1
Brandeis UniversityMr. Art
Spring 2016 Politics 168B
U.S. FOREIGN POLICY SINCE 1914
Description. This course examines the record of America's foreign policy in the twentieth and early twentieth-first centuries and then analyzes the key issues that the United States now faces. The course is divided into four major parts: historical contours and geopolitics, the Cold War and post Cold Wareras, policymaking, and contemporary issues.
Requirements and Grading. The course requirements are: (1) a6-page take home exam on Part 1 of the course due February 12; (2) a 6-page take home exam on Part 2 of the course due around the end of the third week of March; (3) an 8-page policy memorandum on a subject covered in Part 4 of the course, due the last day of classes (May 2), the prospectus for which is due March 29and returned to you April 1; and (4) active participation in class presentations and discussions, based on the course reading Each item counts for one quarter of the course grade.
Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc).
If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.
Learning Goals. Learn how to think critically about arguments; learn how to present arguments clearly and convincingly, both orally and in writing; understand the bases for American foreign policy since 1789; comprehend how American foreign policy is made; appreciate the difficulty of prescribing policy for contemporary problems.
Suggested Purchases. All the suggested purchases below are on reserve, but I recommend that you purchase the books below (listed roughly in the order they will be read) because they constitute the bulk of the course reading. Nearly all the other items that are asterisked in the reading list are found at the LATTE course website.
Arthur S. Link Woodrow Wilson: Revolution, War and Peace (Harlan Davidson, 1979)
Marc Trachtenberg A Constructed Peace (Princeton)
John Lewis Gaddis Strategies of Containment, revised ed. (Oxford)
Stephen Sestanovich, Maximalist:America in the World From Truman to Obama (Knopf)
Derek Chollet & America Between the Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11 (Public Affairs)
James Goldgeier
Ivo Daalder & America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy
James Lindsay revised edition (Brookings)
Barry Posen Restraint: A New Foundation for American Grand Strategy (Cornell)
Colin Dueck The Obama Doctrine (Oxford)
COURSE OUTLINE
PART I HISTORICAL CONTOURS AND GEOPOLITICS (3-4 Weeks)
A. THREE ERAS IN AMERICA’S FOREIGN POLICY
B. MOTIVATIONS FOR POLICY
C. GEOPOLITICS: WORLD WARS 1 AND 2
PART II THE COLD WAR ERA AND POST-COLD WAR YEARS (4-5 Weeks)
A. THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR (1945-50)
B. THE COURSE OF THE COLD WAR (1950-85)
C. THE END OF THE COLD WAR (1985-90)
D. THE UNIPOLAR ERA AND BEYOND (1991-2015)
PART III POLICY MAKING (1 Week)
A. BUREAUCRATIC POLITICS IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
B. CONGRESS, PUBLIC OPINION, & FOREIGN POLICY
PART IV CONTEMPORARY ISSUES (2-3 Weeks)
A. GRAND STRATEGIC CHOICES**
B. REGIONAL AND SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES**
1. East Asia: The “China Threat” and the US-Japan Alliance
2. Europe: The European Union, NATO,and Russia
3. The Middle East: Iran, Syria, Iraq, ISIS, and Israel/Palestine
4. Dealing with Terrorism
5. Energy Security and Global Warming
6. Foreign Economic Policy
**These sections of the course will involve a lot of class discussion. We will be able to cover section A and items 1-3 in Section B. How much of Parts 4-6 we can cover is problematical and depends on what is “hot” at the time.
COURSE WORK DUE DATES:
Midterm Take Home Exam #1 Due February 12
Midterm Takehome Exam #2 Mid to Late March
Paper Prospectus March 29
Policy Paper May 2
ASSIGNED READING
IMPORTANT NOTE: NOT ALL ASTERISKED ITEMS ARE REQUIRED READING. Each week, I will inform you which ones to do for the following week. Many, but not all,of the asterisked items are on LATTE.
PART I HISTORICAL CONTOURS AND GEOPOLITICS
*Samuel P. Huntington, "American Ideals Versus American Institutions"; and Theodore Lowi, "Making Democracy Safe for the World: On Fighting the Next War." Both in G. John Ikenberry, ed., American Foreign Policy: Theoretical Essays, 2nd ed., pp. 223-293.
*Stephan Sestanovich, Maximalist, Prologue and Epilogue.
*Paul Miller, “American Grand Strategy and the Democratic Peace,” Survival, Vol. 54 (April/May 2012), pp. 49-77.
*Michael Hunt, Ideology and U.S. Foreign Policy, chaps. 1 and 6.
*Arthur S. Link, Woodrow Wilson: Revolution, War and Peace, entire.
*Nicholas J. Spykman, America's Strategy in World Politics: The U.S. and the Balance of Power, Chapters 11, 14, 15, and 447-457.
