U.S. Foreign Policy
PSC 2446-11
Fall 2013
Tuesday & Thursday, 12:45 – 2:00pm
2020 K St. #20
Professor Rachel M. Stein
Office: 479 Monroe
Office hours: 2:30-4:30pm on Thursdays
Email: steinr@gwu.edu
Overview of the course
The goal of this course is to introduce students to the academic study of U.S. foreign policy
and to equip them with the analytical tools necessary to think critically about complex
foreign policy issues. The first part of the course focuses on the sources of U.S. foreign
policy, including the intellectual traditions that inform the policy-making process and the
key actors involved in that process. The second part of the course focuses on important
moments in post-1945 U.S. foreign policy. This is not intended as a comprehensive
historical review but as a series of case studies that will illustrate how scholars and policymakers alike have sought to understand and explain key foreign policy decisions. At the
end of the semester, we will apply the theories of foreign policy from part one of the course
and the lessons learned from the historical cases in part two of the course to some
contemporary issues selected by the students.
Learning objectives
This course has three primary learning objectives:
1. To provide students with a broad overview of the academic approaches to
understanding U.S. foreign policy.
2. To illustrate the utility and the limitations of those approaches through the use of
historical case studies.
3. To equip students with the tools necessary to think critically about contemporary
foreign policy issues.
Blackboard
All course documents, including the syllabus, will be posted on the blackboard page for this
course at http://blackboard.gwu.edu. To log on to Blackboard, you will need to use your
Net ID and email password. If you have any questions about how to use the system, try
going to http://helpdesk.gwu.edu.
Readings
You are not required to purchase any materials for this course. Students are expected to
locate journal articles using the library’s electronic resources. Book chapters and articles
that are not available through the library will available on Blackboard. This course has a
substantial amount of reading, which is intended to complement the lectures and serve as a
basis for discussion. Both lectures and readings will be covered on the exams and one is not
a substitute the other.
Class meetings
Class will start on time and I expect students to arrive on time. I will allow the use of
laptops to take notes. However, if a student’s laptop becomes a distraction to the rest of the
class, that student will be asked to leave. The use of cell phones and other electronic
devices is not permitted during class time. Coming to class late or goofing off on your phone
or laptop is disruptive and degrades the quality of your education and that of your fellow
students.
Course requirements
Attendance: I will not take attendance but I strongly recommend that you come to lecture.
You will find it very difficult to do well in the course otherwise.
Midterm exam: The midterm exam will cover Part 1 of the course and will take place during
class on October 8th.
Paper: Students will write a 5-7 page paper focused on Part 2 of the course. Topics will be
distributed after the midterm and papers will be due in class on November 21st.
Final exam: A final exam will be held in the assigned exam slot for this course.
Course grades
Your grade will be a weighted average of the following elements.
Midterm exam
Paper
Final exam
30%
30%
40%
At the end of the semester, I will calculate your grade and then round up to the nearest
whole number. I will assign letter grades as follows: A (93-100), A- (90-92), B+ (87-89), B
(83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79), C (73-76), C- (70-72), D (60-69), F (0-59). Note that there
are no +/- grades in the D or F range. Grades for this course will not be curved.
Other important information about grading for this course:
 If you have any questions about the grade you received on a particular assignment, I
am happy to discuss them with you and to suggest strategies for improving your
grades in the future.
 If you do not think that the grade you received reflects the quality of your work you may
formally request a re-grade. To do so, you must submit a written petition that explains
why your grade does not reflect the quality of your work. Be aware that if I re-grade your
assignment, your grade may go up or down and the new grade you receive will be final.
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There will not be opportunities to do extra-credit work to improve your grade or to
re-do assignments.
Late assignments will not be tolerated. Your grade will be lowered by one-half of a
letter grade for each day it is late. If you do not complete an assignment your will
receive a grade of zero.
There are only two exceptions to the late-assignment policy: illness or family
emergency. If either of these circumstances arises, you must notify me before the
assignment is due and you must provide written documentation.
If an assignment falls on a day that you will be observing a religious holiday, we will
work together to find an alternative time for you to complete the assignment. You
must communicate with me in advance of the original due date.
