American Foreign Policy

Academic year 2011-12

Date last modified

23-4-2012 1:29

Period

Period 1

Startdate:

05-Sep-11

Enddate:

28-Oct-11

Code

SSC3036

ECTS credits

5.0

Organisational unit

University College Maastricht

Coordinator

R.N. Haar

Description

Everyone appears to have an opinion on American foreign policy, however, often such opinions are based on emotion or rhetoric. This course does not want students to be less critical of the United States, rather it strives to inform and educate students on the history, process and source of American foreign policy, so that opinions are based on a sound footing. The course is divided into four sections. The first section will focus on the field of foreign policy analysis as a subfield in International Relations. An overview of the various analytical perspectives on US foreign policy will be covered. This first section will also consider the importance of examining American foreign policy in today’s world. Section two will concentrate on the history of US foreign policy, starting from 1756 and covering such events as the Age of Imperialism, World War I, the interwar years, World War II, the Cold War, the Post- Cold War world, September 11 and ending with very recent world events, the Iraq War. Part three will examine the politics and the policy-making process of American foreign policy. Topics for discussion in this section will include the institutions involved in the policy making process, such as the President, various bureaucracies like the State Department, the Department of Defense and the CIA, plus Congress and the Courts. This section will also consider the role the American public plays in the process of making US foreign policy. The final part of this course will study issue areas relevant to American foreign policy. Such issues will include: homeland defense against modern terrorism; promoting trade, global finance and maintaining a stable currency; the use of military force abroad; and the responsibility of protecting human rights and the spread of democratization for all peoples of the world.

Goals

• To understand the history, the political process in which policy is made and the policy content of American foreign policy.

Instruction language

Prerequisites

SSC1006 International Relations or SSC1025 Introduction to Political Science and at least one 200 level Social Sciences course.

Recommended literature

• Hastedt, Glenn P. (2009). American Foreign Policy. 7th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Teaching methods

PBL
PRESENTATION(S)
LECTURE(S)
ASSIGNMENT(S)
PAPER(S)

Assessment methods

FINAL PAPER
ATTENDANCE
PARTICIPATION
WRITTEN EXAM
ORAL EXAM
TAKE HOME EXAM

Key words