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Abstract/Syllabus:
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Van Evera, Stephen, 17.40 American Foreign Policy: Past, Present, and Future, Fall 2004. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare), http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed 09 Jul, 2010). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
American Foreign Policy: Past, Present, and Future
Fall 2004
World map. (Map courtesy of Quick Maps.)
Course Highlights
This course features an extensive reading list addressing a wide range of American foreign policy topics.
Course Description
The mission for this course is to explain and evaluate past and present United States policies. What caused the United States' past involvement in foreign wars and interventions? Were the results of U.S. policies good or bad? Would other policies have better served the U.S. and/or the wider world? Were the beliefs that guided U.S. policy true or false? If false, what explains these misperceptions? General theories that bear on the causes and consequences of American policy will be applied to explain and evaluate past and present policies.
The history of United States foreign policy in the 20th century is covered in detail. Functional topics are also covered: U.S. military policy, U.S. foreign economic policy, and U.S. policy on human rights and democracy overseas. Finally, we will predict and prescribe for the future. What policies should the U.S. adopt toward current problems and crises? These problems include the war against Al Qaeda and the wider war on terror; Iraq and Saddam Hussein; the Taiwan Straits; the Central African conflicts; and more. What should be the U.S. stance on global environmental and human rights questions?
*Some translations represent previous versions of courses.
Syllabus
A HASS Communications-Intensive Course
Course Mission
To explain and evaluate past and present United States foreign policies. What caused the United States' past involvement in foreign wars and interventions? Were the results of U.S. policies good or bad? Would other policies have better served the U.S. and/or the wider world? Were the beliefs that guided U.S. policy true or false? If false, what explains these misperceptions? General theories that bear on the causes and consequences of American policy will be applied to explain and evaluate past and present policies.
The history of United States foreign policy in the 20th century is covered in detail. Functional topics are also covered: U.S. military policy, U.S. foreign economic policy, and U.S. policy on human rights and democracy overseas. Finally, we will predict and prescribe for the future. What policies should the U.S. adopt toward current problems and crises? These problems include the war against Al Qaeda and the wider war on terror; Iraq and Saddam Hussein; the Taiwan Straits; the Central African conflicts; and more. What should be the U.S. stance on global environmental and human rights questions?
This is a HASS Communications Intensive course, and so helps fulfill the HASS CI requirement. Communications intensive subjects in the humanities, arts, and social sciences require at least 20 pages of writing divided among 3-5 assignments. Of these 3-5 assignments, at least one should be revised and resubmitted. HASS CI subjects further offer students substantial opportunity for oral expression, through presentations, student-led discussions, or class participation. In order to guarantee sufficient attention to student writing and substantial opportunity for oral expression, the maximum number of students per section in a HASS CI subject is 18, except in the case of a subject taught without sections (where the faculty member in charge is the only instructor). In that case, enrollments can rise to 25, if a writing fellow is attached to the subject.
This is an undergraduate course but is open to graduate students.
Format and Requirements
Class Format
Two 1-hour general meetings and one 1-hour discussion section meeting per week.
Grades are based on section participation (15%), two 8-page papers (40%), final exam (30%), and two quizzes (15%). Students must also complete three ungraded response papers that react to class readings or lectures. The five writing assignments will total 20 pages. One of the 8-page papers must be submitted in draft for comments for rewrite. There will be a public speaking exercise in section. Sections will include 10 students or fewer. Thus this course conforms to the mechanical requirements for all HASS communication-intensive courses.
Discussion Sections
Students are expected to complete required readings before section and to attend section regularly. Section attendance is mandatory. Unexcused absence from section will be penalized.
Sections will include a public speaking exercise, in the format of "congressional hearings" where you are asked to frame and defend to the group a viewpoint on a foreign policy issue.