Academic integrity
I expect that students will conduct themselves honorably and that they will do something if
they observe others behaving dishonorably. All work that you submit for this course must
be your own. I will not tolerate any form of academic dishonest. The GW Code of Academic
Integrity defines academic dishonesty as: “cheating of any kind, including misrepresenting
one’s own work, taking credit for the work of others without crediting them and without
appropriate authorization, and the fabrication of information.” Suspected cases of academic
dishonesty will be referred to the Office of Academic Integrity. If you have questions about
what constitutes proper use of published or unpublished sources, please ask me before
turning in your work. Also, please review the Code at
http://www.gwu.edu/~ntegrity/code.html.
Student support
Any student who may need an accommodation based on the potential impact of a disability
should contact the Disability Support Services office at 202-994-8250 in the Marvin Center,
Suite 242, to establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. For
additional information please see http://gwired.gwu.edu/dss/. The University Counseling
Center (UCC) offers 24/7 assistance and referral to address students’ personal, social,
career, and study skills problems. See the following website for more info:
http://gwired.gwu.edu/counsel/CounselingServices/AcademicSupportServices.
PLAN OF THE COURSE
Part 1 – The Sources of U.S. Foreign Policy
August 27th – Introduction to the course
August 29th – Intellectual traditions in U.S. foreign policy
Mead, Walter Russell. 2013. Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It
Changed the World. New York: Routledge. *Read Chapter 3*
September 3rd – The history of U.S. foreign policy in 75 minutes or less
The Constitution of the United States of America. Available at:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
George Washington’s Farewell Address. Available at:
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp
The National Security Strategy of the United States, 2010. Available at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/defense
September 5th – The executive branch and foreign policy
Saunders, Elizabeth N. 2009. “Transformative Choices: Leaders and the Origins of
Intervention Strategy.” International Security 34 (2): 119–161.
Dafoe, Allan, and Devin Caughey. 2012. “Honor and War: Southern US Presidents
and the Effects of Concern for Reputation.”
September 10th – Congress and foreign policy
Lindsay, James M. 1992. “Congress and Foreign Policy: Why the Hill Matters.”
Political Science Quarterly 107 (4): 607–628.
Howell, William G., and Jon C. Pevehouse. 2007. “When Congress Stops Wars:
Partisan Politics and Presidential Power.” Foreign Affairs 86 (5): 95–107.
September 12th – The influence of the press
Zaller, John, and Dennis Chiu. 1996. “Government’s Little Helper: US Press Coverage
of Foreign Policy Crises, 1945–1991.” Political Communication 13 (4): 385–405.
Kennan, George F. 1993. “Somalia, Through a Glass Darkly.” The New York Times,
September 30.
Hodge, Jr., James F. 1994. “Media Pervasiveness.” Foreign Affairs 73 (4): 136–144.
September 17th – The influence of special interest groups
Mearsheimer, John J., and Stephen M. Walt. 2006. “The Israel Lobby and US Foreign
Policy.” Middle East Policy 13 (3): 29–87.
Massing, Michael. 2006. “The Storm over the Israel Lobby.” The New York Review of
Books, June 8.
September 19th – The influence of the bureaucracy
McCormick, James M. 2012. The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy:
Insights and Evidence. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. *Read Chapter 19*
Art, Robert J. 1973. “Bureaucratic Politics and American Foreign Policy: A Critique.”
Policy Sciences 4 (4): 467–490.
Sebtember 24th – The influence of the military and the intelligence community
McCormick, James M. 2012. The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy:
Insights and Evidence. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. *Read Chapters 6 & 15*
September 26th – The influence of public opinion
Aldrich, John H., John L. Sullivan, and Eugene Borgida. 1989. “Foreign Affairs and
Issue Voting: Do Presidential Candidates ‘Waltz Before A Blind Audience?’” The
American Political Science Review 83 (1): 123–141.
Foyle, Douglas C. 1997. “Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Elite Beliefs as a
Mediating Variable.” International Studies Quarterly 41 (1): 141–170.
October 1st – The international system
Putnam, Robert D. 1988. “Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two-level
Games.” International Organization 42 (3): 427–460.
Rose, Gideon. 1998. “Neoclassical Realism and Theories of Foreign Policy.” World
Politics 51: 144–172.
