GINT 340
CONDUCT AND FORMULATION OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
Spring 2002
Professor Jerel Rosati
Byongok Han (David)
Teaching Assistant
Please read the entire syllabus carefully for I have given great thought and time to the development of this course, and it lays out the objectives, the requirements and the expectations.
OBJECTIVES
To better understand the society we live in and its implications for the future, the course is designed to increase your information, knowledge, and understanding of the complex "politics" of U.S. foreign policy; to make you aware of the "realities" of politics and the policymaking process; to become aware, consider, and evaluate "alternative" explanations and interpretations of the nature of the process, and to help you improve your ability "to learn," to reason, and to communicate.
This course provides you with the tools and knowledge to better understand the politics of U.S. foreign policy. The focus is on how diverse factors--the government policymaking process, society and domestic politics, and the global environment--influence the making of American foreign policy. As you learn about the policymaking "game", you will be better able to evaluate past, present, and future foreign policy decisions. Moreover, you should be able to see how foreign policymaking directly affects your life. Hopefully, this course will illustrate how important it is to remain aware of what is happening in the nation's capital and encourage you to be a more vigilant and active participant of American politics. It is hoped that by the end of the semester you will find the course to be informative, interesting and enjoyable.
BACKGROUND AND KEY THEMES
The foreign policy of the United States has experienced important continuities and changes over time. By the twentieth century the United States had become increasingly a global power. Following World War II and with the rise of the cold war, United States foreign policy during the fifties and sixties revolved around the containment of Soviet and communist expansion throughout the world. The cold war years were also a time when the power of the presidency was preeminent in the making of U.S. foreign policy. Yet, over the last thirty years numerous developments have occurred throughout the world and American society that have affected the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. Events such as the Vietnam War and Watergate challenged America’s postwar containment policy and presidential power. The end of the cold war and increasing global security threats have opened up new opportunities and constraints for both U.S. foreign policy and presidential power.
More specifically, students will examine, discuss, debate, and gain practical insights into the evolution and contemporary practice and formulation of U.S. foreign policy. Six central themes or questions are addressed throughout the institute:
1)
What have been the dominant patterns in the history of U.S. foreign policy?
2) To what extent is the President able to govern and run U.S. foreign policy?
3) What have been the dominant patterns of continuity and change in the making of U.S. foreign policy over time, including the role of the government and domestic institutions? In other words, how is U.S. foreign policy really made?
4) How have the tensions between the demands of national security and democracy evolved?
5) What are the implications of the end of the cold war and the September 11th bombing for the future of U.S. foreign policy into the twenty-first century?
6) What are the major interpretations or perspectives, as well as different sources of information and scholarship, that exist within the United States?
REQUIREMENTS
Students will be evaluated through class participation and exercises, a library-internet research exercise, and examinations. The intent behind these requirements is to have you study and think about the course material throughout the semester--to provide you with numerous opportunities to demonstrate the knowledge you have acquired and to get feedback--in order to maximize your ability to learn and grow as a student.
1. Class Attendance/Participation/Exercises (100 points). In order to get the most out of class, you must come to class and be prepared. Students are required to complete the readings prior to class meetings and to come to class ready to discuss them. You are also expected to keep abreast of current issues and be prepared to discuss them. I expect everyone to participate actively in the discussion of the day. Attendance affects your participation grade; excessive absences will result in a lower or failing grade.
You may also be asked to complete short exercises, usually written, in class and out-of-class revolving around communicating an understanding of the readings.
SHOULD YOU MISS A CLASS, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR LEARNING WHAT WENT ON IN CLASS FROM YOUR CLASSMATES.
Please come to class on time, and should you be late please sit in the rear and do not disturb your classmates and the class.
2. Library-Internet Research Exercise (100 points). Everybody is required to appropriately complete an exercise where you learn how to conduct research and find information in the library and on the internet concerning a contemporary global issue, with appropriate bibliographic citations. A hand-out will be provided describing the exercise in greater detail.
