Political Science 363/International Studies 363
United States Foreign Policy
Spring 2024
Tuesday/Thursday 11:00-12:15
Hibbs 428
Bill Newmann, Political Science Department
Office Hours: 318 Founders Hall. Tuesday/Thurs. 12:30-2:00, and by Appointment (email me).
Phone: Office: 828-2076 (main POLI number)
E-mail: wnewmann@vcu.edu
Newmann's home page: www.people.vcu.edu/~wnewmann with links to other Newmann syllabi and other fun stuff.
POLI 363. U.S. Foreign
Policy. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours.
3 credits. An analytical survey of processes and practices in the formulation
of U.S. foreign policy, including an introduction to the goals, problems of
implementation and current challenges faced by policy makers. Crosslisted as: INTL 363.
Structure
of the Class
This class is designated as “Hyflex.” That means we’ll run the class in the
traditional manner, face-to-face in the classroom, but students can also choose
to watch recorded lectures of the classroom lectures. In other words, I’ll be in the classroom
every class period lecturing to students, but I’ll also record the lectures so
students may watch the asynchronously (whenever they want to). This is an artifact of the COVID pandemic. It
has not disappeared, and I realize that there may be expected and unexpected
challenges for all of us. For that
reason, I record lectures and post them to the Canvas page Media Gallery. They
should be available within 24 hours of the class. They will also be linked to the
class syllabus online; that may take some extra time. I will always notify
everyone when the recordings are available.
The point of making the recordings available is not to encourage you to
skip class, but as a back-up system in case people are ill or think they might
be ill. All quizzes and exams will
be in-class. That’s important.
Very
Important Note
I am scheduled for back surgery on
January 11 – spinal fusion in the lumbar area and a few other fun things. For the first three to four weeks of this
class, Dr. Judy Twigg will be taking the class for me. She won’t be lecturing. Instead, she’ll be
playing a recording of my lecture to whoever wants to be in the classroom.
These lectures will also be posted in the Canvas Media Gallery. Also, during the second week of class, you’ll
all need to be there for the map quiz (see below). On the first day of class,
I’ll be giving the class introduction in a recorded zoom lecture, and I’ll
explain everything you can expect from me and from the class. I will also be
answering email by the time class starts, so let me know if you have questions.
Introduction:
This course serves as an introduction to US foreign policy. We’ll start with some basics: the structure of the US foreign policy bureaucracies and the way presidents make decisions on foreign policy. From there we’ll consider theories of how we think about US national interests (realism, idealism, economics). We’ll proceed from there to tackle big, challenging issues: dealing with potential great power rivals such as China and Russia; the threat from middle powers who reject international norms such as Iraq under Saddam Hussein or the current Iranian regime or North Korea; and 21st century threats from non-state actors such as al-Qaeda or ISIS. Underneath it all will be two simple questions. First, how do we define the threats to the US? Second, what should the US role in the world be? Politicians, scholars, think tanks, lobby groups, the media, and the public have generated a number of potential foreign policy priorities, including: spreading democracy, opening closed economies, fostering basic human rights in other nations, responding to humanitarian tragedies, ending civil or ethnic wars, preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, deterring the rise of rival great powers, maintaining regional balances of power, ensuring US hegemony, counterterrorism, and even reducing the US role in world affairs in an effort to concentrate on the problems at home. We’ll be studying the interplay of those priorities, how they change from time to time, and the way priorities are decided. This is particularly interesting in the context of our current political polarization and backsliding in our commitment to democracy at home. We may be witnessing a fundamental change in the nature of the US political system, which could lead to significant changes in our foreign policy priorities. Trump foreign policy often deliberately undermined traditional conceptions of US foreign policy. Maybe it’s a mild ripple in the evolution of US leadership; Trump foreign policy might be an outlier. We have seemed to return to more traditional foreign policy principles in 2020 under Biden, but whether the Trump policies or Biden policies last depends in part on the 2024 election. Maybe we’re seeing the beginning of the end of US hegemony, either the inevitable decline of a hegemonic state while a challenger rises (China) or the self- destruction of a hegemon due to domestic instability (if Americans see each other as greater threats than any foreign enemies could be, then it seems impossible for the US to mobilize to deal with external threats; we’d never forma consensus on what to do). Scholars from 100 years in the future may see this era as the period when the US stepped away from global leadership and handed the 21st century to China.
