Poli 346
U.S. Foreign Policy
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Prof. Mark R. Brawley
330 Leacock
Office Hours: Mon. 10-11, Wed. 1-2
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McGill University
Dept. of Political Science
Fall 2015
Course Description
This course examines U.S. foreign policy through several competing lenses. Organized along the historical narrative, it also introduces a wide variety of concepts and
theories used in international relations, demonstrating how specific problems and situations have fuelled the development of scholarly work in the field.
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Course Requirements
The grade for this course consists of a midterm exam (worth 25% of the total grade)
which is scheduled for October 21, a short paper due November 25 (6 page limit –
worth 25%), a formal final exam (40%), and participation in discussion conferences
led by the TA (10%). The midterm consists of short answers and one essay; the final
consists of short answers and two essays. Exams cover material from lectures and
readings.
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Course Materials
Readings consist of assigned articles available on MyCourses and a textbook. The
textbook is on reserve at the library and has been ordered at the bookstore. Additional
material may be posted on MyCourses during the term.
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Steven Hook and John Spanier, American Foreign Policy Since World
War II, Sage/CQ Press, 2015/2016
Policy on Academic Honesty
McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore all students must understand
the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offenses
under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see http://www.mcgill.ca/integrity www.mcgill.ca/integrity for more information).
!Note: In accord with McGill University’s Charter of Students’ Rights, students in this
course have the right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be
graded.
Poli 346
U.S. Foreign Policy
Fall 2015
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Poli 346
U.S. Foreign Policy
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Course Schedule
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Lecture 1 (Sept. 4): Introduction and Goals -- Hook & Spanier, Ch. 1
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Lecture 2 (Sept. 9): Theories of Foreign Policy -!
Lecture 3 (Sept. 11): US FP in the Nineteenth Century – George Washington,
“Farewell Address”; James Monroe, “The Monroe Doctrine”
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Lecture 4 (Sept. 14): Entering the Global Arena – Theodore Roosevelt, “Corollary
to the Monroe Doctrine”; John Hay, “First Open Door Note”
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Lecture 5 (Sept. 16): World War I and Wilsonian Ideals – Woodrow Wilson “The
Fourteen Points”
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Lecture 6 (Sept. 18): Isolationism – Henry Cabot Lodge and William Borah,
“Speeches against the League”; Time, “Treaty Maltreated”; Thomas A. Bailey,
“Woodrow Wilson Wouldn’t Yield”
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Lecture 7 (Sept. 21): America Re-Engages the World? -- Bear Braumoeller, “The
Myth of American Isolationism”; Henry Morgenthau Jr., “The Tripartite Agreement”
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CONFERENCES BEGIN SEPTEMBER 21
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Lecture 8 (Sept. 23): World War II – Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill,
“The Atlantic Charter”; Time, “Geography is Fate?”
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Lecture 9 (Sept. 28): The U.S. as a Superpower – Forrest C. Pogue, “George C.
Marshall: Global Commander”
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Lecture 10 (Sept. 30): The U.S. and Global Governance – Hook & Spanier, Ch. 2
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Lecture 11 (Oct. 5): The Cold War Begins – Harry S. Truman, “The Truman Doctrine”; National Security Council Memo #68 ; George Kennan, “The Sources of Soviet Conduct”; “Cold Warrior—Dean Acheson”
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Lecture 12 (Oct. 7): U.S. Attitudes towards Europe – Hook and Spanier, Ch. 3;
George Marshall, “European Initiative Essential to Economic Recovery”; Brad DeLong and Barry Eichengreen, “The Marshall Plan”
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Poli 346
U.S. Foreign Policy
Fall 2015
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Poli 346
U.S. Foreign Policy
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Lecture 13 (Oct. 14): Facing the Soviets – Time, “Uproar over a Brink”; Dwight D.
Eisenhower, “Farewell Address to the Nation”
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Lecture 14 (Oct. 19): The Cuban Missile Crisis – John F. Kennedy, “Inaugural Address”
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Midterm Oct. 21
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Lecture 15 (Oct. 26): The American-led Economic Order – James Boughton,
“Harry Dexter White and the IMF”; Douglas Irwin, Petros Mavroidis, and Alan
Sykes, “The Genesis of the GATT”
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Lecture 16 (Oct. 28): Breakdown of the American-led Economic Order? – John
Odell, “The U.S. and the Emergence of Flexible Exchange Rates,”; Joanne Gowa,
“State Power, State Policy: Explaining the Closing of the Gold Window”
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Lecture 17 (Nov. 2):Vietnam – Hook and Spanier, Ch. 4; Richard Nixon “The Challenge of Peace”; Richard Nixon, “The Nixon Doctrine”(Video)
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Lecture 18 (Nov. 4): Turning to China — Richard Nixon, “Announcing Acceptance
of Invitation to Visit PRC”; “Henry Kissinger”
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Lecture 19 (Nov. 9): The 1970s: Challenges to American Economic Leadership –
Hook and Spanier, Ch. 5
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Lecture 20 (Nov. 11): Reagan and the Revival of the Cold War – Hook and
Spanier, Ch. 6; Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National
Association of Evangelicals” (Video); Council on Foreign Relations, “Macfarlane on
Reagan’s Foreign Policy”
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Lecture 21 (Nov. 16): The End of the Cold War – Hook and Spanier, Ch. 7; Ronald
Reagan, “Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate”(Video); William Wohlforth, “A Certain
Idea of Science”
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Lecture 22 (Nov. 18): The Unipolar Moment – Hook and Spanier, Ch. 8; George H.
W. Bush, “A New World Order”; William Wohlforth, “The Stability of a Unipolar
World”; Samuel Huntington, “The Lonely Superpower”
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Poli 346
U.S. Foreign Policy
Fall 2015
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Poli 346
U.S. Foreign Policy
Lecture 23 (Nov. 23): September 11: Continuity vs. Change – Hook and Spanier,
Ch. 11; White House, “Excerpts from The National Security Strategy (2002)”; Mackubin Thomas Owens, “Realism, Iraq and the Bush Doctrine”
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Lecture 24 (Nov. 25): Unilateralism, Multilateralism, and Coalitions of the Willing – Hook and Spanier, Ch. 12; Chicago Council on Foreign Relations “Troubled by
Loss of Standing in the World” (MyCourses); David Skidmore, “Understanding the
Unilateralist Turn in U.S. Foreign Policy,” Foreign Policy Analysis 2, 2005, 207–228
(MyCourses)
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Lecture 25 (Nov. 30): Obama’s Foreign Policy -- James Lindsay, “George Bush,
Barack Obama, and the Future of US Global Leadership”; “America’s Path: Grand
Strategy for the Next Administration,” edited by Richard Fontaine and Kristin M.
Lord
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Lecture 26 (Dec. 2): Current Dilemmas -- Hook and Spanier, Ch. 13; Joseph Nye,
“The Future of American Power”
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Lecture 27 (Dec. 7): Assessing Theories of Foreign Policy – Hook and Spanier, Ch.
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Poli 346
U.S. Foreign Policy
Fall 2015
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