George Mason University Spring 2015 GOVT 344-001 American Foreign Policy TR 12-1:15pm Professor: Colin Dueck Classroom: Mason Hall D023 Office: Robinson A 219 TA: Rebecca Lollar TA e-mail: rlollar@masonlive.gmu.edu Office hours: R 1:30-7pm by appt Professor e-mail: cdueck@gmu.edu Course requirements This class is an upper-level undergraduate introduction to the history, bureaucratic processes, and current challenges behind American foreign policy. Assignments include a mid-term, a final exam, and written memos for each week of class. Questions on both the mid-term and the final will be based upon material in the lectures and in the required readings. Timely and intelligent participation in class discussion will be rewarded. Finally, you will be expected to keep up with current events relevant to American foreign policy. Overall grades are determined as follows: 30% Mid-term exam 15% Participation in class discussion, including group discussions and on-time appearance 15 % Written memos 40% Final exam Each week of class, you will be expected to write up a brief memo based upon a given chapter reading for one day. Students who do not will receive an F on the policy memo assignment for that week. The assignment is pass/fail. Your task in these memos will be to summarize and/or analyze, in no more than a page, one required chapter for that week.
Late appearance to class is unprofessional and unwelcome. Students who are late multiple times will be penalized significantly on their class participation grade. The only make-up exams, for the mid-term or the final, will be in documented cases of medical or family emergencies, or religious holidays recognized by George Mason University. Laptops and other electronic devices may not be switched on during class. Course textbooks All of the books below will be available for purchase at the GMU bookstore: Henry Kissinger, World Order (Penguin, 2014) James McCormick, ed., The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy (Rowman and Littlefield, 2012 edition) Gideon Rose, ed., Crisis in Ukraine (Council on Foreign Relations, 2014) Stephen Sestanovich, Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama (Vintage, 2014) Jessica Stern, ISIS: The State of Terror (Harper Collins/Ecco, 2015) Ashley Tellis, ed., Strategic Asia 2014-2015: U.S. Alliances and Partnerships at the Center of Global Power (National Bureau of Asian Research, 2014) Course schedule January 20 Introduction Sestanovich, Maximalist, Prologue January 22 Early American foreign policy Kissinger, World Order, chapter 7 January 27 Truman and containment Sestanovich, chapters 1 and 2 Kissinger, pages 276-295
January 29 From Eisenhower to JFK Sestanovich, chapters 3 and 4 February 3 Johnson and Vietnam Sestanovich, chapters 5 and 6 Kissinger, pages 295-302 February 5 Nixon and detente Sestanovich, chapters 7 and 8 Kissinger, pages 302-310 February 10 Reagan and the end of the Cold War Sestanovich, chapters 9 and 10 Kissinger, pages 310-317 February 12 The Bush doctrine Sestanovich, chapter 11 February 17 The Obama administration Sestanovich, chapter 12 February 19 The President and Congress Michael Nelson, "Person and Office," Louis Fisher, "Presidents Who Initiate Wars," and James Lindsay, "The Shifting Pendulum of Power," in James McCormick, The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy
February 24 Bureaucratic politics I.M. Destler, "How National Security Advisers See Their Role," Peter Feaver and Christopher Gelpi, "American Veterans in Government and the Use of Force," and Jon Western, "Sources of Humanitarian Intervention," in McCormick February 26 Interest groups and political parties James McCormick, "Ethnic Interest Groups in American Foreign Policy," John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, "The Israel Lobby," and Walter Russell Mead, "The Tea Party, Populism, and the Domestic Political Culture of U.S. Foreign Policy," in McCormick March 3 Public opinion and elections Adam Berinsky, "Events, Elites, and American Public Support for Military Conflict," and Miroslav Nincic, "External Affairs and the Electoral Connection," in McCormick Midterm review March 5 Midterm exam March 17 Instruments of foreign policy Hillary Clinton, "Leading through Civilian Power," and Gordon Adams and Matthew Weatherman, "A Leaner and Meaner Defense," Joseph Nye, "The Future of American Power," and Gideon Rachman, "Think Again: American Decline," in McCormick March 19 Trade policy I.M. Destler, "American Trade Policymaking," in McCormick
March 24 Europe and Russia Kissinger, pages 86-95 Orlando Figes, "Is There One Ukraine?" Ivan Krastev, "Russian Revisionism," Kathryn Stoner, "Putin's Search for Greatness," Daniel Treisman, "Watching Putin in Moscow," Brian Taylor, "Putin's Own Goal," Alexander Motyl, "Is Losing Crimea a Loss?" Kathleen McNamara, "The EU After Ukraine," and Mitchell Orenstein, "Get Ready for a Russo-German Europe," in Gideon Rose, Crisis in Ukraine March 26 Debate on U.S. Russia policy: Drs. Jakub Grygiel (Johns-Hopkins SAIS) and Mark Katz (George Mason) March 31 Human trafficking and U.S. foreign policy Guest talk by Rebecca Lollar Mark Lagon, "The Global Abolition of Human Trafficking," Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (Winter/Spring 2011), 89-98 Anne Gallagher, "Improving the Effectiveness of the International Law of Human Trafficking," Human Rights Review 12:3 (September 2011), 381-400 April 2 The United States in Asia Kissinger, chapter 5 Ashley Tellis, "Seeking Alliances and Partnerships," Nicholas Szechenyi, "The U.S.-Japan Alliance," Daniel Twining, "Building U.S. Partnerships for the 21st Century," Van Jackson, "The Rise and Persistence of Strategic Hedging across Asia," in Ashley Tellis, Strategic Asia 2014-15 April 7 China Kissinger, chapter 6 Russell Hsiao, "U.S.-Taiwan Relations," in Tellis
April 9 Korea Scott Snyder, "The U.S.-ROK Alliance and the U.S. Rebalance to Asia," in Tellis April 14 Iran Kissinger, chapter 4 April 16 Nuclear non-proliferation Kissinger, pages 331-341 April 21 The Arab spring Kissinger, chapter 3 Ryan Lizza, "Obama: The Consequentialist," in McCormick April 23 Al Qaeda and the Islamic State Kissinger, pages 317-329 Jessica Stern, ISIS: The State of Terror April 28 Final review Sestanovich, Epilogue April 30 Reading period May 7, 10:30am - 1:15pm Final exam