3. Three mid term exams (drop lowest score) and a final exam (200 points for each mid-term; 400 points for the final). There will be 4 exams total. You get to drop your lowest grade out of your first three exams. Everybody must take the final exam given its cumulative nature covering all of the class material. Under this system, there are no make-up exams. And please do not schedule any travel at the end of the semester until you have taken the final exam at the designated time.
Each of the exams will reflect the new material covered and will also cumulative, examining you on previous course material to maximize your knowledge. Each exam will consist of a variety of different kinds of questions. Your responses should demonstrate your mastery of the information and concepts provided in the assigned readings as well as the information and ideas generated in class discussions.
Missing an assignment or examination. DO NOT MISS AN EXAM or an assignment. THERE ARE NO MAKE-UPS. A GRADE OF F AND 0 POINTS WILL BE GIVEN.
I am treating each of you as a RESPONSIBLE YOUNG ADULT now that you are in college. Therefore, I expect you to act responsibly and with simple courtesy.
GRADES
Your grade will be based, not on how well you do compared to others in the class, but on my assessment of your quality of substantive knowledge, quality of analysis, and effective communication demonstrated--in other words, the level of understanding demonstrated. That is, an A (average of 90-100) represents "excellent" understanding, a B+ (87-89) represent "very good" understanding, a B (80-86) represents "good" understanding, a C+ (77-79) represents "satisfactory yet promising" understanding, a C (70-76) represents "satisfactory" understanding, a D+ (67-69) represents "poor" understanding; a D (60-66) represents "very poor" understanding, and an F (below 60) represents an "appalling" level of understanding. Therefore, you should work together and help each other out.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
The University of South Carolina, like all institutions of higher education, is fundamentally dependent upon the maintenance of proper standards of honesty. Maintenance of those standards is the responsibility of every member of this academic community--students, instructors, and staff alike. I will not spend our time trying to find cheaters, but when confronted with clear evidence of academic dishonesty, I will respond vigorously. Such impropriety in this class will result in an F for the course.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY AND STRATEGY
The class will be structured around what I call a class dialogue in which information, knowledge, and thought will be generated through lecture/background, discussion, and the Socratic method. I will often play the role of provocateur and advocate to stimulate participation.
The class dialogue emphasizes the importance of student participation and active learning as a means to improve one's skills, interest, information, knowledge, and, ultimately, understanding. In essence, class discussions will consist of an active exchange between the student and professor. When deemed necessary, lectures will be provided for some of the more difficult material and to provide appropriate background. Naturally, the larger the class, the more challenging it will be to have active learning.
The class is organized around the required readings. I expect every student to come to class prepared. Every student should be able to summarize and analyze each assigned reading and place it in perspective relative to the rest of the course material. Students also will be expected to offer comments or questions which contribute to class discussions on a regular basis.
Again, please come to class on time and be courteous at all times.
NATURE OF THE COURSE
One ultimate purpose of higher education and the offering of this course is to broaden your knowledge and understanding about the world around you--to learn about things that you probably don't know much about and to think about things that you haven't given much thought to. At the same time, I recognize that many individuals hold strong beliefs and feelings about things that involve the world and, in partiuclar, the United States--often based more on faith and emotion rather than substantive knowledge. Therefore, some of the material in this course may be controversial and will challenge you to think about many beliefs and assumptions you hold (and have rarely examined).
Your role is to act as student, social scientist, or policy analyst, not policymaker, activist, or true believer. The purpose of the class is to better understand the history and contemporary practice of U.S. foreign policy, regardless of what your feelings and opinions are about that reality. Learning and understanding are to be accomplished through the accumulation of information and knowledge and reliance on an open and critical mind.
Hopefully, this course will increase your knowledge by having you acquire:
i) lots of information,
ii) appreciate the complexity and contradictions of reality,
iii) recognize patterns and make generatizations supported by evidence, and
iv) recognize and think about different views (including my view which I will provide).
