U.S. Foreign Policy: Current and Future Challenges

IWP 638
Four credits

This course will survey and evaluate the role of American foreign policy in the contemporary international system. Beginning with an introductory background setting, the course will systematically develop the several levels of geopolitical challenge to the national interest in major areas of the world. It will treat the national interest as containing three main levels or "tiers," ranging from vital to important, down to marginal. The bulk of the course will concentrate on contemporary vital issues, logically dealing with threats to American security as well as opportunities for U.S. policy to shape the international environment. The course will conclude by assessing the current and potential direction of policy, addressing such themes as the choices between "empire" and "retrenchment," or "unilateralism" and "internationalism."

Semester Available

Principal Professor