The course will focus on the following:
Foreign Policy Decision Making Process: We will examine the
wild and wacky world of foreign policy decision making. People think that
issues as serious as nuclear weapons policy or armed intervention are decided
upon in the most solemn and analytical manner. I wish. Foreign policy decision
making often resembles a bunch of three-year-olds in a sandbox fighting over
the only pail and shovel. Understanding the way decisions are made is perhaps
the single most important aspect of analyzing foreign policy. Many people think
that there really is no US foreign policy, only a process that churns out
half-decisions, non-decisions and useless compromises. By the end of the
semester, you will be familiar with the policy making process and all the
institutions, departments, and agencies involved.
The Cold War Years: In examining the period of intense
competition with the USSR, we will focus on the emergence of the two
antagonists in the late 1940s and 1950s; US involvement in Vietnam; detente and
arms control during the Nixon years; the fall of detente and the collapse of
arms control during the Carter years; and the renewed Cold War of the early
Reagan years. The focus is two-fold: the ways in which the US and USSR formed a
competitive, yet in many ways cooperative relationship. In the mid-1980s, new
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had begun the restructuring of the USSR, a restructuring
that would eventually reshape the world. We will examine the Reagan and Bush
administrations' responses to the changes within the USSR and the changes
around the world that followed.
US Foreign Policy after the Cold War: We will explore the
range of possibilities for the future in terms of a number of issues: the rise
of economic priorities; the issue of intervention and peace operations; human
rights and democracy; great power rivals to the US; and the spread of weapons
of mass destruction. We will try to answer the big picture questions: What
world role should the US assume after the Cold War? Are there economic threats
facing the US that are as challenging as the political-military threat of the
old USSR? How should the US organize and use its military assets after the Cold
War? Is China the next great rival to the US?
The Non-State Actor Threat: The 9/11 attacks on the US were
seen by many as events that changed everything.
For others they simply forced the US to recognize something that many
other nations already knew: non-state actors such as terrorist organizations
were now players in the international arena.
We’ll look at the US response to the new (or not new) world and the
fallout from US intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The 21st Century: The US faces old and new challenges. China is a great power rival like no other
the US has faced – an economic, political, and military rival. Russia, though not as powerful as China, has
a foreign policy focused on disrupting NATO and delegitimizing democracy. Its strategies of hybrid warfare (social
media propaganda, cyberespionage, and paramilitary forces) have left the US
floundering to develop a response. Cyberspace itself as a realm of international
competition and war has changed the nature of international competition. Perhaps most importantly, the willingness of
the US to provide global leadership is a growing uncertainty. Of course, after the 2016 election, we need
to consider how all this plays out in Trump and post-Trump foreign policy
represents a possible major shift in US foreign policy interests. If the US
abandons the alliance structure and rule-based international order it created
after WW II, what replaces that system?
What role will the US play its foreign policy is based on going it
alone.
Class readings we will pay special attention to US policy in the Middle East and US relations with China.
Learning
Outcomes
1. Students will
be able to identify and analyze the organization of the US government for
foreign policy decision making as well as the way the interagency process is
designed to produce advice for the president
2. Students will achieve comprehension of and be able to assess the theoretical models of foreign policy decision making
3.
Students
will be able to differentiate between and evaluate the different ways the US
defines and pursues its national interests, including strategies of
intervention, engagement, and confrontation
4.
Students
will be able to differentiate between and evaluate the foreign policy
challenges of the cold war and the post-cold war, especially the difference
between challenges from nation states and non-state actors.
5.
Students
will be able to differentiate between and evaluate the foreign policy
challenges from peer competitors and middle powers.
6.
Students
will be able to evaluate the emerging challenges of the 21st
century.
7. Students will
practice writing an executive summary
8. Students will experience a role-playing simulation
Texts
You need
to read them, but you don’t have to buy them. The books are available at the
VCU Bookstore, and Bookholders. If anyone has problems getting access to the
texts, for any reason, let me know as soon as possible so you don't get too far
behind in the reading. Most of the books are available on reserve at Cabell
Library, which means that if you don’t want to buy them, you can read them
there. Ask me if you have any questions about how the reserve system
works. The short version is this: A book
on reserve can’t be checked out of the library. It will always be there. It can
be used for renewable two-hour periods in the library. Go to the first-floor
main circulation desk to find books on reserve.