These are the building blocks to knowledge and understanding.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Jerel Rosati is an Associate Professor and has been a member of the Department of Government and International Studies at Carolina for sixteen years. He has a great love of knowledge and learning about the world and human affairs. His intellectual interests range from understanding American politics and history, United States foreign policy, and the Vietnam War to exploring the dynamics of global change, political psychology, and the nature of human interaction. He has been awarded the Outstanding Professor of the Year in the Humanities and Social Sciences by the South Carolina (Honors) College, the Outstanding Teacher in International Studies in the Department of Government & International Studies, Excellence in Teaching by the University of South Carolina Alpha Chapter of the Mortar Board Honor Society, and Outstanding Teacher in Political Science by the American Political Science Association and Pi Sigma Alpha (The National Political Science Honor Society). In addition to the usual undergraduate and graduate students, he has also been awarded, and participated in, a number of instructional grants at the state and federal level (usually through USIA) as Academic Director, Field Director, and/or Project Director where he has taught Bulgarians, Chinese, Israelis and Palestinians, Somalis, Master’s of International Business students, and high school teachers. He also enjoys research and writing, and is the author of The Carter Administration's Quest for Global Community: Beliefs and Their Impact on Behavior and The Politics of United States Foreign Policy, as well as the co-editor of The Power of Human Needs in World Society and Foreign Policy Restructuring: How Governments Respond to Global Change. He has been a Research Associate in the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division of the Library of Congress's Congressional Research Service, served as President of the International Studies Association's Foreign Policy Analysis Section, and President of the Southern region of the International Studies Asociation. He is the proud father of three children and enjoys travel, sports, music, reading, and good company. He came of age during the early seventies as an undergraduate at U.C.L.A. when the events surrounding the Vietnam War and Watergate reached a cresendo, which had a profound impact on his personal and intellectual development to the present day.
CONTACTING ME AND INTERACTING
Please feel free to come see me (and Byongok/David) during my office hours or any other time I am free. Afternoons are a particularly good time.
The best way to contact me is probably through email. My email address is: rosati@sc.edu
If you have any questions or complications that I should be aware, feel free to contact me. I am good about checking my email and responding throughout the workweek. I am much less likely to check my email during the weekend.
Please check your emails, for I will frequently send you contemporary articles on U.S. foreign policy and updates on the class.
* * *
THIS SYLLUBUS REFLECTS THE EXPECTATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS YOU MUST FULFILL. I EXPECT YOU TO TAKE THE COURSE SERIOUSLY AND WORK AS HARD AS I DO--WHICH IS, AFTERALL, THE KEY TO LEARNING AND INTELLECTUAL GROWTH.
REQUIRED READINGS
Jerel A. Rosati, (1998) The Politics of United States Foreign Policy ( Dallas: Harcourt Brace) [referred to as Rosati text]
Jerel A. Rosati (1998) Readings in the Politics of United States Foreign Policy (Dallas: Harcourt Brace) [referred to as the reader]
A small Universal Copies packet of required readings consisting of the most current required readings, available at 1120 College Street (254-8931).
Emailed articles. PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL REGULARLY FOR I WILL BE SENDING YOU ARTICLES, REMINDERS, AND UPDATES FOR THE CLASS.
The readings are intended to be accessible and diverse so as to improve your ability to acquire an understanding of the dynamics of world politics and its real-world relevance. The required readings for each week are specified under Course Topics and Readings below.
Contemporary Affairs. It is also expected that you will follow contemporary affairs through the media during this semester more than you might normally be accustomed. Paying attention to the international news--such as reading the newspaper, watching network television, and listening to National Public Radio--is strongly encouraged. You should also try to familiarize yourself with the litany of magazines and journals which present a host of intellectual, opinion, and policy positions. Such journals can be found in the Thomas Cooper Library, the Institute of International Studies Library located on the Fourth Floor of Gambrell Hall, the Richland County Public Library on Assembly Street, and the bookstore Intermezzo (next to Goatfeather's).
Media sources for following contemporary affairs are listed at the end of the syllabus.
