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 overall 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 and 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-related documents and actively participate in the discussion. In the final three or four classes, they are also asked to present their own research results.