US Foreign Policy

This course concerns theoretical, legal, historical and practical aspects of the U.S. Foreign Policy.

This course tackles US foreign policy from the institutional and systemic standpoint, involving both domestic and external factors. It will be divided into three parts, covering:

1) the concept and the system of US foreign policy, including its legal/constitutional, and decision-making aspects;

2) its evolution, general history and grand strategy;

3) case studies.

This is an interactive academic course, requiring a substantial, yet doable amount of reading and (expected) class participation. There is a general list of recommended texts and a list of readings assigned to each specific meeting. Countless other texts, and Internet sources are widely available and continuously grow in numbers, so all participants may wish to search and consult them on their own.

GENERAL SCHEDULE AND READINGS:

1.Course structure and overview. Q&A session.

I. The Concept and the System

2. Foreign policy concept, US foreign policy identities and paradoxes.

READINGS:

M. Cox, D. Stokes (eds.), US Foreign Policy, Oxford University Press 2012, pp. 1-30.

A.Cooper, J. Heine, R. Thakur (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy, Oxford Univeristy Press 2015, pp. 35-53, 91-121.

S. Smith, A. Hadfield, T. Dunne, Foreign Policy. Theories, Actors, Cases, Oxford University Press 2008, Section 1. Foreign Policy Analysis, pp. 11-82.

3. US foreign policy - constitutional and legal basis. Key actors.

READINGS:

US Declaration of Independence

US Constitution

S.W. Hook, U.S. Foreign Policy: The Paradox of World Power, CQ Press College 2017, pp. 176-272.

4.US foreign policy formulation: decision-making and decision-shaping.

READINGS:

S.W. Hook, U.S. Foreign Policy: The Paradox of World Power, CQ Press College 2017, pp. 273-472.

5. US foreign policy "powerhouse". State Department, US Foreign Service and their „environment”.

READINGS:

S.W. Hook, U.S. Foreign Policy: The Paradox of World Power, CQ Press College 2013, pp. 273-472.

US Foreign Service Act of 1980.

6. Wrap-up of part I. A group exercise, combining elements of a quiz and a group debate on the effectiveness of the US foreign policy decision-making. Specific cases and comparative (national) perspectives will be encouraged.

II. The History and (Grand) Strategy

7. Traditions of US foreign policy; „schools”, and doctrines.

READINGS:

W.R. Mead, Special Providence. American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World, New York 2002, pp. 99-263.

C.V. Crabb, The Doctrines of American Foreign Policy. Their Meaning, Role, and Future, Louisiana State University Press 1982, pp. 371-438.

8-9. Isolationism, global engagement, neoisolationism: the evolution of foreign policy concepts and practice. The US rise to world’s superpower.

READINGS:

George’s Washington Farewell Address and James Monroe’s Message to Congress, Dec. 2, 1823, in: Ł. Wordliczek, „US Foreign Policy…”, pp. 17-19.

President’s Wilson Fourteen Points Delivered in the Joint Session of the US Congress, January 8, 1918, https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/President_Wilson’s_Fourteen_Points

S.W. Hook, U.S. Foreign Policy: The Paradox of World Power, CQ Press College 2017, pp. 69-128.

M. Cox, D. Stokes (eds.), US Foreign Policy, Oxford University Press 2012, pp. 41-108.

III. Case studies

10. The Cold War and the evolution of US global engagement.

READINGS:

Cox/Stokes, pp. 59-97.

Hook, pp. 92-107.

11. The US grand strategies after the Cold War.

READINGS:

B. Posen, A.L. Ross, Competing Visions for US Grand Strategy, „International Security” 1996/97, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 5-53.

F. Fukuyama, The End of History, „The National Interest”, Summer 1989.

Hook, pp. 1-8-125.

12. The US and the War on Terror.

READINGS:

J. Mueller, M.G. Stewart, The Terrorism Delusion. The America’s Overwrought Response to September 11, „International Security” 2012, 37 (1), pp. 81-110.

A.C. Cronin, The War on Terrorism. What Does It Mean to Win?, „Journal of Strategic Studies” 2013, 37(2), pp. 147-197.