COURSE TOPICS AND OUTLINE
[If you miss a class, you are responsible for contacting a classmate
to find out the reading and class assignments.]
[Please bring the required readings with you to class for each session.]
HELPFUL INFORMATION:
– Each numerical topic below refers to one class session and lists the required (and recommended, if any) readings for that session
– Read and be able to summarize the required readings
– Recommended readings are just that: recommended if you would like additional information and knowledge
– We will often begin the class or integrate within the class contemporary issues from the contemporary required readings I email you and that may be in the Universal packet. Remember: you are responsible for staying abreast of contemporary affairs [SEE END OF SYLLABUS FOR SOURCES]
– For articles sent by email, print them out, read, and save.
– PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL FOR ARTICLES AND UPDATES ON THE CLASS
LAST DAY ADD/DROP WITHOUT GRADE OF W, January 18
FIRST MANDATORY EMAIL/INFORMATION ASSIGNMENT. Due by Monday, January 21. Email me the following information (you cannot get a passing grade unless you fulfill this assignment):
1) name (as registered)
2) social security #
3) phone numbers (home; work; cell; other)
4) email address [I HIGHLY RECOMMEND AVOIDING
5) major
6) class (e.g., freshman)
7) have you taken or are you enrolled in university 101?
8) do you work during school? hours per week?
9) career goal?
10) home town (raised most of life)?
11) where have you traveled to outside the U.S.? If not outside the U.S., then outside the southeast?
12) what do you hope to get out of this class?
PART I -- COURSE INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
1. Course Introduction and Overview (January 14th)
2. Rosati text, The Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy, preface and chapter 1
3. Hilsman, “Policy-making is Politics,” chapter 1 in reader
PART II -- THE HISTORICAL AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
4. Rosati text, “History of United States Foreign Relations,” chapter 2
5. Rosati text, “The Global Context and American Power, chapter 3
Recommended: Kennedy, “The (Relative) Decline of America,” chapter 55 in reader; Nye, “The Misleading Metaphor of Decline,” chapter 56 in reader
PART III -- THE GOVERNMENT AND THE POLICYMAKING PROCESS
6. Rosati text, begin “The Paradox of Presidential Power,” chapter 4
7. Rosati text, complete “The Paradox of Presidential Power,” chapter 4
Recommended: Neustadt, “Leader or Clerk?” chapter 2 in reader
8. Rosati text, “Presidential Leadership,” chapter 5
Greenstein, “The Two Leadership Styles of William Jefferson Clinton,” chapter 5 in reader
Recommended: Greenstein, “Ronald Reagan--Another Hidden-Hand Ike?” chapter 3 in reader; Crabb and Mulcahy, “George Bush’s Management Style and Operation Desert Storm,” chapter 4 in reader
9. Rosati text, begin “Presidential Management and the NSC, chapter 6
U.S., National Security Act of 1947, “National Security Council,” chapter 10 in reader
10. Rosati text, complete “Presidential Management and the NSC, chapter 6
Kissinger, “Getting Organized,” chapter 7 in reader
Recommended: Mulcahy and Kendrick, “The National Security Adviser: A Presidential Perspective,” chapter 6 in reader; Mulcahy, “The Secretary of State and the National Security Adviser: Foreign Policymaking in the Carter and Reagan Administrations,” chapter 8 in reader; Sciolino, “Christopher and Lake Vying for Control of Foreign Policy,” chapter 9 in reader
11. FIRST EXAM
12. Rosati text, begin “The State Department at Home and Abroad,” chapter 7
13. Rosati text, complete “The State Department at Home and Abroad,” chapter 7
Clarke, “Why State Can’t Lead,” chapter 11 in reader
14. Rosati text, begin “The Military Establishment,” chapter 8
Binkin, “The New Face of the American Military,” chapter 14 in reader
Vistica, “Anchors Aweigh,” chapter 15 in reader
15. Rosati text, complete “The Military Establishment,” chapter 8
Easterbrook, “Operation Desert Shill,” chapter 13 in reader