Papers
Students will write two short ungraded response papers that react to course readings and lectures, and two longer papers on questions arising from the course material. The two response papers each will be two pages long (double-spaced--not 1.5-spaced, please). The longer papers will be 8 pages. One 8-page paper assignment asks you to explain a past case of American conduct--what accounts for American behavior? A second 8-page assignment asks you to evaluate a past American policy: was the policy appropriate, or would another policy have produced better results?
The first ungraded response paper is due in the week of class #6, #7; the second is due in the week of class #11, #12. The first 8-page paper is due in class #18. The second is due in class #24.
We require that you submit a rough draft of at least one of your 8-page papers before its due date in order to get comments for rewrite from your TA. You are wise to submit both papers to your TA for comments. So please leave yourself time to get comments on drafts of the 8-page papers from your TAs before you submit final drafts.
Your two response papers should advance an argument about the reading or lectures. Your argument can dispute argument(s) advanced in the reading or lectures; can concur with argument(s) advanced in the reading or lecture; can assess or explain policies or historical events described in the reading and lectures; or can relate current events in the press today to ideas or events in the readings or lectures. We encourage evaluation of policies or ideas covered in the reading or lecture. Are they right or wrong? Good or bad? Somewhere in your paper--preferably at the beginning--please offer a 1-2 sentence summary of your argument. Both papers should be about two typed pages (double-spaced, with standard one-inch margins on left, right, top and bottom). They will not be graded but are mandatory and must be completed to receive full credit for class participation.
Late papers will be penalized unless extensions are granted well in advance of the paper deadline. Extensions will not be granted except in emergency situations.
Your papers may be improved by keeping up with current international affairs during the semester. Three publications offer especially excellent coverage: the New York Times, the Economist (a weekly), and the Far Eastern Economic Review (also a weekly).
Your papers and public speaking may also be improved by seeking help fromMIT's Writing and Communications Center . They give good writing advice and have useful practice facilities for public speaking.
Quizzes
Two short (15 minute) quizzes will be given in class #9, and class #20. Three short (define-and-identify) questions will be asked on each quiz.
Final Exam
A list of study questions will be circulated before the final. The final exam questions will be drawn from this list. Students are encouraged to study together to prepare their answers. The final will also include short-answer questions that will not be distributed in advance.
Films
The 17.40 film society. Two optional evening film-showings will be organized during the term, on topics to be chosen by acclamation of the class, with advice from 17.40 film maven Daniel Landau. Topics could include the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, or other subjects.
Books to Purchase
Paterson, Thomas G., J. Garry Clifford, and Kenneth J. Hagan. American Foreign Relations. Vol. 2: A History Since 1895. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. ISBN 9780395938874.
Gaddis, John Lewis. Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of Postwar American National Security Policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1982. ISBN: 9780195030976.
Herring, George C. America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. 3rd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1995. ISBN: 9780070283930.
Kennedy, Robert F. Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1999/1971. ISBN: 9780393318340.
A book that will improve your papers (also used for another course - 17.432):
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed. Rev. by John Grossman and Alice Bennett. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. ISBN: 00226816273.
Turabian is not required for 17.40 but you will want to own a copy. She has the basic rules for how to format footnotes, etc. Learn and obey them.
Assigned readings average 85 pages per week over 14 weeks. However, note that readings are heavier for some weeks. You should plan ahead and budget your time so you can complete the heavy readings.