October 3rd – Part 1 wrap-up and midterm review
October 8th – MIDTERM EXAM
Part 2 – Key Moments in U.S. Foreign Policy Since 1945
October 10th – The origins of the Cold War
Gaddis, John Lewis. 2005. Strategies of Containment  : A Critical Appraisal of
American National Security Policy During the Cold War. Oxford University Press.
*Read Chapters 1-3*
October 15th – The Cuban missile crisis, part 1
May, Ernest R., and Philip Zelikow. 2002. The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House
During the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. *Read the
Introduction*
President Kennedy’s Speech to the Nation on October 22, 1962. Available at:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkcubanmissilecrisis.html
October 17th – The Cuban missile crisis, part 2
Allison, Graham T. 1969. “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis.” The
American Political Science Review 63 (3): 689–718.
Krasner, Stephen D. 1972. “Are Bureaucracies Important? (or Allison Wonderland).”
Foreign Policy (7): 159–179.
Scott, Len, and Steve Smith. 1994. “Lessons of October: Historians, Political
Scientists, Policy-Makers and the Cuban Missile Crisis.” International Affairs 70 (4):
659–684.
October 22nd – The Vietnam War, Part 1
Logevall, Fredrik. 2004. “Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam.” Presidential Studies
Quarterly 34 (1): 100–112
Katz, Andrew Z. 1997. “Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: The Nixon Administration
and the Pursuit of Peace with Honor in Vietnam.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 27
(3): 496–513.
October 24th – The Vietnam War, Part 2
Thompson, James C. 1968. “How Could Vietnam Happen? An Autopsy.” Atlantic
Monthly, April.
Gelb, Leslie H. 1971. “Vietnam: The System Worked.” Foreign Policy (3): 140–167.
Laird, Melvin R. 2005. “Iraq: Learning the Lessons of Vietnam.” Foreign Affairs 84
(6): 22–43.
October 31st – The end of the Cold War
Huntington, Samuel P. 1993. “The Clash of Civilizations?” Foreign Affairs: 22–49.
Fukuyama, Francis. 1989. “The End of History.” National Interest.
November 5th – Somalia and humanitarian intervention
Powell, Colin L. 1992. “U.S. Forces: Challenges Ahead.” Foreign Affairs 71 (5): 32–45.
Western, Jon. 2002. “Sources of Humanitarian Intervention: Beliefs, Information,
and Advocacy in the US Decisions on Somalia and Bosnia.” International Security 26
(4): 112–142.
November 7th – The U.S. response to September 11th
President George W. Bush’s Speech to the Nation on September 20, 2001. Available
at: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/gw-bush-9-11.htm
McCartney, Paul T. 2004. “American Nationalism and U.S. Foreign Policy from
September 11 to the Iraq War.” Political Science Quarterly 119 (3): 399–423.
Jervis, Robert. 2003. “Understanding the Bush Doctrine.” Political Science Quarterly
118 (3): 365–388.
November 12th – The War in Iraq, part 1
Western, Jon. 2005. “The War over Iraq: Selling War to the American Public.”
Security Studies 14 (1): 106–139.
Gershkoff, Amy, and Shana Kushner. 2005. “Shaping Public Opinion: The 9/11-Iraq
Connection in the Bush Administration’s Rhetoric.” Perspectives on Politics 3 (3):
525–537.
November 14th – The War in Iraq, part 2
Walt, Stephen M. 2012. “Top 10 Lessons of the Iraq War.” Foreign Policy, March 20.
Lebovic, James H. 2010. The Limits of U.S. Military Capability: Lessons from Vietnam
and Iraq. Baltimore: JHU Press. *Read Chapter 6*
November 19th – Foreign Policy Under President Obama
Obama, Barack. 2007. “Renewing American Leadership.” Foreign Affairs 86(4):2–16.
November 21st – Current issues: TBD
Readings will be assigned once a topic is selected.
November 26th – Current issues: TBD
Readings will be assigned once a topic is selected.
November 28th – NO CLASS, THANKSGIVING BREAK
December 3rd – The future of U.S. foreign policy
McCormick, James M. 2012. The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy:
Insights and Evidence. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. * Read Chapters 1 & 2*
December 5th – Final exam review session