Professor: Kanishkan (Kani) Sathasivam
Office: Willis 404
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Office Hours: |
9:40 - 11:40 AM on Mondays and Wednesdays |
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9:30 - 11:30 AM on Fridays |
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1:30 - 2:30 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays |
This course will be devoted to a detailed investigation of American foreign policy. Specifically, we will examine some of the contemporary foreign policy issues facing the US and how the participants in the foreign policy process handle current policy challenges. To do so, we will first discuss some key concepts of US foreign policymaking. These fundamentals include the structure of the international system of nation-states, national power and interests, the historical context of American foreign policy, relevant actors in US foreign affairs, models of foreign policy decision making, and the tools of foreign policymaking. We will then focus on how US foreign policy varies by region of the world as well as on some "new" issue areas that are of great concern to US policymakers-the challenge of collective security, the global economy and world trade, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, human rights, humanitarian interventionism, international terrorism, and the international narcotics trade. The objective of this course is to confer upon you an understanding of how knowledge of the past, the global policy environment, the actors and processes of foreign policy decision making, and the specifics of the particular issue under consideration all come together to help determine US foreign policy in the modern world. In the process of accomplishing this course objective, I hope to also confer upon you an understanding of how American foreign policy affects you, the individual citizen.
There will be three primary requirements for this course: two essay assignments and a major research paper. All written submissions must be: typed, double spaced, in 12-pt. font, and with 1" page margins; with within-text citations (author year, page) and footnotes or endnotes (choose one) if necessary; and with a complete bibliography. They must generally follow the standards established in commonly accepted academic writing style manuals.
For the essay assignments, you will answer one or more questions drawn from the course readings, lectures, and class discussions. I will provide you with the question(s) about a week before the due date for each assignment. The essays will be relatively short, each assignment being about 5-6 pages in length. For the research paper, each student will select a narrowly but clearly defined issue in contemporary American foreign policy and write a 10-12 page paper discussing that topic. Paper topics must be cleared with me early in the term. The research paper will be due on the last day of classes.
Note: I will discuss my expectations regarding the three writing assignments in class. In general, though, to receive any grade above a 'B' a student must produce a thoughtful, comprehensive, and well-written essay/paper that borrows ideas and arguments from the assigned readings as well as from "outside" source material to thoroughly and critically analyze the subject.
The assigned course readings will be regularly discussed in class, and minor homework assignments and in-class exercises will also be a part of the course's requirements. Active student participation in class discussions is expected, and will be the basis upon which the "class participation" grade is decided. In addition to active class participation, a good class attendance record is also expected throughout the term.
Grades will be based on the following distribution scheme:
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Essay assignment #1: 20 % |
98 -100 % A+ 94 - 97 % A 91 - 93 % A- 88 - 90 % B+ 83 - 87 % B 79 - 82 % B- | 76 - 78 % C+ 72 - 75 % C 68 - 71 % C- 51 - 67 % D 0 - 50 % F |
All students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty and integrity. Any act of academic dishonesty or misconduct will be referred to the Office of the Dean. For further information, see Carleton College's Academic Honesty in the Writing of Essays and Other Papers and the section on "academic honesty" in Academic Regulations and Procedures, 2000-01. Both are available in Laird 140.
Special needs: Students requiring access to learning tools or special schedules approved by Student Support Services should contact me at the beginning of the course.
You are expected to keep up with the reading assignments as we go through the term, which means that you are supposed to read each assignment before the corresponding class period. The class lectures and discussions are meant to build upon the assigned reading material.
The following four required texts are available at the bookstore:
[1] Hastedt, Glenn P. 2000. American Foreign Policy: Past, Present, Future. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. [GPH henceforth.][2] Rubinstein, Alvin Z. 1994. America's National Interest in a Post-Cold War World: Issues and Dilemmas. New York: McGraw-Hill. [AZR henceforth.]
[3] Rai, Kul B., David F. Walsh, and Paul J. Best (ed.). 1997. America in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities in Foreign Policy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. [RWB henceforth.]
[4] Hastedt, Glenn P (ed.). 2001. Annual Editions: American Foreign Policy, 01/02. 7th ed. Guilford, CT: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin. [AE henceforth.] [Note: a copy of last year's AE is on closed reserve in the library for a few of the readings.]
Tu 3/27 - [Introduction.]
Th 3/29 - The international systemic context: GPH 1; AZR 1; RWB 1; AE 3.
The emerging foreign policy agenda: GPH 2 & 17:390-8.
Tu 4/3 - National power, national interests, and foreign policy: AZR 2 & 3; AE 4.
Richard N. Haass. 1999. "Chapter 1. Beyond Containment: Competing American Foreign Policy Doctrines for the New Era." The Future of American Foreign Policy, 3rd Ed., ed. Eugene R. Wittkopf and Christopher M. Jones. New York: St. Martin's/Worth.Article #5, "The Benevolent Empire," from last year's AE.
Th 4/5 - The domestic context of American foreign policy: GPH 6; AE 15.
The Constitution and American foreign policy: GPH 7; AE 18.
Tu 4/10 - The Presidency and foreign policy: GPH 8; AE 20, 23, & 24.
Congress and foreign policy: GPH 9; AE 19 & 25.
Th 4/12 - The foreign affairs bureaucracy: GPH 10; AE 21 & 22.
Tu 4/17 - How policymakers "learn" from the past: GPH 5.