Papers
Calendar
| LEC # |
TOPICS |
KEY DATES |
| Theories and Strategies |
| 1 |
Introduction |
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| 2 |
Overview of American Foreign Policy Since 1914 |
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| 3-5 |
Theories of American Foreign Policy |
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| 6-8 |
American Interests and Grand Strategies |
First response paper due in sections (2 pages) |
| America's Major Wars: World War I, World War II, Cold War, and Korea |
| 9-11 |
World War I and World War II |
Quiz in class |
| 12-13 |
Cold War Origins and Conduct
The Korean War |
Second response paper due in sections (2 pages)
Paper topics handed out |
| Interlude: U.S. National Security Policy; The Terror War; U.S. Foreign Economic Policy |
| 14 |
American National Security Policy, 1945-Present |
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| 15-16 |
The U.S. War on Terror |
Outlines/rough drafts of first paper due in class |
| 17-18 |
American Foreign Economic Policy, 1945-1999 |
First paper due in class (8 pages) |
| Cold War Crises: Berlin, Taiwan Straits, and Cuba 1962 |
| 19-20 |
The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
Other Cold War Crises |
Quiz in class |
| American Interventions in the Third World |
| 21-22 |
The Indochina War, 1950-1975 |
Outlines/rough drafts of second paper due in class |
| 23-24 |
Other American Interventions: Those of 1900-1934, 1945-1993 |
Second paper due in class (8 pages) |
| The Road Ahead: Current Crises and Future Policies |
| 25-26 |
The Cold War's Demise
Current Crises
The Future of American Foreign Policy |
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Further Reading:
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Readings
Required Texts
Paterson, Thomas G., J. Garry Clifford, and Kenneth J. Hagan. American Foreign Relations. Vol. 2: A History Since 18903959388725. 5th ed. Boston, MA,: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. ISBN: 9780395938874.
Gaddis, John Lewis. Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of Postwar American National Security Policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1982. ISBN: 9780195030976.
Herring, George C. America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. 3rd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1995. ISBN: 9780070283930.
Kennedy, Robert F. Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1999/1971. ISBN: 9780393318340.
A book that will improve your papers (also used for another course - 17.432):
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed. Rev. by John Grossman and Alice Bennett. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. ISBN: 00226816273.
Turabian is not required for 17.40 but you will want to own a copy. She has the basic rules for how to format footnotes, etc. Learn and obey them.
In addition to the readings given in the table, see the bibliographies for further reading.
Readings
| LEC # |
TOPICS |
READINGS |
| Theories and Strategies |
| 1 |
Introduction |
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| 2 |
Overview of American Foreign Policy Since 1914 |
Kennedy, Paul. Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Tables.
Oye, Kenneth, ed. Eagle in a New World. Tables.
Class discussion will focus on tables 6, 17, 18, 31, 35, 4-1, and chart 2 on pages 3, 6, 7, 15, 16, 19, and 20 (handwritten numeration), so study these seven with more care; skim the rest. |
| 3-5 |
Theories of American Foreign Policy |
Van Evera, Stephen. "Offense, Defense and the Causes of War." Manuscript, 1-36.
Your instructor's summary of the argument, made famous by Robert Jervis, that war is more likely when conquest is easy. A key related argument: international conflict arises largely from the "security dilemma"—the tendency of states to threaten others' security by their efforts to secure themselves.
Can the U.S. prevent war by making conquest hard in world trouble-spots?
Have America's past conflict with others arisen from the security dilemma?
Walt, Stephen. "Explaining Alliance Formation." Chapter 2 in The Origins of Alliances. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990, pp. 17-49.
Walt presents competing hypotheses on how states choose their friends. Which hypotheses are valid? Do your answers matter for the kind of foreign policy you would recommend?
Jervis, Robert. Perception and Misperception in International Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976, pp. 58-84.
Some ("spiral model" advocates) say international conflict is best resolved by the carrot, while using the stick merely provokes; others ("deterrence" advocates) would use the stick, warning that offering carrots ("appeasement") leads others to make more demands. Who's right? Probably both—but under what circumstances? And how can you tell which circumstances you face?
Isaacson, Walter, and Evan Thomas. The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1986, pp. 171-173, 731-733.
Does the American foreign policy elite share America's wider democratic values? We learn here that George Kennan thought women, blacks, and immigrants should be denied the vote; Kennan and Dean Acheson saw little wrong with the white minority governments in Rhodesia and South Africa; and John McCloy adopted the cause of Iran's Pahlevi family. Not your typical League of Women Voters views.
Hersh, Seymour. The Price of Power. New York, NY: Summit, 1983, pp. 108-111.
