U.S. Foreign Policy

Instructor: Alan Cafruny ECTS: 3 ects Modules: 1,2

Course description:

This course explores the origins and evolution of U.S. foreign policy with an emphasis on the changes and continuities since World War I. The course begins with an overview of various conceptual and theoretical issues with respect to foreign policy making including the relationship between economic and political factors; cultural, institutional, and societal determinants of foreign policy decision making; and claims for American “exceptionalism.”. It proceeds to an overview of the rise of American “grand strategy” focusing on the entry into World War I, U.S. policy towards Europe and Asia during the inter-war period; and the origins and development of the Cold War. The nature and extent of contemporary American “hegemony” will be addressed through case studies of U.S.-China relations and the “Asian pivot;” U.S. policy in the Persian Gulf including the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq; U.S.-Iranian relations; and negotiations over the Transpacific Trade Agreement (TPA) and the Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) as centerpieces of contemporary American grand strategy.

Prerequisites: