International Projects - Grants and Projects
Study of the United States Institute - 2005

U.S. National Security:
American Foreign Policy Formulation in an Era of Globalization

January 3 - February 13, 2005

Institute Syllabus:

The subject matter of the course theme "U.S. national security and foreign policy in an era of globalization" is vast. The proliferation of American-authored books alone about the theme borders on the astounding. Witness, for instance, The New York Times Book Review of July 25, 2004: five of the nine non-fiction books reviewed concerned empires and two related to the War on Terrorism. The final page conveyed a conversation between John Lewis Gaddis and Paul Kennedy about U.S. empire and changes in U.S. thinking about foreign policy since 9/11.

Hence, our coverage of the subject matter must be selective. There are three segments that structure the lectures, readings, films, and related field trips. There is a highly recommended book assigned to each segment along with other recommended readings. These readings are on reserve at Morris Library and many are also accessible electronically.

The initial segment (or module) examines the multiple and often competing ways that the relationship between the U.S. and the rest of the world is studied. Major theoretical approaches abound. Special emphasis is accorded theories of Global Governance and Constructivism, which are the focus of the graduate program at the University of Delaware's Department of Political Science and International Affairs.

Each of the segments ends with a roundtable discussion of the recommended book. Participants are also asked to post a response to a discussion question on WebCT.

The focus of the second segment is upon the complex formulation of U.S. national security and foreign policy. Here, agencies like the National Security Council and actors like the U.S. President, the Congress, and the media are examined. Each of the trips should shed additional light on the complexity of the policymaking process as Congress, think tanks, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations will be visited to complement the principal recommended book.

How fares the War on Terrorism? The third segment should help provide deeper insight into this fundamental question, the top priority in U.S. national security and foreign policy since 2001. Again, detailed coverage of all fronts in and dimensions to the War on Terrorism is not possible. Only some key facets can be examined although the highly recommended book by Paul Pillar offers quite a comprehensive overview and an authoritative history of the development of U.S. counter-terrorism policy by one of its principal architects.

The third module also encompasses the emerging debate over migration and security, a debate that took on greater saliency after 9/11. Professor Huntington of Harvard has published a provocative new book that is fated to galvanize that debate further. This segment explores dimensions of the migration and security nexus, like the growing importance of combating human trafficking in overall U.S. national security and foreign policy.

Principal Readings

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, New York: Public Affairs, 2004

Eugene R. Wittkopf and James M. McCormick, editors, The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy: Insights and Evidence, Lanham, MD/Oxford, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2004.

Paul R. Pillar, Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy, Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2003.

Tentative schedule of lectures, films, roundtables and other course-related events

Module I: Approaches to Understanding the U.S. Relationship to the World

Thursday, January 6, 9-11 a.m., Lecture, "International Relations Theories and U.S. Foreign Policy," Professor Robert Denemark, University of Delaware

Thursday, January 6, 1-3 p.m., Lecture, "U.S. Security Policy and the Global Strategic Environment," Dr. Robert Dorff, U.S. Army War College

Friday, January 7, 9-11 a.m., Lecture, TBA, Dr. Robert Dorff, U.S. Army War College

Friday, January 7, 1-3 p.m., Lecture, "Globalization: Change in the Global Political Economy," Professor Matthew Hoffman, University of Delaware

Friday, January 7, 3:30-5:00pm, Lecture, "Transitional Threats and U. S. Policy," Thomas Sanderson, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Monday, January 10, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Lecture, "Global Governance, Constructivism and U.S. National Security and Foreign Policy," Professor Matthew Hoffman, University of Delaware

Monday, January 10, 1-3 p.m., roundtable discussion of Joseph Nye's Soft Power, moderated by Professor Mark Miller, University of Delaware

Tuesday, January 11, Individual Research Day I, First WebCT Posting, Do you regard the U.S. as an empire?

Wednesday, January 12, 9-11:30 a.m., Film, The Fog of War, discussion led by Professor Mark Miller, University of Delaware

Module II: The Formulation of U.S. National Security and Foreign Policy

Monday, January 24, 9-11 a.m., Lecture, "Understanding U.S. News Media in a Global Context," Professor Ralph Begleiter, University of Delaware

Monday, January 24, 1-3 p.m., Lecture, "The U.S. Presidency After the Elections: Implications for U.S. National Security and Foreign Policy," Professor Joseph Pika, University of Delaware

Tuesday, January 25, 9-11 a.m., Lecture, "Transitions," Professor Martha Kumar, Towson State University

Tuesday, January 25, 1-3 p.m., Lecture, "The National Security Council," Professor Stuart Kaufman, University of Delaware

Thursday, January 27, 9-11 a.m., Lecture, "Media, the U.S. Government and the Military," Professor Ralph Begleiter, University of Delaware

Thursday, January 27, 1-3 p.m., Lecture, "The 2004 Congressional Elections: Implications for U.S. National Security and Foreign Policy," Professor Jason Mycoff, University of Delaware

Friday, January 28, 9-11 a.m., Roundtable discussion on The Domestic Sources of Foreign Policy, led by Professor Mark Miller, University of Delaware

Friday, January 28, 1-4 p.m., Film, Vietnam: The War at Home, discussion led by Professor Kenneth Campbell and Professor Mark Miller, University of Delaware