What to make of the attitudes of Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and Alexander Haig reported here? (Are such attitudes widespread among foreign policymakers? Do such attitudes matter?)
Pearson, David. "The Media and Government Deception." Propaganda Review (Spring 1989): 6-11.
Pearson thinks the American press is obedient to official views, and afraid to criticize. Anti-establishment paranoia or the real picture?
Jordan, Eason. "The News We Kept To Ourselves." New York Times, April 11, 2003.
The press can be cowed into practicing self-censorship. This allows tyrants to intimidate the press into painting themselves in rose-colored hues.
Kristoff, Nicholas. "Save Our Spooks." New York Times, May 30, 2003.
Governments misperceive the world if their intelligence agencies misreport foreign realities. This can happen if government leaders press their intelligence agencies to tell the leaders what they want to hear regardless of the facts.
Beschloss, Michael R. "Foreign Policy's Big Moment." New York Times, April 11, 1999.
Claimed here: during political campaigns U.S. politicians pander to U.S. voters by framing dangerous foreign policy positions that they cannot abandon once in office. The country is thereby led into folly. A corollary: a prime threat to America is ... an American public that responds well to irresponsible pandering.
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| 6-8 |
American Interests and Grand Strategies |
Gaddis. Strategies of Containment. pp. 3-53.
George Kennan was a prime intellectual architect of America's Cold War containment policy. In pages 25-53 Gaddis explicates his ideas.
Van Evera, Stephen. "American Intervention in the Third World: Less Would Be Better." Security Studies 1, no. 1 (Autumn 1991): 1-24.
The instructor's largely Kennanite analysis of past American strategy toward the Third World.
Posen, Barry R., and Andrew L. Ross. "Competing U.S. Grand Strategies." In Strategy and Force Planning Faculty. Edited by Strategy and Force Planning. Newport, RI: Naval War College Press, 1995, pp. 115-134.
A survey of four contending post-Cold War grand strategies. Which strategy is best? (Is this list complete?)
Sanger, David E. "Bush to Formalize A Defense Policy of Hitting First." New York Times, June 17, 2002.
The Bush Administration has embraced a general doctrine of preventive war against rogue states that aspire to develop weapons of mass destruction. Iraq is only the first rogue state that the administration would attack. Good idea?
Lieber, Keir A., and Robert J. Lieber. "The Bush National Security Strategy." U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda, An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State 7, no. 4 (December 2002).
A friendly summary and assessment of the 2002 U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS), the document that frames the main elements of the strategy selected by the Bush II Administration, including its general doctrine of preventive war (see Sanger, "Bush to Formalize," directly above).
Ikenberry, G. John. "America's Imperial Ambition." Foreign Affairs 81, no. 5 (September/October 2002).
The Bush Administration has embarked on a fateful imperial rampage. It will end badly. Others will eventually coalesce to check the U.S.
"American Imperialism, Embraced." The New York Times Magazine. December 9, 2001.
Ricks, Thomas E. "Empire or Not? A Quiet Debate over U.S. Role." Washington Post. August 21, 2001.
More color on rising arguments for a U.S. empire in the U.S. conservative movement. Do Tom Donnelly and William Kristol have a good idea?
Lind, Michael. Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2003, pp. 128-153.
What's causing the rise of imperialist thinking in Washington? Lind argues that the Bush coalition includes dangerous elements, including millennialist Christians who want to take U.S. Mideast policy in dangerous directions.
Lieber, Robert. "The Neoconservative Conspiracy Theory: Pure Myth." Chronicle of Higher Education, May 2, 2003.
Lieber disputes claims that a neoconservative clique dominates Bush foreign policy.
Kaufmann, Chaim. "See No Evil." Foreign Affairs 81, no. 4 (July/August 2002): 142-149.
The U.S. could have stopped genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and elsewhere but chose not to. Good choice? Should the U.S. intervene to prevent such horrors?
Cooper, Glenda. "U.S. Memos on Rwanda Cited." Boston, Globe, August 23, 2001.
