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Master of American History and Government

Ashland University

AHG 610:

American Foreign Policy

Sunday, July 27 to Friday, August 1, 2008

Instructors: Stephen Knott and David Krugler

Course Description:

Students examine events and issues in the foreign policy of the American republic. Topics include the major schools of thought and approaches, the connection between domestic and foreign politics, and the connection between the principles of the American regime and its foreign policy. With the permission of the Associate Director, a student may take this course twice.

Learning Objectives:

Course Requirements:

Students auditing the course as a part of a Teaching American History Grant program must complete the readings and fully participate in the seminars during the week.

Required Texts:

Schedule

Sunday, July 27

4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 1 – From 13 Colonies to One Nation (Professor Krugler)

Focus:

How did the leaders of the American Revolution use diplomacy to secure independence from Great Britain? How vital was French aid in the Revolution's success? What terms did American negotiators establish in the 1783 treaty with Great Britain? What principles guided American diplomacy, and what were the major international problems and crises affecting the young republic? Why was neutrality so important to George Washington?

Readings:

7:30 - 9:00pm:
Session 2 – Ashbrook Lecture (Attendance Required)

Monday, July 28

9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 3 – Hamilton vs. Jefferson: Competing Visions of an Ideal Foreign Policy (Professor Knott)

Focus:

Why was the French Revolution such a divisive event for the founding generation? Did the United States have a moral obligation to assist the revolutionary movement in France? What impact did this foreign policy issue have on domestic American politics? Did Hamilton and Jefferson have differing conceptions of presidential power vis a vis foreign policy? Was Hamilton strictly a realist and Jefferson an idealist in foreign policy?

Readings:

10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 4 – Nationhood Put to the Test: The War of 1812 (Professor Knott)

Focus:

Why did the United States abandon diplomacy in favor of war? Why was the infant United States Navy so successful against the world's greatest superpower? Why did the Jeffersonians support the war and the Federalists oppose it? How committed to war was President Madison? The War of 1812 is frequently referred to as the "Second American Revolution," do you agree? What impact did the war have on presidential and congressional power regarding foreign affairs? Did the United States emerge as a stronger or a weaker power in the wake of the war?

Readings:

4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 5 – Origins of the American System (1820s-30s) (Professor Krugler)

Focus:

How did Great Power interests and actions in the Western Hemisphere affect the United States and how did it respond? What, exactly, did the Monroe Doctrine declare-and not declare? How did relations with Native Americans affect U.S. diplomacy? What were the diplomatic implications of the nullification controversy, especially as they related to American sovereignty?

Readings:

Tuesday, July 29

9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 6 – Continental Expansion (Professor Knott)

Focus:

How much of a factor was slavery in fueling American expansionism? Why was the acquisition of Texas deemed such an important element of American foreign policy by a series of American presidents? Why didn't the 'doctrine' of Manifest Destiny extend into the Caribbean? What impact did the war with Mexico have on the stability of the American political order and on American political parties? Was James K. Polk a forerunner of the 20th century "imperial" presidents?

Readings:

10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 7 – Civil War Diplomacy (Professor Knott)

Focus:

What tools did President Lincoln have at his disposal to influence foreign powers to side with the Union? What tools did President Davis have? How important were economic factors vs. 'moral' factors in influencing the decisions of the European powers regarding diplomatic recognition of the South? How critical was Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation to winning the Civil War? What covert means where utilized by the Lincoln administration to secure European support?

Readings:

4:30 - 6:00pm: Session 8 – U.S. and the World During Industrialization (Professor Krugler)

Focus:

What were the contours of American diplomacy after the Civil War? How did rapid industrialization and domestic population growth affect international relations? What were America's economic and strategic aims during the 1870s and 1880s? What was the legacy of the Monroe Doctrine? How did Social Darwinism and racism affect American foreign policy? Why did the United States seek territory beyond its continental borders?

Readings:

  • Walter LaFeber, "Springboards and Strategies" and "The Second Industrial Revolution at Home and Abroad," from The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations Vol. II: The American Search for Opportunity, 1865-1913 (Cambridge University Press, 1993), pp. 1-44 (CP p. 121)
  • John A. Kasson, The Monroe Doctrine in 1881,The North American Review 133, no. 301 (December 1881) (CP p. 143)
  • Alfred T. Mahan on Sea Power, 1890 (CP p. 145)
  • Josiah Strong on Anglo-Saxon Predominance, 1891 (CP p. 147)

Wednesday, July 30

9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 9 – Progressive Imperialism, 1890s-1900s (Professor Knott)

Focus:

What motivated "progressives" of this era to endorse American imperialism? Why did President Grover Cleveland object to the annexation of Hawaii? What factors contributed to the Spanish-American War? What differences were there in the foreign policies of Cleveland, William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft? What is the importance of the Roosevelt Corollary? Why was the building of the Panama Canal such a significant accomplishment for U.S. foreign policy? How much of a role did race play in the considerations of American foreign policymakers during this era?

