POL S 321 A: American Foreign Policy

POL S 321: American Foreign Policy

Class Overview

Welcome to Political Science 321.

This quarter we will critically analyze the historical development of U.S. foreign policy. Proceeding chronologically, we will trace the enduring values, interests, institutions, and processes of American foreign policy to throw into relief modern elements of continuity, of change, and chronic contradiction. We will end by considering contemporary challenges to American Hard and Soft Power as they shape the twenty-first-century international environment.

The course meets the W Credit requirement. 

General Method of Instruction + Assessment

Course Materials: Recorded lectures, documentaries, podcasts, textbook, and readings drawn from the foreign policy literature and popular press. 

Assessments: Three 5-7 page critical response papers, and weekly group discussion (graded).

Instructional Team

Instructor -  Robin Datta
Best Contact -  rdatta@uw.edu
Office Hours - TBD
Location - TBD (Email to arrange web conference)

Teaching Assistants: TBD

Texts and Materials

Kaufman, Joyce P. A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy, 4th Edition. Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. Print. ISBN: 9781442270459. This text is available in ebook format.

Additional readings will be available online.

Regular reading of foreign policy news and opinion in the New York Times is required. Reading of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, two foreign policy journals, is highly recommended.

Recommended Preparation and Learning Goals

Students should have a general awareness of the historical development of the International System during the Twentieth Century.

Regular reading of foreign policy news and opinion is required; Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, two foreign policy journals, are highly recommended.

When you have finished this course, you will be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the historical development of US Foreign Policy;
• demonstrate an understanding of the role that culture and ideology played, and continues to play, in the conceptualization and conduct of US Foreign Policy;
• demonstrate a better understanding of the impact of political pluralism and stakeholder politics on the development and the conduct of US Foreign Policy; and
• use the lessons of history to consider contemporary challenges in foreign policy.

Course Flow

• Getting Started: Course Introduction & Overview
• Lesson 01: What is Foreign Policy?
• Lesson 02: “The American Way” of Foreign Policy
• Lesson 03: Was the US Ever Isolationist?
• Lesson 04: The Rise to Hegemony
• Lesson 05: The Cold War, Containment, and "The Bomb"
• Lesson 06: The Search for a Post-Cold War Center
• Lesson 07: GW Bush and Neo-Sovereignty
• Lesson 08: Obama and Bending History
• Lesson 09: ”The Man With a Hammer” - The Trump Doctrine

Special notes

• Pols 321 is a group start online class in which participants are expected to keep to the course schedule
• A special note for Political Science Majors: This class counts for Field C or D requirements and is a required course for the Security Option in the major.

Image Source: Matt Chase illustration for Horowitz, Michael C. "The Algorithms of August." Foreign Policy (12 September 2018).