More color on U.S. inaction in Rwanda.
Kristof, Nicholas D. "Starved for Safety." New York Times, March 31, 2004.
Another genocide is now unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan, where the Sudanese government is slaughtering inconvenient peoples by the thousands. Should the U.S. act? See Kristof's website for more columns on this horrific crime.
Gelb, Leslie H., and Justine A. Rosenthal. "The Rise of Ethics in Foreign Policy." Foreign Affairs 82, no. 3 (May/June 2003): 2-7.
Ethical concerns once played little role in U.S. foreign policy; now they have an important place at the table.
Revkin, Andrew C. "Scientists Say a Quest for Clean Energy Must Begin Now." New York Times, November 1, 2002.
A new study warns that we must start looking for clean energy sources now or we may destroy the planet. Later may be too late. No kidding. This will require broad international cooperation. Sadly we're not very good at international cooperation. Oh dear.
Bradsher, Keith. "Bird Flu is Back, Raising Fear of Spread Among Humans." New York Times, August 30, 2004.
The 1918 flu killed 675,000 Americans—more than the two World Wars combined. Bummer. Could it happen again? Maybe! The current avian flu in Asia is mighty scary. What's the answer? Worldwide preventive action. Again, everyone must cooperate. Hence this is a foreign policy problem. |
| America's Major Wars: World War I, World War II, Cold War, and Korea |
| 9-11 |
World War I and World War II |
Paterson, Clifford, and Hagan. American Foreign Policy. pp. 55-62, 68-92, 117-125, 128-136, 141-153, 173-215.
A standard textbook history of American policies before and during the two world wars. |
| 12-13 |
Cold War Origins and Conduct
The Korean War |
Cold war origins and conduct
Paterson, Clifford, and Hagan. American Foreign Policy. pp. 222-249.
A standard textbook account of the Cold Wars's origins, from a viewpoint somewhat critical of U.S. policy.
Korea
Paterson, Clifford, and Hagan. American Foreign Policy. pp. 266-275. |
| Interlude: U.S. National Security Policy; The Terror War; U.S. Foreign Economic Policy |
| 14 |
American National Security Policy, 1945-Present |
Jordan, Amos A., William J. Taylor, and Lawrence J. Korb. "The Evolution of American National Security Policy." Chapter 4 in American National Security: Policy and Process. 4th ed. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, pp. 63-86.
Gaddis. Strategies of Containment, pp. 54-197. Review also pp. 3-53.
An excellent analytic account of American security policy under Truman and Eisenhower, by a leading American historian.
Rees, Martin. Our Final Hour: A Scientist's Warning: How Terror, Error, and Environmental Disaster Threaten Humankind's Future in this Century—On Earth and Beyond. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2003, pp. 41-60, 73-88.
The advance of science has a fearsome byproduct: we are discovering ever more powerful means of destruction. These destructive powers are being democratized: the mayhem that only major states can do today may lie within the capacity of millions of individuals in the future unless we somehow change course. Deterrence works against states but will fail against crazed non-state organizations or individuals. How can the spread of destructive powers be controlled?
For more on controlling the longterm bioweapons danger see: The Controlling Dangerous Pathogens Project.
Kelly, Henry C. "Terrorism and the Biology Lab." New York Times, July 2, 2003.
The biology profession must realize that its research, if left unregulated, could produce discoveries that gravely threaten our safety. Biologists must develop a strategy to keep biology from being used for destructive ends.
Meselson, Matthew. "Averting the Hostile Exploitation of Biotechnology." CBWCB (June 2000): 16-19.
We must pursue arms control measures to limi the spread of biological weapons.
"Nuclear Breakout." New York Times, July 27, 2003.
"Curb the Spread of Nuclear Arms." New York Times, July 29, 2003 (letters).
A snippet arguing that to halt nuclear proliferation the world must strengthen the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Today that treaty doesn't even ban the enrichment of uranium or reprocessing of plutonium, the two basic methods of making nuclear bombs. Let's do something about it! And letters in reaction.