·
Stephen Sestanovich. Maximalist (New York: Vintage,
2014) On Reserve at the Cabell Library front desk on the first floor: E744.S473
2014
·
Vincent Boucher, Charles-Philippe David, and
Karine Premont. National Security Entrepreneurs and the Making of
American Foreign Policy (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press,
2020) Available
online in the VCU Library system here.
And in hard copy on reserve at the first-floor front desk at Cabell Library: : E744.B68 2020.
·
Elizabeth Economy. The World According to China (New York: Polity, 2022) There is a
copy now on reserve at the Cabell Library first-floor front desk; it’s my copy,
so please be nice to it.
·
Steven Simon. Grand Delusion (New York:
Penguin Press, 2023). There is a copy now on reserve at the Cabell Library
first-floor front desk; it’s my copy, so please be nice to it.
·
Hal Brands. American GrandStrategy
in the Age of Trump (Washington, DC: Brookings, 2018) Available online n
the VCU Library system here. And in hard copy on reserve at the
first-floor front desk at Cabell Library: JZ1480 .B64 2018
A guideline for the readings: There are
aspects of US foreign policy that you should give special attention as you do
your readings. They affect every debate over US foreign policy and it is
probably a good idea to understand how they relate to major issues and events
when it comes to the final exam: (1) Decision Making: US foreign policy does
not just happen. Men and women make those decisions and that process is
important in shaping the actual substance of US foreign policy; (2)
Intervention Policy: The US picks and chooses what type of world events have
bearing on US national interests and in which events it will take an active
role. On what basis does the US make those decisions? How has the US definition
of national interest changed over the years and have the criteria for
involvement in international events changed? (3) Cold War vs. Post-Cold War vs.
War on Terrorism: How have the definitions of US national interests evolved?
(4) Domestic Politics: Are the definitions of national interest and the content
of US foreign policy based upon the threats the US faces or on domestic
political contests and trends that influence the perceptions of those threats?
Grading
System: Grades
will be determined through the following:
|
January
25 |
5% of the grade |
|
|
Exam
1 |
February
29 |
30%
of the grade |
|
Rough Draft Due: March 21 Final
Paper Due: April 18 Both
are due at the beginning of class in hard copy |
30%
of the grade |
|
|
Simulation |
Day
1: April 25 Day
2: April 30 Graded
for both attendance and participation |
5%
of the grade |
|
Exam
2 |
May 9: 8-10:50 Notice the time
change. (Same room) |
30%
of the grade |
|
|
|
How do you calculate your grade? Use the percentages from the above table. So, if you received the following grades, you would calculate your grades in the following manner:
I give you this very detailed formula for a number of reasons. You should never be unaware of what your class average is. You can calculate it at any point in the semester. If your grade is not what you'd like it to be, you should know, and you should come see me about it. Do not come to me after Exam 2 and say that you're having trouble in the class. It's too late at that point. But any time in the semester that you feel you are having trouble, or not doing as well as you feel you should, come talk to me. During my office hours and by appointment I am happy to talk to you about the class
Grading scale: I use a typical scale: A = 90-100; B = 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 55-69. Borderline grades are considered in the following manner.
· If your grade is 69.5, 79.5, or 89.5 or higher, then you may be a candidate for a round up to the higher grade (Notice those numbers in the sentence; do not ask for a higher grade if your average is a 68 or 78 or 88 or lower; those are not borderline averages).
· You may become a candidate if your grades are borderline and if your grades have been going up during the semester.
· That means that if you are borderline, but your last exam is lower than the previous exams (you are between a B and C, but your third exam is a C for example), you will probably get the lower grade.
· If you are borderline, and your last exam is higher than the previous exams (you are between a B and C, but your third exam is a B), you may get the higher grade.
· Another factor I consider is the typical grade you receive. Let’s say we have four grades for the class and three are grades of B and one is a C (bad day) and your average is a 79.6, you are a candidate for receiving a B. If you have four grades and three are grades of C and one is a grade of B, you are probably not a candidate for the higher grade
· There is no extra credit for this class. Please do not ask.