Module III: The War on Terrorism

Monday, January 31, 9-11 a.m., Lecture, "The Debate over the Patriot Act," Professor James Magee, University of Delaware

Monday, January 31, 1-3 p.m., Lecture, "The U.S. and the Middle East," Dr. Bahram Rajaee, American Political Science Association

Tuesday, February 1, 9-11 a.m., Lecture, "U.S.-Iran Relations," Dr. Bahram Rajaee, American Political Science Association

Tuesday, February 1, 1-3 p.m., Lecture, "Prospects for the Broader Middle East Initiative," Professor Greg White, Smith College

Wednesday, February 2, 9-11 a.m., Lecture, "U.S.-North African-EU Relations," Professor Greg White, Smith College

Wednesday, February 2, 1-3 p.m., Film, The Battle of Algiers, followed by discussion with Professor Mark Miller, University of Delaware

Friday, February 4, 9-11 a.m., Lecture, "Homeland Security and Human Trafficking," Professor Rey Koslowski, Rutgers University-Newark

Friday, February 4, 1-3 p.m., Videoconference with author Paul Pillar, National Intelligence Council, followed by roundtable discussion on Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy led by Professor Mark Miller, University of Delaware

Monday, February 7, 9-12 p.m., Oral presentations of research findings followed by questions and answers, chaired by Professor William Meyer, University of Delaware

Monday, February 7, 2-5 p.m., Oral presentations of research findings followed by questions and answers, chaired by Professor Mark Miller, University of Delaware

Supplemental Reading List
(These are recommended to supplement lectures and will be placed on reserve at the Morris Library)

Module I

Charles Krauthammer, "The Unipolar Moment Revisited," The National Interest, Number 70, Winter 2002/2003, pp. 5-17

Francis Fukuyama, "The Neoconservative Moment," The National Interest, Number 76, Summer 2004, pp. 57-68

Niall Ferguson, "A World Without Power," Foreign Policy, July/August 2004, pp. 32-39, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=2579

Chuck Hagel, "A Republican Foreign Policy," Foreign Affairs, Volume 83:4, July/August 2004, pp. 64-76

James F. Hoge, "A Global Power Shift in the Making," Foreign Affairs, Volume 83:4, July/August 2004, pp. 2-7

Ilan Bermen, "The Bush Strategy at War," The National Interest, Number 74, Winter 2003/2004, pp. 51-58

The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, September 2002, http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nssall.html

Andrei S. Markovits, European Anti-Americanism: Past and Present of a Pedigreed Prejudice,

Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, Taking Stock: The Constructivist Research Program in International Relations and Comparative Politics, Annual Review of Political Science, 2001; 4:391-416.

Karsten D. Voigt, "Power, Sovereignty and Rule of Law," Internationale Politik, 4, 2003, pp 23-28

Module II

Continue readings as the Wittkopf and McCormick book is long

Module III

Samuel P. Huntington, "The Hispanic Challenge," Foreign Policy, March/April 2004, pp. 30-45,

Olivier Roy, "Euroislam: The Jihad Within," The National Interest, 71, Spring, 2003, pp 63-73

Mesut Yilmaz, "Turkey, the U.S., and Iraq," Internationale Politik, 4, 2003, pp 82-84

Lothar Ruehl, "Divide and Rule Fails," Internationale Politik, 2, 2004, pp 37-44

Christoph Reuter, "Al Qaeda's New Recruits," Internationale Politik, 2, 2004, pp 45-50

Interview with the German Foreign Minister…, Internationale Politik, 2, 2004, pp 101-107, also available at http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/en/ausgabe_archiv?archiv_id=5467

Democracy and Human Development in the Broader Middle East: A Transatlantic Strategy for Partnership, Istanbul Paper #1, Washington, D.C.: The German Marshall Fund of the U.S. (www.gmfus.org)

Read about the Middle East Partnership Initiative at www.mepi.state.gov

Steven Camarota, "The Open Door: How Militant Islamic Terrorists Entered and Remained in the United States, 1993-2001," Center for Immigration Studies, http://www.cis.org/articles/2002/Paper21/terrorism.html

Keeping the Promise: Immigration Proposals from the Heartland, Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, 2004. Available at http://www.ccfr.org/publications/immigration/ccfr%20immigration%20task%20force%202004%20report.pdf

A selection of other recent, important books:

Robert Cooper, The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-First Century, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2004.

John Lewis Gaddis, Surprise, Security, and the American Experience, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004.

Walter Russel Mead, Power, Terror, Peace, and War: America's Grand Strategy in a World at Risk, New York: Knopf, 2004.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership, New York: Basic Books, 2004.

Robert Kagan, Of Paradise and Power, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003, reprinted in paper New York: Vintage, 2004.

Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004.

Richard A. Clarke, Against All Enemies, New York: Free Press, 2004.

Anonymous, Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror, Brassey's Inc.: 2004.

Niall Ferguson, Colossus: The Price of America's Empire, New York: The Penguin Press, 2004.

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 2004.

Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsey, America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy, Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution Press, 2003.

Michael O'Hanlon et. al., Protecting the American Homeland, Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution Press, 2003.

David Maraniss, They Marched into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America October 1967, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003.

Samuel P. Huntington, Who are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.