Models of foreign policy decision making: GPH 11 & 12.[Essay assignment #1 handed out in class.]
Th 4/19 - [Possibly no class.]
Tu 4/24 - Instruments of foreign policy-diplomacy: GPH 13.
Richard N. Haass and Meghan L. O'Sullivan. 2000. "Engaging Problem Countries." Brookings Institution Policy Brief 61 (6/2000).Instruments of foreign policy-military power: GPH 16; AE 31.
Richard N. Haass. 1999. "The Use and Abuse of Military Force." Brookings Institution Policy Brief 54 (11/1999).
[Essay assignment #1 due in class.]
Th 4/26 - Instruments of foreign policy-covert action: GPH 14.
Walter Pincus. 1997. "CIA Turns to Boutique Operations, Covert Action Against Terrorism, Drugs, Arms." The Washington Post (9/14/1997).Instruments of foreign policy-economic instruments: GPH 15; AE 26.
David E. Sanger and Richard W. Stevenson. 2000. "5.4 Second-Guessing the Economic Doctor." Global Politics in a Changing World: A Reader, ed. Richard W. Mansbach and Edward Rhodes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Tu 5/1 - National character, values, and American foreign policy: GPH 3; AE 5 & 16.
Article #4, "Why Export Democracy?," from last year's AE.Fareed Zakaria. 2000. "A.2 Our Hollow Hegemony: Why Foreign Policy Can't Be Left to the Market." Global Politics in a Changing World: A Reader, ed. Richard W. Mansbach and Edward Rhodes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Human rights and American foreign policy: AZR 4.
Aryeh Neier. 1997. "The New Double Standard." Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Foreign Policy 105 (Winter 1996-97).
Karl E. Meyer. 1999. "Enforcing Human Rights." World Policy Journal (Fall): 45-50.
Th 5/3 - Humanitarian interventionism: AZR 5; AE 17 & 32.
Chantal de Jonge Oudraat. 2000. "Intervention in Internal Conflicts: Legal and Political Conundrums." Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Global Policy Program Working Papers 15 (8/2000).Collective security: AZR 13.
James Goodby. 1996. "Chapter 16. Can Collective Security Work?: Reflections on the European Case." Managing Global Chaos: Sources of and Responses to International Conflict, ed. Chester A. Crocker and Fen Osler Hampson with Pamela Aall. Washington: U.S. Institute of Peace.
Tu 5/8 - International terrorism: AE 30.
US Dept. of State. 2000. "Introduction." Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1999.The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: AZR 12; AE 34 & 35.
The international arms trade: AE 33.
The international narcotics trade: AZR 6.
Harry W. Shlaudeman and W. Kenneth Thompson. 1996. "In Washington, Maintaining Pressure." The Foreign Service Journal (10/1996).
[Essay assignment #2 handed out in class.]
Th 5/10 - The global economy and world trade: AZR 8; AE 27, 28, & 29.
Richard W. Mansbach and Edward Rhodes (ed.). 2000. "Chapter 9: Managing a Global Economy." Global Politics in a Changing World: A Reader. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Tu 5/15 - Europe: AZR 9:177-89 & 10; RWB 3 & 4; AE 6, 7, & 9.
Bruce Stokes. 1997. "Bank On It." National Journal (1/4/1997).Susan L. Woodward. 1996. "America's Bosnia Policy: The Work Ahead." Brookings Institution Policy Brief 2 (7/1996).
Richard N. Haass. 1999. "Europe at Century's End: The Challenge Ahead." The Brookings Review (Summer): 4-9.
[Essay assignment #2 due in class.]
Th 5/17 - Latin America: RWB 7; AE 13.
Howard J. Wiarda. 1999. "Chapter 19. Back to Basics: Reassessing U.S. Policy in Latin America." The Future of American Foreign Policy, 3rd Ed., ed. Eugene R. Wittkopf and Christopher M. Jones. New York: St. Martin's/Worth.Sub-Saharan Africa: RWB 9; AE 14.
Tu 5/22 - The Middle East: AZR 11; RWB 8; AE 12.
Yair Evron. 1998. "An Israeli-United States Defense Pact?" Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies Strategic Assessment 1 (3).Central Asia:
Ariel Cohen. 1999. "U.S. Interests in Central Asia." Testimony before the U.S. House Committee on International Relations, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, 3/17/1999. The Heritage Foundation.Bulent Aliriza. 2000. "U.S. Caspian Pipeline Policy: Substance or Spin?" Center for Strategic & International Studies Caspian Energy Update (8/24/2000).
Th 5/24 - East and South Asia: AZR 9:189-99; RWB 5 & 6; AE 10 & 11.
Richard N. Haass and Nicholas Lardy. 1997. "The United States and China: A New Framework." Brookings Institution Policy Brief 25 (10/1997).Arthur Waldron. 2000. "Menacing Language from China." American Enterprise Institute On the Issues (3/2000).
Nicholas Eberstadt. 2000. "What's North Korea Up To?" American Enterprise Institute On the Issues (7/2000).
Srini Sitaraman. 1999. "Entanglements and Estrangements: Sources of Discord and Accommodation in U.S.-India Relations." Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies 22 (2): 16-37.
Stephen P. Cohen. 2000. "A New Beginning in South Asia." Brookings Institution Policy Brief 55 (1/2000).
Tu 5/29 - Future directions for American foreign policy: GPH 18; AZR 14.
[Course wrap-up and evaluation.][Research paper due in class.]