Speaking of grades: Withdrawal Date: March 29
Map Quiz: Click
on the link to get the instructions
EXAMS: The exams will be short answer and essay. One week before the exam I will place a review sheet on line, linked to this syllabus, below this paragraph. This review sheet should be used as your study guide for the exam. The review sheet will include some terms that are from the readings only, so that you can go back and review those items from the readings. Once you have the review sheet, feel free to ask me questions about the terms. This is the best way to study for the exam. If you understand the terms on the review sheet, you can define each one and see how each one relates to the larger concepts and issues we've discussed in class, you should do just fine on the exam. The final exam is not-cumulative.
Research Paper and Class Role-Playing Simulation
Follow the link for detailed instructions. Read these instructions now. Read them later. Read them again and again. The short version is:
· Role-Playing Simulation Assignments
· Every aspect of this will be guided by a draft Presidential Review Directive where I will spell out what questions I want answered in the Presidential Directive (and in your papers). Once you’re assigned a role, you will have a specific research task. That research task will be spelled out explicitly in the Presidential Directive. The PRD 18 is here
· Over two class periods at the end of the term the class will simulate the national security decision making process. Each of you will be assigned to play the role of a US governmental official with responsibilities for some aspect of US national security (officials in the Defense Department or National Security Council Staff or Intelligence Community, for example)
· Roles will be assigned in the first three weeks of class
· You will be given a national security problem to solve and guidance about what perspective you should focus upon. That perspective is based on your assigned role. The problem to consider: US intelligence believes that China is preparing for some sort of coercive action against Taiwan. It’s unclear if the action will be economic or military; it might be anything from increased tariffs on Taiwanese exports to China or bans on Taiwanese investments in China to a blockade of shipping in the Taiwan Strait or even direct military action. The president wants options for these possibilities. Your job is to prepare them.
· “Hey! But I don’t know anything about China and Taiwan!” By the time we get to the simulation, you will. Also, here’s a quick guide to some of the issues on China and Taiwan.
· You will write a 1–2-page executive summary presenting options for how to deal with the issue (from the perspective of the role you have been assigned; for example, if you are the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, you will focus on multilateral options for solving the problem; if you are the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff you will look at China’s military options.
· Required Rough Draft: Due: March 21 (it will be returned to you with comments quickly so you can work on the final draft)
· Final Draft Due: April 18
·
Both
rough and final drafts are due in hard copy at the beginning of class on the
day indicated; there are late penalties for both the rough and final drafts.
The deduction is 10 points for each day late for both the rough and final
drafts (there is a maximum of a 50-point deduction for the rough draft that is
five days late or not turned in).
· Paper Topics will be chosen in consultation with me. This is detailed in the research instructions and I will explain in class. On the back of the map quiz will be a list of all the possible role assignments for the class. You’ll give me your first, second, and third choices and I’ll then assign roles based on that.
· Once the research is done and I have made comments on both drafts of your paper, we’ll begin the role-playing simulation: a two day in class exercise where you will develop a draft Presidential Directive spelling out the options for US policy in case of an Iranian intervention in Syria. I will prepare a detailed agenda for these sessions. Essentially, you will gather together in several interagency committees and negotiate to come up with a draft that includes all your perspectives, evaluates the pros and cons of various US options, develops a government-wide consensus, or spells out where consensus could not be achieved and why.
· All the details will be in the paper instructions, linked to the syllabus.
· The result of your simulation: Presidential Directive 37 (will be linked here once it is done)
· A sample executive summary is linked to this assignment here. Here is a link to the bibliography for the sample executive summary. This is an executive summary based on a role that is not assigned in the class (Chairman of the State Department Policy Planning Council) and a research question that is different from the ones you are being asked to research. When you see the endnotes and bibliography, don’t worry. Your paper doesn’t need to have that many sources or endnotes. You are required to have 10 sources and at least 10 endnotes. I have a huge number of sources and my endnotes are all contain multiple sources. That is not required of you. This executive summary is based in part on a larger article I wrote several years ago. You can access that larger article through the link below or through scholar.google.com (because US government links often change). This is the citation: Newmann, William W. "Hegemonic disruption: the asymmetric challenge to US leadership." Strategic Studies Quarterly 5, no. 3 (2011): 67-102. You’ll get an idea of how something over 30 pages becomes only two pages.