Recommended: Jones, “What’s Wrong with Our Defense Establishment,” chapter 12 in reader
16. Rosati text, begin “The Intelligence Community,” chapter 9
U.S., National Security Act of 1947, “Central Intelligence Agency,” chapter 20 in reader
Ott, “Shaking Up the CIA,” chapter 18 in reader
17. Rosati text, complete “The Intelligence Community,” chapter 9
Heibrunn, “The Old Boy at War,” chapter 16 in reader
Sharpe, “The Real Cause of Irangate,” chapter 17 in reader
18. Rosati text, begin “Foreign Economics and the Rest of the Bureaucracy,” chapter 10
Wildavsky, “Under the Gun (at the National Economic Council),” chapter 19 in reader
19. Rosati text, complete “Foreign Economics and the Rest of the Bureaucracy,” chapter 10
LIBRARY-INTERNET RESEARCH EXERCISE DUE
20. Rosati text, begin “Decision-Making Theory and Executive Branch Policymaking,” chapter 11
Hosenball, "The Odd Couple: How George Bush Helped Create Saddam Hussein," chapter 22 in reader
21. Rosati text, complete “Decision-Making Theory and Executive Branch Policymaking,” chapter 11
22. SECOND EXAM
23. Rosati text, begin “Congress and Legislative-Executive Relations,” chapter 12
Schlesinger, Jr., “The Imperial Temptation,” chapter 24 in reader
Alterman, "Rod Dellum: Radical Insider," chapter 27 in reader
24. Rosati text, complete “Congress and Legislative-Executive Relations,” chapter 12
Kirschten, “Where’s the Bite (in Jesse Helms)?” chapter 28 in reader
Fessler, “Congress’s Record on Saddam: Decade of Talk,” chapter 26 in reader
Recommended: Szamuely, “The Imperial Congress,” chapter 23 in reader; Glennon, “The Gulf War and the Constitution,” chapter 25 in reader; U.S., Tonkin Gulf Resolution, chapter 35 in reader; U.S., War Powers Resolution of 1973, chapter 36 in reader; U.S., Persian Gulf Resolution, chapter 37 in reader
25. Rosati text, begin “The Rest of Government,” chapter 13
U.S. Constitution, “The Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches,” chapter 32 in reader
26. Rosati text, complete “The Rest of Government,” chapter 13
Shuman, “Dateline Main Street: Local Foreign Policies,” chapter 31 in reader
Recommended: Crovitz, "Crime, the Constitution, and the Iran-Contra Affair," chapter 29 in reader; Canham-Clyne, "Business as Usual: Iran-Contra and the National Security State," chapter 30 in reader; U.S., Supreme Court, “United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation et al.,” chapter 33 in reader; U.S. Supreme Court, “Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. V. Sawyer (Steel Seizure Case),” chapter 34 in reader
PART IV -- SOCIETY AND DOMESTIC POLITICS
27. Rosati, begin “The Public and Their Beliefs,” chapter 14
Holsti and Rosenau, “A Leadership Divided: The Foreign Policy Beliefs of American Leaders, 1976-1984,” chapter 38 in reader
28. Rosati, complete “The Public and Their Beliefs,” chapter 14
Davis and Lynn-Jones, “Citty Upon a Hill,” chapter 39 in reader
U.S. President John F. Kennedy, “Inaugural Address,” chapter 41 in reader
Recommended: Blumenthal, “The Return of the Represessed: Anti-Internationalism and the American Right,” chapter 40 in reader
30. Rosati text, “Political Participation and Electoral Politics,” chapter 15
31. THIRD EXAM
32. Rosati text, begin “Group Politics,” chapter 16
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Farewell Address,” chapter 49 in reader
Hodgson, "The Establishment," chapter 42 in reader
33. Rosati text, complete “Group Politics,” chapter 16
Conason, “The Iraq Lobby,” chapter 43 in reader
Judis, “The Contract with K Street,” chapter 44 in reader
Recommended: Moon, “Complex Interdependence and Transnational Lobbying: South Korea in the United States,” chapter 45 in reader
34. Rosati text, begin “National Security Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties,” chapter 17
Honicker, "The Hidden Files: America's Radiation Victims," chapter 46 in reader
35. Rosati text, complete “National Security Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties,” chapter 17
Keith Schneider, "Idaho Says No," chapter 47 in reader
Halperin and Woods, “Ending the Cold War at Home,” chapter 48 in reader; U.S.