*Bruce M. Russett, No Clear and Present Danger: A Skeptical View of the U.S. Entry into World War II, required chapters on the website.
*Robert J. Art, “The United States, the Balance of Power, and World War II: Was Spykman Right?” Security Studies, (July-September 2005), pp. 3-42 (pdf file).
*Marc Trachtenberg, The Craft Of International History: A Guide to Method, chap. 4.
Walter Lippmann, U.S. Foreign Policy: Shield of the Republic, chapters 2 -4, 5(#3 & 4), and 6 (#4 & 6).
Felix Gilbert, To the Farewell Address.
Robert E. Osgood, Ideals and Self Interest in America's Foreign Policy.
Edward Buehrig, Woodrow Wilson & the Balance of Power.
PART II THE COLD WAR ERA AND POST-COLD WAR YEARS
A. THE COLD WAR ERA
*Walter Lippmann, The Cold War: A Study in U.S. Foreign Policy, entire.
*Marc Trachtenberg, A Constructed Peace, entire.
*John Lewis Gaddis, Strategies of Containment, entire.
*Stephen Sestanovich, Maximalist, chapters 1-10.
*Paul Avey, “Confronting Soviet Power: U.S. Policy during the Early Cold War,” International Security, Vol. 36 (Spring 2012), pp. 151-188.
*Marc Trachtenberg, “Preventive War and U.S. Foreign Policy,” Security Studies, January-March 2007, pp. 1-32.
*Robert Jervis, “Was the Cold War a Security Dilemma?” Journal of Cold War History, Vol. 3, No. 2 ((Winter 2001), pp. 36-60.
*Geme Gerzhoy, “Alliance Coercion and Nuclear Restraint: How the U.S. Thwarted West Germany’s Nuclear Ambitions,” International Security, Sprin 2015, pp. 91-130.
John Lewis Gaddis, The U.S. and the Origins of the Cold War.
Melvyn P. Leffler, A Preponderance of Power.
Melvyn Leffler, For the Soul of Mankind.
Michael J. Hogan, The Marshall Plan: America, Britain, and the Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1947-1952.
B. THE POST COLD WAR ERA
*Stephen Sestanovich, Maximalist, chapters 11-12 and Epilogue.
*Derek Chollet and James Goldgeier, American Between the Wars, entire.
*Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay, America Unbound, revised edition, entire.
*Colin Dueck, The Obama Doctrine, entire.
*Fed Kaplan, “Obama’s Way: The Prsident in Practice,” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2016, pp. 46-64.
*Alan J. Kuperman, “Obama’s Libya Debacle,” Foreign Affairs, March/April, 20115, pp. 66-78.
David Sanger, Confront and Conceal.
*Chaim Kaufman, “Threat Inflation and the Failure of the Marketplace of Ideas: The Selling of the Iraq War,” International Security, Vol. 29, No. 1(Summer 2004),5-49.
Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke, America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and Global World Order, chaps. 4, 5, and 7.
James Goldgeier and Michael McFaul, Power and Purpose: U.S. Policy After the Cold War, chaps. 1 and 14.
Ronald Asmus, Opening NATO’s Door.
PART III POLICYMAKING
*Robert J. Art, "Bureaucratic Politics and American Foreign Policy -- A Critique," in G. John Ikenberry, ed., American Foreign Policy, 1st ed.
*Morton H. Halperin, Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy, chaps. tba.
*James Lindsay, Congress and Foreign Policy, Introduction and chaps. 1 and 8.
*Steven Casey, “When Congress Gets Mad,” Foreign Affairs, January/February, 2016, pp. 76-85.
*Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Foreign Policy in the Age of Retrenchment (results of poll of U.S. public opinion, 2014). Online at
*Norman J. Ornstein and Thomas E. Mann, “When Congress Checks Out,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 85 (November/December, 2006), pp. 67-83.
*John Newhouse, “Diplomacy, Inc.” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2009), pp. 73-93.
*John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,” London Review of Books, Vol. 28, No. 6 (March 23, 2006).
*David Rothkopf, Running the World: The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power, chapter 12.
*Frank L. Klingberg, "The Historical Alternation of Moods in American Foreign Policy," World Politics, January 1952, pp. 239-273.
*R. Shapiro & B. Page, "Foreign Policy and the Rational Public," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 32, June 1988.
*Richard Eichenberg, “Victory Has Many Friends: U.S. Public Opinion and the Use of Military Force,” International Security, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Summer 2005), 140-178.
Robert J. Art, "Congress and the Defense Budget: Enhancing Policy Oversight," Political Science Quarterly, Summer 1985, pp. 227-249.