COURSE AND READING SCHEDULE
Note: For the first few weeks the readings will be ahead
of the class lectures. Make sure you keep up, though. If you do not do the
readings, you will quickly be lost and you'll be in serious trouble on the
first exam. The dates below are the dates when you should have finished the
readings (except for the first week of course).
Week 1: January 15-19 Introduction and Decision Making
· Boucher, David, and Premont: Introduction and Chapter One
Week
2: January 22-26 Decision
Making
· Sestanovich: Prologue and Chapters 1-3
Week
3: January 29-February 2
Cold War I
· Boucher, David, and Premont: Chapter 2.
· Sestanovich: Chapters 4 and 5.
Week 4: February 5-9 Cold War II
· Sestanovich: Chapters 6 and 7
· Boucher, David, and Premont: Chapter 3
Week 5: February 12-16 Cold War III
· Sestanovich: Chapters 8 and 9
· Boucher, David, and Premont: Chapter 4
·
February
13 Recorded Lecture
·
February
15 Recorded Lecture
Week 6: February 19-23 A “New World Order?”
· Boucher, David, and Premont: Chapter 5
· Sestanovich Chapter 10
·
February
20 Recorded Lecture
·
February
22 Recorded Lecture
Week 7: February 26-March 1 Finish First Half Lectures and Exam 1
·
Simon,
Introduction and Chapter 1
·
February
27 Recorded Lecture
·
Exam 1:
February 29
Spring Break:
March 4-8
Week 8: March 11-15 Bush 43 and 9/11
·
Simon,
Introduction, Chapters 3 and 5
Week 9: March 18-22 The US in Afghanistan and Iraq
·
Simon,
Chapter 6
·
Rough Draft Due: March 21 at the beginning of
class in hard copy
Withdrawal Date: March 29
Week
10: March 25-29 The Challenge of China I
·
Economy,
Chapters 1-3
Week
11: April 1-5
The Challenge of China II
Week
12: April 8-12:
Obama/Biden vs. Trump I
Week
13: April 15-19
Obama/Biden vs. Trump II
Week 14: April 22-26 Obama/Biden vs. Trump III and Simulation Day 1
·
Brands,
Chapters 2-5
·
Simulation
Day 1: April 25
Week 15: April
30 Simulation Day 2
·
Brands,
Chapters 6 and 7
Exam
2: Thursday May 9:
8:00 AM to 10:50, Notice the time change. Same room.
Other Important
Stuff
Political Science Advising
If you are a Political Science major, we highly recommend that you
meet with your friendly and helpful POLI advisors, Nathan Bickett and Jen
Clayton, at least once a semester to make sure you are on track - doing what
you need to do and not doing what you don’t need to do - and to discuss your
academic and professional goals. Current minors and those considering a POLI
major or minor are also encouraged to visit.
You may make an appointment through the
Navigator app or through a link on your VCU Portal. You may also reach us at poliadvisor@vcu.edu
Political Science Librarian
Nia Rodgers is the librarian for Political
Science. She can help you find peer-reviewed materials to use in your research.
She can be reached at: slrodgers@vcu.edu
or you can make an appointment at: https://vcu.libcal.com/appointment/8778
Where can you find
information on international affairs?
This is the questions students
always ask me: “Where do I find good information on international affairs. I’m
looking for something unbiased and something that doesn’t always look at the
world through American eyes (as in how do these developments affect the US).
Here’s
the short answer: For day-by-day coverage of events
in the world:
On a weekly basis:
The
Economist: www.economist.com. This is a Britain-based weekly which covers
world politics and world business. There
really is nothing else like it in the comprehensive nature of its
coverage. You can also buy it on the
newsstand, but the web is free. It
covers world politics very well.
Long Term Views of Crisis and Conflict:
International Crisis Group: www.crisisweb.org.
This is the International Crisis Group, a non-profit organization that
studies, analyzes, and makes recommendations about how to resolve various
crises in the world. There is nothing
better for the in-depth examination of current world events and the dilemmas of
problem solving and peace making. It has
reports (30-50 pages), briefings (10-30), and a weekly briefing (Crisis Watch),
which you can get on the web site or sign up for e-mail delivery.
VCU
Syllabus Policy Statements from Provost’s Office