Download or read book Foreign Policy Inc written by Lawrence Davidson and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most Americans assume that U.S. foreign policy is determined by democratically elected leaders who define and protect the common good of the citizens and the nation they represent. Increasingly, this conventional wisdom falls short of explaining the real climate in Washington. Well organized private-interest groups are capitalizing on Americans' ignorance of world politics to advance their own agendas. Supported by vast economic resources and powerful lobbyists, these groups thwart the constitutional checks and balances designed to protect the U.S. political system, effectively bullying or buying our national leaders. Lawrence Davidson traces the history, evolution, and growing influence of these private organizations from the nation's founding to the present, and he illuminates their profoundly disturbing impact on the direction of U.S. foreign policy. Foreign Policy, Inc.: Privatizing America's National Interest demonstrates how economic interest groups once drove America's westward expansion and designed the nation's overseas imperial policies. Using the contemporary Cuba and Israel lobbies as examples, Davidson then describes the emergence of political lobbies in the twentieth century and shows how diverse groups with competing ethnic and religious agendas began to organize and shape American priorities abroad. Despite the troubling influence of these specialized lobbies, many Americans remain indifferent to the hijacking of American foreign policy. Americans' focus on local events and their lack of interest in international affairs renders them susceptible to media manipulation and prevents them from holding elected officials accountable for their ties to lobbies. Such mass indifference magnifies the power of these wealthy special interest groups and permits them to create and implement American foreign policy. The result is that the global authority of the United States is weakened, its integrity as an international leader is compromised, and its citizens are endangered. Debilitated by two wars, a tarnished global reputation, and a plummeting economy, Americans, Davidson insists, can no longer afford to ignore the realities of world politics. On its current path, he predicts, America will cease to be a commonwealth of individuals but instead will become an amoral assembly of competing interest groups whose policies and priorities place the welfare of the nation and its citizens in peril.

Download or read book The Tragedy of U S Foreign Policy written by Walter A. McDougall and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-22 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fierce critique of civil religion as the taproot of America’s bid for global hegemony Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Walter A. McDougall argues powerfully that a pervasive but radically changing faith that “God is on our side” has inspired U.S. foreign policy ever since 1776. The first comprehensive study of the role played by civil religion in U.S. foreign relations over the entire course of the country’s history, McDougall’s book explores the deeply infused religious rhetoric that has sustained and driven an otherwise secular republic through peace, war, and global interventions for more than two hundred years. From the Founding Fathers and the crusade for independence to the Monroe Doctrine, through World Wars I and II and the decades-long Cold War campaign against “godless Communism,” this coruscating polemic reveals the unacknowledged but freely exercised dogmas of civil religion that bind together a “God blessed” America, sustaining the nation in its pursuit of an ever elusive global destiny.

Download or read book American Foreign Policy written by Paul Viotti and published by Polity. This book was released on 2010-04-26 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the world’s only superpower, America’s foreign policy inevitably has a major impact Ð be it positive or negative - on contemporary international affairs. Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, George W. Bush’s decision to move away from multilateral decision-making toward a more aggressive, pre-emptive style of foreign policy attracted widespread debate, and criticism, throughout the world. Reversing direction, the Barack Obama presidency is placing greater emphasis on constructive or peaceful engagement within multilateral frameworks, relying on special envoys to deal with some of the thorniest problems. In this book, Paul Viotti explores American foreign policy from the founding of the republic in the late 18th Century to the present day. Part 1 examines the broad policy options available to the US government: namely, peaceful engagement, containment through deterrence or coercive diplomacy, and armed intervention. Part 2 looks at the American experience in foreign policy. By exploring early precedents and elite practices, the moralism of American exceptionalism as well as the roots of an expansionist American foreign policy, the discussion draws out the continuities running from the 18th century to the present. Part 3 concludes with an analysis of the politics of interest on the Potomac with analysis of the interplay of contending policy elites, factions and parties influencing foreign policy making today. Assessing alternatives, the author concludes that even though containment and armed intervention will remain part of the way the United States conducts its foreign policy, diplomatic engagement options are the most promising course of action for the coming decades.