Perry, William. "Preparing for the Next Attack." Foreign Affairs 80, no. 6 (November/December 2001): 31-45.
Perry, a former U.S. Defense Secretary, warns that al Qaeda will strike again, this time with weapons of mass destruction, unless we avert their attack. He's cool toward national missile defense—a favorite Bush administration project—because Al Qaeda won't use missiles to send us its horrors.
Seitz, Frederick. "Missile Defense Isn't Rocket Science." Wall Street Journal. July 7, 2000.
A positive view of national missile defense.
For more discussion of the latest U.S. strategy statement see the "Defense Strategy Review Page " of the Project on Defense Alternatives. |
| 15-16 |
The U.S. War on Terror |
"The Uranium Underground." Time, December 17, 2001, 40-45.
Vast amounts of nuclear materials are swishing around the former Soviet Union unguarded—enough to build tens of thousands of atomic bombs. Washington doesn't seem to care much. Is this stupid or what? Duck and cover!
Benjamin, Daniel, and Steven Simon. The Age of Sacred Terror. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Random House, 2003, pp. 38-55, 61-68, 91-94, 447-489.
Pages 38-55, 62-68, 91-94 describe the Islamist currents of thinking that spawned Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda's violence stems from a stream of Islamist thought going back to ibn Taymiyya, a bellicose Islamic thinker from the 13th century; to Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792), the harsh and rigid shaper of modern Saudi Arabian Islam; to Rashid Rida (1866-1935) and Hassan al-Banna (?-1949); and above all to Sayyid Qutb (?-1966), the shaper of modern Islamism. Taymiyya, al-Wahhab and Qutb are covered here. Covered also (pp. 91-94) is the frightening rise of apocalyptic thinking in the Islamic world. What causes the murderous thinking described here?
Pages 447-489 are a survey and evaluation of Bush administration counter-terror strategies.
Not assigned but also valuable are pages 219-393, a survey of Clinton administration counter-terror strategies and policies.
Chyba, Christopher F. "Toward Biological Security." Foreign Affairs 81, no. 3 (May/June 2002): 122-137.
The danger posed by biological weapons in terrorist hands may be even scarier than the danger of nuclear weapons.
Chait, Jonathan. "The 9/10 President." New Republic, March 10, 2003, 18-23.
The Bush Administration's program for homeland security is surprisingly lame. There are big holes in the homeland security program.
Schwartz, Stephen. "The Real Saudi Arabia." Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2003.
Al-Hattan, Sulaiman. "Homegrown Fanatics." New York Times, May 15, 2003.
Saudi Arabian society is dominated by a hateful and xenophobic version of Islam—Wahhabism. Unless Wahhabism is tempered Saudi Arabia will export more terror against the non-Muslim world. |
| 17-18 |
American Foreign Economic Policy, 1945-Present |
"World Trade: Jousting for Advantage." The Economist, September 22, 1990, 5-25.
"World Trade: All Free Traders Now?" The Economist, December 7, 1996, 21-23.
The first item is a pro-free-trade survey of the basic questions in trade, and a preview of the now-passed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), Uruguay Round. Focus on pages 12-19, "The Economics of Free Trade," which explicates David Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage; you can skim the rest. The second item surveys later trade issues.
"Pakistanis Fume as Clothing Sales to U.S. Tumble." New York Times, June 23, 2002.
The U.S. could provide large benefit to the poor of Pakistan by dropping its barriers to the import of Pakistani textiles. This could also jolly up the Pakistanis to support the U.S terror war. But the U.S. textile lobby won't allow it. U.S. special interests override the U.S. national interest. Too bad for you and me.
"Raising Farm Subsidies, U.S. Widens International Rift." New York Times, June 15, 2002.
The U.S. waves the free trade banner—except when it doesn't want to. U.S. strictures on imports of agricultural products and textiles are a major blow to the world's poor.
