POLS 4611 – Contemporary Foreign Policy
Sunday and Wednesday 10:05 - 11:25 am Waleed C130
Professor Mohamed Kamal
Office Hours: Sunday and Wednesday 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. Room 2027 HUSS
Course Overview:
This course examines the contemporary foreign policy of key states on the global stage. One goal of the course is to introduce the student to some of the important theoretical and substantive issues in the study of foreign policy. The course will examine the sources of incentives, constraints, and preferences on foreign policy decision-making. The course will also analyze how external and internal factors interact in the processes leading to foreign policy actions. We will pay particular attention to the cases of the United States, the European Union, China, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Qatar.
Course Requirements:
- Attendance and participation 25%
- Mid –term Exam 25%
- Brief Policy Report 20%
- Final Exam 30%
Schedule:
Week 1:
- Course description and requirements
- American Foreign Policy Making
- 1 - The President and Congress
- Bruce W. Jentleson, American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.( pp 27- 45) (Blackboard)
- 2- Bureaucratic Politics
- Bruce W. Jentleson, American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.( pp 45- 53) (Blackboard)
Week 2:
- US Foreign Policy: Ideas and Think Tanks
1- Richard N. Haass, Think Tanks and US Foreign Policy: A Policy-Maker’s Perspective, Council on Foreign Relations, 2002. (Blackboard)
2- Iztok Bojovic, Think Tanks in the USA, Western Balkans Security Observer, No. 12, January – March 2009. (Blackboard)
Week 3:
- US Foreign Policy: Interest Groups and Public Opinion
- 1- Bruce W. Jentleson, American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.( pp 56-84) (Blackboard)
- 2- John J. Mearsheimer, Stephen M. Walt, The Israeli Lobby and US Foreign Policy, Middle East Policy, Vol. XIII, No. 3, Fall 2006. (Blackboard)
Week 4:
- US Foreign Policy: The Middle East
1- Andrew Bacevich and others, Lessons Learned: The Iraq Invasion, World Affairs, May-June 2013. (Blackboard)
2- F. Gregory Gause, III, and Ian S. Lustick, American and the Regional Powers in a Transforming Middle East, Middle East Policy, Vol. XIX, No.2, Summer 2012. (Blackboard)
3- Nader Hashemi, The Arab Spring, US Foreign Policy and the Question of Democracy in the Middle East, Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, Vol. 41, No. 1, 2012. (Blackboard)
Week 5:
- US Foreign Policy: The Legacy of President Obama
1- Jeffrey Goldberg, The Obama Doctrine, The Atlantic, April 2016 Issue
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/
2- Fawaz A. Gerges, The Obama approach to the Middle East: the end of America’s moment? International Affairs, Vol. 89, No. 2, 2013. (Blackboard)
Week 6:
- China’s Foreign Policy
1- Kerry Dumbaugh, China’s Foreign Policy: What Does It Mean for U.S. Global Interests? CRS Report, July 18, 2008. (Blackboard)
2- Sylvia Hui, Engaging an Emerging Superpower: Understanding China as a Foreign Policy Actor, Chatham House, Asia Programme Paper: ASP 2011/05. (Blackboard)
3- Yves-Heng Lim, A Tale of Two Realisms in Chinese Foreign Policy, China: An International Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2, 2011. (Blackboard)
Week 7:
- China and the Middle East
1. 1- James Chen, The Emergence of China in the Middle East, National Defense University, Strategic Forum, December 2011. (Blackboard)
- Mid-term Exam
Week 8:
- Russia’s Foreign Policy: Continuity and Change
1- Andrew Monaghan , The New Russian Foreign Policy Concept: Evolving Continuity, Chatham House, March 2013. (Blackboard)
2- Andrew C. Kuchins, Russian Foreign Policy: Continuity in Change, The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 35, No, 1, Winter 2012. (Blackboard)
3- Ekaterina Stepanova, Russia’s Middle East Policy Old Divisions or New? PONARS Policy Memo No. 429, 2006. (Blackboard)
Week 9
Egypt’s Foreign Policy
1- Raymond Hinnebusch, The Foreign Policy of Egypt, in Raymond Hinnebusch and Anoushiravan Ehteshami (eds.), The Foreign Policies of Arab States (Boulder, CO, Lynne Reinne, 2002), pp. 91-114. (RESERVE)
2- Ali E. Hillal Dessouki, Balancing off Costs and Dividends in the Foreign policy of Egypt, in Bahgat Korany and Ali E. Hillal Dessouki (ed.), The Foreign Policy of Arab States, pp. 167-194. (Reserve)
Week 10:
Egypt’s Foreign Policy
1- Jeremy M. Sharp, Egypt: Background and U.S. Relations, CRS Report, June 27, 2013. (Blackboard)
2- Rebecca M. Nelson and Jeremy M. Sharp, Egypt and the IMF: Overview and Issues for Congress, CRS Report, April 29, 2013. (Blackboard)
3- Philippe Droz-Vincent, A Post-Revolutionary Egyptian Foreign Policy .. Not Yet. IAI, July 2012. (Blackboard)
4- Jannis Grimm and Stephan Roll, Egyptian Foreign Policy under Mohamed Morsi Domestic Considerations and Economic Constraints, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, November, 2012. (Blackboard)
Week 11:
Turkey’s Foreign Policy
1- Hugh Pope, Pax Ottomana? The mixed success of Turkey's new foreign policy, Foreign Affairs (November-December 2010) (Blackboard)
2- Alexander Murinson, Turkish Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century, Mideast Security and Policy Studies No. 97, September 2012. (Blackboard)
3- Svante E. Cornell, What Drives Turkish Foreign Policy?Middle East Quarterly, Winter, 2012. (Blackboard)
4- Meltem Müftüler-Baç , Turkish Foreign Policy, its Domestic Determinants and the Role of the European Union, South European Society and Politics, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2011. (Blackboard)
Week 12:
Turkey and the Middle East
1- Emel Parlar Dal The Transformation of Turkey's Relations with the Middle East: Illusion or Awakening?, Turkish Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2012. (Blackboard)
2- Meliha B. Altunişik & Lenore G. Martin, Making Sense of Turkish Foreign Policy in the Middle East under AKP, Turkish Studies, 12:4, (2011) (Blackboard)
Week 13
Iran’s Foreign Policy
1- A. Ehteshami. The foreign policy of Iran, in The foreign policies of Middle East states. Boulder, Co.: Lynne Rienner, 2002, pp. 283-309. (Blackboard)
2- Kenneth Katzman, Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, CRS Report, June 17, 201. (Blackboard)
Week 14:
Qatar’s Foreign Policy
1- Lina Khatib, Qatar’s foreign policy: the limits of pragmatism, International Affairs Vol. 8, No. 2, 2013. (Blackboard)
2- David B. Roberts, Understanding Qatar's Foreign Policy Objectives, Mediterranean Politics, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2012. (Blackboard)
3- Andrew F. Cooper & Bessma Momani, Qatar and Expanded Contours of Small State Diplomacy, The International Spectator: Italian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 46, No. 3, 2011. (Blackboard)
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