36. Rosati text, begin “The Media and the Communications Process,” chapter 18
Iyengar and Kinder, “News That Matters,” chapter 50 in reader
Rosenstiel, “The Myth of CNN,” chapter 53 in reader
37. Rosati text, complete “The Media and the Communications Process,” chapter 18
Gottschalk, "Operation Desert Cloud: The Media and the Gulf War," chapter 52 in reader
Recommended: Hallin, “The Media, the War in Vietnam, and Political Support: A Critique of the Oppositional Media,” chapter 51 in reader; Edsall, “America’s Sweetheart--Rush Limbaugh,” chapter 54 in reader
PART V — CONCLUSION AND MAKING SENSE OF THE POLITICS OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
38. Rosati text, “State-Society Relations, Making Foreign Policy, and Foreign Policy Change,” chapter 19
Recommended: Rosati, “The Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy Revisited,” chapter 57 in reader
39. Reader text, “Into the Twenty-First Century,” chapter 20
FINAL EXAM
Media sources, predominantly American, for following contemporary affairs
All the sources below can also be found on the web (and the internet addresses are in the media chapter of the textbook). A great place to begin is the “Politics Navigator” section of the New York Times website at http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/polpoints.html (If you have never been to their website, you will first have to register–it’s free and quick).
Remember, this is just a recommended sampling of media sources. There are plenty more American media sources, and lots of quality sources beyond the United States–which is particularly important for becoming informed about world politics.
* = best sources for American and international news
** = best sources for international news in general
TV:
National News (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN)
The News with Brian Williams (MSNBC, CNBC), M-F, 9:00-10:00 and 10:00-11:00 pm
Nightline (ABC), M-F 11:30-12:00 pm
*The News Hour with Jim Lehrer (PBS), M-F 6:00-7:00 pm
This Week with Sam Donaldson & Cokie Roberts (ABC), Sunday 10:30-11:30 am
Face the Nation (CBS), Sunday 12:00-12:30 pm
Meet the Press (NBC), Sunday 9:00-10:00 am
*60 Minutes and 60 Minutes II (CBS), Sunday 7:00-8:00 pm and Wednesday 9:00-10:00pm
*Frontline (PBS), Tuesday 10:00-11:00 pm
CSPAN
MSNBC and CNBC (at night)
Radio:
*Morning Edition (NPR), M-F 6:00-8:00 am
*All Things Considered (NPR), M-F 4:00-6:00 pm
Weekend Edition (NPR), Sat 8:00-10:00 am; Sun 9:00-11:00 am
**The World (NPR), M-F 3:00-4:00 pm
Newspapers:
*New York Times (www.nytimes.com)
*Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com)
**Christian Science Monitor (www.csmonitor.com)
**International Herald Tribune (www.int.com)
Wall Street Journal
**The Economist (www.economist.com)
**World Press Review (www.worldpress.org )
Newsweeklies:
In These Times
Newsweek
Time
U.S. News and World Report
Intellectual/Opinion journals:
American Prospect
Atlantic Monthly
Commentary
Chronicles
Dissent
Nation
National Review
New Republic
New York Review of Books
Progressive
Reason
Utne Reader
Z Magazine
Policy journals:
**Foreign Policy (www.foreignpolicy.com)
**Foreign Affairs (www.foreignaffairs.org)
International Security
National Interest
Orbis
**World Policy Journal (www.worldpolicy.org/journal)
Department of State Bulletin
Other programs, magazines, and literature are available, as well as fictional accounts (e.g., novels, movies) with important political messages.