Shelton, Judy. "More Aid? Sounds Great. But Wait ..." Wall Street Journal, February 15, 2002.
Shoving money at poor states doesn't make them richer. Instead western societies should help poor states improve their governance—i.e., to control corruption and bolster the rule of law. Better economic performance will follow. |
| Cold War Crises: Berlin, Taiwan Straits, and Cuba 1962 |
| 19-20 |
The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
Other Cold War Crises |
Paterson, Clifford, and Hagan. American Foreign Policy, pp. 291-295 and 335-340.
Standard synopses of the Taiwan Straits crises and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Kennedy. Thirteen Days, 1-106.
A gripping memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by a central participant.
Kaplan, Fred. "Kennedy and Cuba at 35." Boston, Sunday Globe, October 12, 1997, D1-D3.
Later revelations about the Cuban Missile Crisis. JFK was the most dovish official in the government. He secretly traded the U.S. Jupiter missiles in Turkey for the Soviet missiles in Cuba. He was willing to give even further if needed. What if someone else had been president?
For more on the Cuban Missile Crisis you can visit an excellent website on the crisis put together by the National Security Archive. Documents can be seen, tapes can be listened to, and intelligence photos can be viewed at this site. And for more sources on the crisis see a website from Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. |
| American Interventions in the Third World |
| 21-22 |
The Indochina War, 1950-1975 |
Paterson, Clifford, and Hagan. American Foreign Policy, pp. 315-333, 340-354.
Herring. America's Longest War, Chapters 4 and 7, pp. 121-157, 242-283.
A more detailed account, from a middle-of-the-road perspective, of the key decisions to escalate and de-escalate the war. Herring's book is the most prominent general history of the war.
Johnson, Lyndon B. "American Policy in Viet-Nam." In The Viet-Nam Reader. Edited by Marcus G. Raskin and Bernard B. Fall. New York, NY: Vintage, 1967, pp. 343-351.
This statement, Johnson's famous Johns Hopkins University speech of April 7, 1965, was the fullest official explication of the case for the war.
Sanders, Sol W., and William Henderson. "The Consequences of 'Vietnam." Orbis 21, no. 1 (Spring 1977): 61-76.
The authors re-evaluate the propositions at issue in the debate over the war, concluding that postwar events show that the hawks were right and the doves wrong.
Clifford, Clark and Richard Holbrooke. Counsel to the President. New York, NY: Random House, 1991, pp. 612-614.
A short counterpoint to Sanders and Henderson.
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| 23-24 |
Other American Interventions and Non-Interventions |
Those of 1900-1934 (Panama, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Mexico, Russia); 1945-1993 (Iran 1953, Guatemala 1954, Chile 1973, Angola 1975, Indonesia 1957, Guyana 1964, Congo 1960ff, the wars of the Reagan Doctrine, Panama 1989, Persian Gulf 1991, Somalia 1992-93); and non-interventions (Mexico in 1930s; Bolivia in 1950s).
Paterson, Clifford, and Hagan. American Foreign Policy. pp. 32-51, 97-101, 153-162, 164-167, 379-383, 440-446, 477-493.
Barnet, Richard J. "The Subversion of Undesirable Governments." Chapter 10 in Intervention and Revolution: America's Confrontation with Insurgent Movements Around the World. New York, NY: Meridian, 1972, pp. 264-293.
A short history of some of the better-known CIA Cold War covert operations.
Schraeder, Peter J. "Paramilitary Intervention." Chapter 8 in Intervention Into the 1990s. 2nd ed.Edited by Peter J. Schraeder. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner, 1992, pp. 131-151.
Focus on pages 137-149 ("The Reagan Doctrine and Paramilitary Intervention"), skim the rest. The four wars waged under the rubric of the Reagan Doctrine are described here.
Pollack, Kenneth. The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq. New York, NY: Random House, 2002, pp.11-54.
How did the U.S. confrontation with Saddam Hussein develop? Pollack offers excellent background.