Readings:

10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 10 – Wilsonian Idealism on paper and in practice (Professor Krugler)

Focus:

What was Wilsonian Idealism and what were its sources? How did Woodrow Wilson apply this ideology to the conduct of foreign relations? Why did the United States rescind its neutrality and enter World War I on the Allied side? What did Wilson want to achieve with an Allied victory? Why was there so much domestic opposition to his League of Nations? What was—and is—the legacy of Wilsonian idealism?

Readings:

4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 11 – Seeking an "Empire without Tears" (Professor Krugler)

Focus:

Were the interwar years really a period of isolationism for the United States? How did the nation expand its commercial and economic interests during the 1920s? What was the nature of American intervention in the Caribbean? Was the outlawry of war a viable diplomatic goal? How did the Great Depression, the rise of Nazi Germany, and the popularity of neutrality affect international relations? Why did U.S.-Japanese relations continually deteriorate during the 1930s?

Readings:

Thursday, July 31

9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 12 – The U.S. and World War II (Professor Knott)

Focus:

Why was isolationism such a powerful force in pre-war American attitudes toward the looming conflict? To what extent did Franklin Roosevelt prod the United States into the conflict? Was World War II really a "good war"? Should the U.S. have allied itself with the Soviet Union? Was FDR naďve in his dealings with Stalin? Why did FDR slowly push Churchill aside as the war progressed? Did the U.S. have a moral obligation to avoid bombing Japanese and (to some extent) German cities?

Readings:

  • The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations, vol. III, by Akira Iriye, Ch. 11: "Road to Pearl Harbor" pp. 170-90; Ch. 12: "Global Conflict" pp. 191-216. (CP p. 267)
  • Charles Lindbergh, Neutrality and War (CP p. 291)
  • Franklin Roosevelt, Arsenal of Democracy Speech (CP p. 293)
  • Franklin Roosevelt, Pearl Harbor Speech (CP p. 307)

10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 13 – The Cold War, Containment to Southeast Asia (Professor Krugler)

Focus:

Why did the United States commit itself to stopping the spread of communism after World War II? Could the Cold War have been avoided? How did containment both extend and alter existing traditions in U.S. foreign policy? How did containment and its corollary, what Walter McDougall calls "global meliorism," change over time? Why did the United States go to war in Vietnam?

Readings:

4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 14 – The Cold War, Détente to the Collapse of the Soviet Union (Professor Knott)

Focus:

Was the policy of détente, as practiced by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, a result of the fact that the U.S. had lost its primacy in the Cold War? Conservative critics of détente, including Senator Henry Jackson, argued that détente benefitted the Soviet Union more than the U.S., do you agree? How important was the "China Card" regarding U.S.-Soviet relations? Did détente require the U.S. to abandon its historic commitment to human rights? Conventional wisdom holds that President Reagan broke with the policy of détente, is this true? To what extent does Ronald Reagan deserve credit for the collapse of the Soviet Union?

Readings:

Friday, August 1

9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 15 – The United States and the Middle East, 1990 to the Present (Professor Krugler)

Focus:

What are the patterns of U.S.-Middle East relations since the end of the Cold War? Why did the United States go to war in the Persian Gulf in 1991 and what were the results? How have U.S. diplomats defined America's needs, challenges, and goals in this area of the world? How have acts of terrorism, particularly the September 2001 attacks, impacted American foreign relations? What did the United States know about Osama bin Laden before the attacks? Is America's alliance with Israel the major cause of violence and instability in the Middle East as Anwar Al Darkazally argues, or do the sources of these problems extend far beyond Israel and the United States, as Josef Joffe contends?

Readings:

  • McDougall, pp. 199-222
  • Thomas R. Pickering, "U.S. Policies in the Middle East," U.S. Department of State Dispatch, Vol. 9, Issue 10 (November 1998). (CP p. 389)
  • National Security Archive, "Operation Desert Storm; Ten Years After," National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 39, January 17, 2001. Read Introduction; Documents 2 and 4 (CP p. 395)
  • National Security Archive, "The September 11th Sourcebooks Vol. I: Terrorism and U.S. Policy," National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 55, September 21, 2001. Read Introduction and Document 1 (under "I. Terrorism and Usama bin Ladin") and Document 1 (under "II. Congressional Research Service Reports") (CP p. 413)
  • Anwar Al Darkazally, "U.S. Intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture Vol. 11, Issue 2 (2004): 38-44. (CP p. 447)
  • Josef Joffe, "A World Without Israel," Foreign Policy, Issue 146 (January/February 2005) (CP p. 453)

10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 16 – Review and Questions (Professors Krugler and Knott)

1:30 - 3:00pm:
Session 17 – Final Comprehensive Examination