PART 4 THE CONTEMPORARY ERA
A. GRAND STRATEGIC CHOICES
*Department of Defense, “Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense,” January 2012, at defenselink.gov website. (Sets US priorities)
*John J. Mearsheimer, “Bad Idea: American Foreign Policy 1993-Present,” The National Interest, No. 111 (January/February, 2011), pp. 16-35.
*John J. Mearsheimer, “America Unhinged,” The National Interest, No. 129 (Jan/Feb 2014), pp. 9-30.
*Richard Fontaine and Kristen Lord, eds., America’s Path: Grand Strategy for the Next Administration (CNAS: Washington DC, 2012), essays by Art, Betts, and Feaver. Online at cnas.org.
*Barry Posen,Restraint: A New Foundation for American Grand Strategy, entire.
*Jonathan Kirshner, American Power after the Financial Crisis, chapters 1 & 6-8.
*Charles A. Kupchan, “The Normative Foundations of Hegemony and the Coming Challenge to Pax Americana,” Security Studies, April/June 2014, pp. 219-258.
*Robert Manning, “US Strategy in a Post-Western World,” Survival, October/November 2013, pp. 115-133.
*Charles Glaser, “How Oil Influences U.S. National Security,” International Security
*Lynn Davis, et. al, U.S. Overseas Mililtary Presence: What Are the Strategic Choices?, RAND, 2012, online at rand.org.
*Joseph M. Parent and Paul K. MacDonald, “The Wisdom of Retrenchment,” Foreign Affairs (November/December 2011), pp. 20-32; or MacDonald and Parent, “Graceful Decline: The Surprising Success of Great Power Retrenchment,” International Security, Spring 2011, pp. 7-45.
*Barry R. Posen, “Pull Back: The Case for a Less Activist Foreign Policy,” and Stephen Brooks, G. John Ikenberry, and William Wohlforth, “Lean Forward: In Defense of American Engagement,” both in Foreign Affairs (January/February 2013), pp. 116-143. (If you want more detail, see the Brooks et. al. article in the 2013 winter issue of International Security).
*Robert Lieber, Power and Willpower in the American Future, chaps. 1, 4-6.
*Carla Norrloff, America’s Global Advantage: US Hegemony and International Cooperation, chaps. 1, 2, 6, 8.
Robert J. Art, A Grand Strategy for America, entire.
Barry Posen, “Command of the `Commons’: The Military Foundations of U.S. Hegemony,” International Security, Vol. 28 (Summer 2003), pp. 5-47.
*Christopher Layne, The Peace of Illusions, chap. 8.
B. REGIONAL AND SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
1.East Asia: The “China Threat” and the US-Japan Alliance
*Fu Ying, “How China Sees Russia,” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2016, pp. 96-106.
*Evan Braden Montgomery, “Contested Primacy in the Western Pacific,” International Security, Spring 2014, pp. 115-150.
*Ja Ian Chong and Todd H. Hall, “The Lessons of 1914 for East Asia Today,” International Security, Summer 2014, pp. 7-44.
*Andrew Nathan and Andrew Scobell, “How China Sees America,” and Aaron Friedberg, “Bucking Beijing,”; both in Foreign Affairs (September/October 2012), pp. 32-48 and 48-59.
*Lanxin Xiang, “China and the Pivot,” and Feng Zhang, “China’s New Thinking on Alliances, “; and Michael Pillsbury, “Sixteen Fears: China’s Strategic Psychology,” all three in Survival, Vol. 54 (October/November 2012), pp. 113-182.
*Robert Ross, “The Problem with the Pivot,” Foreign Affairs (November/December 2012), pp. 70-83.
*David Shambaugh, “The Illusion of Chinese Power,” The National Interest, July/August 2014, pp. 39-49.
*Michael Beckley, “China’s Century? Why America’s Edge Will Endure,” International Security, Vol. 36 (Winter 2011/12), pp. 41-79; and Joshua Shifrinson and Michael Beckley, “Debating China’s Rise and U.S. Decline,” International Security, Vol. 37 (Winter 2012/13), pp. 172-181.
*Adam Liff and John Ikenberry, “Racing Towards Tragedy? China’s Rise, Military Competition in the Asia Pacific, and the Security Dilemma,” International Security, Fall 2014, pp. 52-92.
*Richard Samuels and James Schoff, “Beyond ‘Allergy” and ‘Breakout’: Japan’s Nuclear Hedge,” in Ashley Tellis, Strategic Asia, National Bureau of Asian Research, 2013.
*Robert Art, “The United States and the Rise of China: Implications for the Long Haul,” Political Science Quarterly (Fall 2010), pp. 359-391.
*Avery Goldstein, “First Things First: The Pressing Danger of Crisis Instability in U.S.-China Relations,” International Security, Spring 2013, pp. 49-90; or Avery Goldstein, “China’s Real and Present Danger,” Foreign Affairs, September/October, 2013, pp. 136-146.
