues facing today’s policymakers.  An excellent approach to this semester is to imagine yourself as a staffer on President Obama’s foreign policy team or as a junior advisor to a senior Republican Senator.  Consider that you are expected to provide the president or the senator with knowledgeable, thoughtful, and concise positions on the major issues of the day based on your weekly reading, reflection, and online discussions.  To fully prepare yourself you will study:

1.        Theory and Process of Foreign Policy:  Theories of foreign policy, and American foreign policy in particular, provide us with rough guides and frameworks to identify patterns in history.  Foreign policy theory examines a range of issues, including the international system, economic interests, national values, and individual psychology.  The foreign policy process also has important bearing on what policy is finally accepted and enacted.  As a result, we will also look at the President, congress, foreign affairs institutions, the media, and public opinion.

2.        History of U.S. Foreign Policy:  We can little understand today without having some sense of the past.  Although this is not a diplomatic history course, it is imperative that you come to at least a basic understanding of where we’ve come from.  History will run throughout the course, but will have an explicit focus in the first few sessions. 

3.        Issues in U.S. Foreign Policy:  With the first two areas under your belt, you will be well prepared to tackle some of the major issues facing the United States on the world stage.  President Obama will be especially interested in your analyses, recommendations, and forecasts on issues such as the path forward in Iraq, WMDs, terrorism, China, and humanitarian intervention.