J. Stern, Obama and Terrorism. Like It Or Not, The War Goes On, „Foreign Affairs” 2015, September/October, pp. 61-70.

13. The US Foreign Policy during Trump Administration.

READINDS:

H. Kurthen, Present at the Destruction? Grand Strategy Imperatives of US Foreign Policy during the Trump Presidency, "European Journal of International Security" (2021), 6, pp. 1-24.

How America Changed During Donald Trump’s Presidency, https://www.pewresearch.org/2021/01/29/how-america-changed-during-donald-trumps-presidency/

14. A group debate based on student's essays: US Foreign Policy and Russian - Ukrainian War

15. Final exam: (in class/closed books and notes/no electronic devices).

SOURCES:

Constitution of the United States

Wordliczek, Ł., US Foreign Policy. Procedure and Substance, Cracow 2005 (a compilation of key US foreign policy documents)

Current US foreign policy documents (available via Internet)

HANDBOOKS:

Hook S.W., U.S. Foreign Policy: The Paradox of World Power, CQ Press College 2017.

Cox M., Stokes D. (eds.), US Foreign Policy, Oxford University Press 2012.

Mandelbaum M., The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy. Weak Power, Global Power, Superpower, Hyperpower, Oxford University Press 2022.

SUGGESTED OPTIONAL READINGS:

Schweikart L, Allen M., A Patriot’s History of the United States. From Columbus’s Great Discovery to the War on Terror, Sentinel 2004.

Remini R.V., A Short History of the United States, Harper Collins Publishers, 2008.

Hook S.W., Spanier J., American Foreign Policy since World War II, CQ Press 2010.,

Kaufman J.P, A Concise History of US Foreign Policy, Rowman and Littlefield 2010;

Hastedt G., American Foreign Policy: Past, Present, and Future, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014.

McCormick J.M. (ed.), The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy: Insights and Evidence, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012.

Mead W.R., Special Providence. American Foreign Policy and How it Changed the World, N.York 2002.

USEFUL INTERNET LINKS:

• Foreign Policy - http://www.foreignpolicy.com/

• Foreign Affairs - http://www.foreignaffairs.org/

• www.state.gov

• www.defense.gov

• www.whitehouse.gov

• www.cia.gov

• www.foreign.senate.gov

• www.house.gov/international_relations

• www.international.gc.ca

THINK – TANKS:

Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

Atlantic Council of the United States (ACUS)

Brookings Institution

Heritage Institute

Center for European Policy Analysis

RAND Corporation

By the end of the course its participants should:

- have the knowledge about key factors, actors and their roles in the process of US foreign policy formulation,

- understand key concepts, (intellectual) traditions and strategies underlying US foreign policy decisions and their impact, both domestic and international,

- understand the US global role and challenges it has to confront,

- be able to use this knowledge to better assess current issues related with the US foreign policy.

There will be 3 weighted grading criteria, and your final grade will consist of:

1.Oral presentation – current events (10%). Specific instructions will be provided at the first meeting, This activity is aimed at providing the vital link between general and current aspects of the US foreign policy.

2. Individual essay (40%). Essay requirements: lentgth 20.000 characters (roughly 10 standard pages), double-spaced text, excl. footnotes (bottom of the page) and the mandatory bibliography (end of the text). Comprehensible language, properly structured text, free of typos, jargon. Essays overdue, and/or presented not in a proper form will be graded -20%. Specific instructions will be provided at the first meeting,

Notice: essay extensions will only be given under valid documented, and extreme circumstances. That has to be notified in advance.

Essays will be graded based on the following criteria:

- relevance (of the text to the topic),

- completeness (exhaution of the problem),

- clarity and coherence of the author’s argument,

- evidence supporting author’s argument,

- credibility and quality of sources utilized and properly documented,

- critical thinking and quality of analysis,

- clear and readable organization of the text, its form and language.

3. Final exam (50%) (written) mix of short question-answer, multiple choice and open questions. NOTICE; given the extreme pandemic circimstances and an on-line organization of this course in the acedemic year 2020/21, this part of of the grading may be replaced with another essay. However, such a decision might only result from the discussion with the group. The issue will be discussed at the first meeting.

NOTICE: there is a possiblity of a BONUS - 10% of the final grade for extracurricular work agreed with the professor (and delivered befeore the end of the course).