U.S. Foreign Policy: Schools of Thought and Domestic Politics
Faculty
F. Kubo
Description
In the contemporary United States , there are many schools of thought on
its foreign policy. Although specialists of foreign policy tend to look
at just the controversies among the foreign policy elite, more often than
not, the directions of American foreign policy have been dictated by the
social or political movements at the grass-roots level and the elections,
or at least influenced by the opinions attitudes involving wider range of
interest groups and citizens concerned. In this course, we will analyze
what kind of groups and schools now espouse what kind of foreign policy
on what grounds. Special attention will be paid to the post-Iraq-War situation
and the linkage to the domestic politics. Views of each group on the use
of force, the applications of sanctions, democratization efforts, human
rights, just war, the United Nations, globalization and free trade, and
immigration will be closely examined. It should be also kept in mind that
it differs greatly in the way each group exerts influence on policy or gains
access to policy-making process.
On the Democratic side, there are anti-war, anti-globalization, leftist
groups, middle-of-the road, moderate, New Democrat groups, and groups called
“liberal hawk”; on the Republican side, the realist school, the Reaganites,
neo-conservatives, religious conservatives, isolationists, and libertarians.
Students are required to read the assigned policy documents and actively
participate in the discussion. In the final three or four classes, they
are also asked to present their own research results.