*Rajan Menon, “Asia’s Looming Power Shift,” The National Interest, Sept/October 2013, pp. 2034.
*G. John Ikenberry, “The Rise of China and the Future of the West,” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2008, pp. 23-38.
2. Europe: NATO, the European Union, Russia and Ukraine
*Jolyon Howorth, “The EU and NATO after Libya and Afghanistan,” Yale Journal of International Affairs, Winter 2013, pp. 30-39.
*Ivan Krastev and Mark Leonard, “Europe’s Shattered Dream of Order,” Foreign Affairs, May/June 2015, pp. 48-59.
*Martin Feldstein, “The Failure of the Euro,” Foreign Affairs (January/February 2012), pp. 105-117.
*Lawrence Freedman, “Ukraine and the Art of Limited War,” December 2014/January 2015, pp. 7-39.
*John Mearsheimer, “Why the Ukraine Crisis is the West’s Fault,” Foreign Affairs, September/October 2014; and “Faulty Powers,”Foreign Affairs,
November/December 2014, pp. 167-179.
*Mark Webber, Ellen Halllams, and Martin Smith, “Repairing NATO’s Motors,” International Affairs, 2014 (No. 4), pp. 773-793.
*David Calleo, “Europe and American in a New Century,” Survival, October/November 2013, pp. 211-221.
*Anand Menon, “European Defence Policy from Lisbon to Libya,” Survival, Vol. 53, No. 3 (June-July 2011), pp. 75-90.
*Robert Art, “Europe Hedges Its Security Bets,” in Paul, Wirtz, and Fortmann, eds. Balance of Power: Theory and Practice in the 21st Century, pp. 179-214 (pdf file.)
*Barry Posen, “Realism and ESDP,” pdf file. (also in Security Studies, 2006).
3. The Middle East: Iran, Syria, Iraq, ISIS, Israel/Palestine
*Kenneth Katzman and Paul Kerr, Interim Agreement on Iran’s Nuclear Program, Congressional Research Service Study 7-5700, December 11, 2013, online at crs.org.
*Foreign Affairs, (November/December 2015), articles by Simon and Stevenson, Byman, Khedery, and Walt.
*John Owen, “What Europe’s Wars of Religion Tell Us about the Modern Middle East, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2015, pp. 77-90.
*Kenneth Waltz, “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb,” Foreign Affairs, (July/August 2012), pp. 2-6.
*Barbara Slavin, Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies, chap. 10 and Appendix.
*Jeremy Pressman,”Visions in Collision: What Happened at Camp David and Taba?” International Security, Fall 2003, pp. 5-44.
*Dennis Ross, The Missing Peace, chaps. 25 & 26.
4. Dealing with Terrorism, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and ISIS
*Daniel Byman, “Buddies or Burdens? Understanding the Al Qaeda Relationship with Its Affiliate Organizations,” Security Studies, July/September 2014, pp. 431-471.
*Audrey Kurth Cronin, “Isis Is Not a Terrorist Group,” Foreign Affairs, March/April, 2015, pp. 87-99.
*Tanisha M. Fazal, “Delegitimizing al-Qaeda: Defeating an Army Whose Men Love Death,” International Security, Summer 2014, pp. 126-165.
*The 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, chap. 12, online at
*Stephen Van Evera, Ámerican Foreign Policy for a New Era,” in Melvyn Leffler and Jeffrey Legro, eds., To Lead the World: American Strategy after the Bush Doctrine.
*Audrey Cronin, Ending Terrorism: Lessons for Defeating al-Qaeda, Adelphi Paper #394.
5. Energy Security and Global Warming
*Joshua Rovner and Caitlin Talmadge, “Hegemony, Force Posture, and the Provision of Collective Goods: The Once and Future Role of Outside Powers in Securing Persian Gulf Oil,’ Security Studies, July/September 2014, pp. 548-582.
*Daniel Yergin, “Ensuring Energy Security,” Foreign Affairs, March/April 2006.
*Daryl Press and Eugene Gohlz, Energy Alarmism: The Myths That Make Americans Worry About Oil, Cato Institute, at
*Michael Levy, et. al., “Globalizing the Energy Revolution,” Foreign Affairs (November/December 2010), pp. 111-123.
6. Economic Competitiveness
*Richard Katz et. al, “Manufacturing Globalization,” Foreign Affairs (November/December 2011), pp. 166-172.
*George Gilroy, “The Myth Behind China’s Miracle,” Foreign Affairs, July/August 2004, pp. 33-49.
*M. Baily and R. Lawrence, “Can American Still Compete or Does It Need a New Trade Paradigm?” IIE Policy Brief #PB06-9, December 2006, available at
*National Academy of Sciences, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” available at Executive Summary and chapters 1. 3, and 8.