Bumiller, Elisabeth. "Was a Tyrant Prefigured by Baby Saddam?" New York Times, May 15, 2004.
Saddam Hussein was severely abused as a child and as a result suffered narcissism and other personality disorders. Does this help explain the 1991 and 2003 Iraq wars? Can the U.S. deter or coerce such people if it better understands their personal demons?
Zeller, Tom. "Building Democracy is Not a Science." New York Times, April 27, 2003.
The United States' mixed record at exporting democracy by intervention is summarized here. |
| The Road Ahead: Current Crises and Future Policies |
| 25-26 |
Current Issues and Crises
Overviews of Bush Administration Foreign Policy
The Future of American Foreign policy |
Huntington, Samuel P. "The Coming Clash of Civilizations: Or, the West Against the Rest." New York Times, June 6, 1993.
Humankind will again be at its own throat, this time in a confrontation of great civilizations.
Kristoff, Nicholas D. "The Real Chinese Threat." New York Times Magazine, August 27, 1995, 50-51.
The Chinese are coming.
Kagan, Robert. "China's No. 1 Enemy." New York Times, May 11, 1999, A27.
China hates the United States. Appeasing China will only encourage Chinese expansionism and bring on a Sino-American clash. Let's get tough on China.
Note: In 2003-2004 the Bush Administration found itself cooperating with China against the grave threat posed by North Korea's advancing nuclear weapons program. What light does this shed on Kagan's argument?
Freeman, Chas. W., Jr. "Preventing War in the Taiwan Strait." Foreign Affairs 77, no. 4 (July/August 1998): 6-11.
Taiwan could suck the U.S. into a Taiwan-PRC conflict unless the U.S. restrains Taiwan now.
Kristof, Nicholas D. "The Nuclear Shadow." New York Times, August 14, 2004.
We are losing control of nuclear weapons. No one in Washington seems to care. A collective snore is heard from the government. This is a recipe for immense calamity. Isn't it obvious that unless we take prompt action terrorists will get hold of nuclear materials, make nuclear weapons, and nuke us until we glow?
Perkovich, George. "Bush's Nuclear Revolution." Foreign Affairs 82, no. 2 (March/April 2003): 2-8.
A traditional arms controller's view of how to limit nuclear proliferation: "Strengthen treaties that limit proliferation; downsize the U.S. nuclear arsenal; move toward total nuclear disarmament. Bush has it all wrong." Is this sensible? Is total nuclear disarmament a feasible or practical goal?
Sanger, David. "The North Korean Uranium Challenge." New York Times, May 24, 2004.
Saddam's Iraq didn't have nuclear weapons or a nuclear program. North Korea has both—and it has a nutty government that might sell the nukes it makes to the highest bidder. What to do? Smash 'em? Won't work. Cut a deal? The Bush administration is opposed. Overthrow the North Korean government? That's tough work. But we better do something!!
French, Howard W. "When Liberians Looked to America in Vain." New York Times, July 13, 2003.
In the 1980s and 1990s the United States turned a blind eye toward the bloody rampages of Liberian dictators Samuel K. Doe and Charles Taylor. They then ignited vicious wars that spread to the wider West African region.
Klinkenborg, Verlyn. "Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid." New York Times Book Review, May 30, 2004.
Recent science paints a frightening picture of the human impact on the global climate. Are we creating a hell that, once in, we cannot escape? This seems a increasingly plausible, perhaps likely!
Browne, John. "Beyond Kyoto." Foreign Affairs 83, no. 4 (July/August 2004): 20-32.
Browne outlines a program for action to address the grave and growing danger of climate change.
Lieber, Keir A., and Robert J. Lieber. "The Bush National Security Strategy." U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda, An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State 7, no. 4 (December 2002): assigned above on page 5.
Prestowitz, Clyde. "Why Don't We Listen More." Washington Post, July 7, 2002.
Bush is losing the U.S. friends by acting with little regard for their interests and ideas. Instead the U.S. should consult its friends and take their interests into account before acting. |
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