Download or read book Sailing the Water s Edge written by Helen V. Milner and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-09-15 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How U.S. domestic politics shapes the nation's foreign policy When engaging with other countries, the U.S. government has a number of different policy instruments at its disposal, including foreign aid, international trade, and the use of military force. But what determines which policies are chosen? Does the United States rely too much on the use of military power and coercion in its foreign policies? Sailing the Water's Edge focuses on how domestic U.S. politics—in particular the interactions between the president, Congress, interest groups, bureaucratic institutions, and the public—have influenced foreign policy choices since World War II and shows why presidents have more control over some policy instruments than others. Presidential power matters and it varies systematically across policy instruments. Helen Milner and Dustin Tingley consider how Congress and interest groups have substantial material interests in and ideological divisions around certain issues and that these factors constrain presidents from applying specific tools. As a result, presidents select instruments that they have more control over, such as use of the military. This militarization of U.S. foreign policy raises concerns about the nature of American engagement, substitution among policy tools, and the future of U.S. foreign policy. Milner and Tingley explore whether American foreign policy will remain guided by a grand strategy of liberal internationalism, what affects American foreign policy successes and failures, and the role of U.S. intelligence collection in shaping foreign policy. The authors support their arguments with rigorous theorizing, quantitative analysis, and focused case studies, such as U.S. foreign policy in Sub-Saharan Africa across two presidential administrations. Sailing the Water’s Edge examines the importance of domestic political coalitions and institutions on the formation of American foreign policy.

Download or read book Defending the National Interest written by Stephen D. Krasner and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1978-11-21 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book's basic analytic assumption is that there is a distinction between state and society. "Defending the National Interest" shows that the problem for political analysis is how to identify the underlying social structure and the political mechanisms through which particular societal groups determine the government's behavior.

Download or read book American Foreign Policy and Political Ambition written by James Lee Ray and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2013-08-20 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his eagerly-awaited second edition of American Foreign Policy and Political Ambition, James Ray revisits his deceptively simple premise that the highest priority of leaders is to stay in power. Looking at how political ambition and domestic pressures impact foreign policymaking is the key to understanding how and why foreign policy decisions are made. The text begins by using this analytic approach to look at the history of foreign policymaking and then examines how various parties inside and outside government influence decision making. In a unique third section, the book takes a regional approach, not only covering trends other books tend to miss, but giving students the opportunity to think comprehensively about how issues intersect around the globe—from human security and democratization, to globalization and pollution. Guided by input from adopters and reviewers, Ray has thoroughly re-organized the book and streamlined some coverage to better consolidate the historical, institutional, regional, and topical chapters and focus the thematic lens of the book. Ray has also brought the book fully up-to-date, addressing the latest events in American foreign policy, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the killing of Bin Laden, the WikiLeaks scandal and its aftermath, the impact of social media on foreign policy and world affairs, nuclear proliferation, developments in U.S.-Russian relations, climate change, and more.

Download or read book Defining the National Interest written by Peter Trubowitz and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1998-02-17 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States has been marked by a highly politicized and divisive history of foreign policy-making. Why do the nation's leaders find it so difficult to define the national interest? Peter Trubowitz offers a new and compelling conception of American foreign policy and the domestic geopolitical forces that shape and animate it. Foreign policy conflict, he argues, is grounded in America's regional diversity. The uneven nature of America's integration into the world economy has made regionalism a potent force shaping fights over the national interest. As Trubowitz shows, politicians from different parts of the country have consistently sought to equate their region's interests with that of the nation. Domestic conflict over how to define the "national interest" is the result. Challenging dominant accounts of American foreign policy-making, Defining the National Interest exemplifies how interdisciplinary scholarship can yield a deeper understanding of the connections between domestic and international change in an era of globalization.

Download or read book American Foreign Policy written by Daniel S. Papp and published by Addison-Wesley Longman. This book was released on 2005 with total page 570 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American Foreign Policy in a New Era utilizes the three major approaches to foreign policy analysis giving students an opportunity to obtain a comprehensive 360 degree understanding of U.S. foreign policy. Students will use the methodologies of history and diplomatic history to develop an understanding of past U.S. foreign policy and how the United States became what it is today in global affairs; employ a variety of social science methodologies used to explore the forces that shape and influence U.S. foreign policy; and they will engage in policy analysis to study in depth five issues-areas in contemporary U.S. foreign policy.

Download or read book Foreign Policy Begins at Home written by Richard N Haass and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2014-04-08 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A concise, comprehensive guide to America's critical policy choices at home and overseas . . . without a partisan agenda, but with a passion for solutions designed to restore our country's strength and enable us to lead." -- Madeleine K. Albright A rising China, climate change, terrorism, a nuclear Iran, a turbulent Middle East, and a reckless North Korea all present serious challenges to America's national security. But it depends even more on the United States addressing its burgeoning deficit and debt, crumbling infrastructure, second class schools, and outdated immigration system. While there is currently no great rival power threatening America directly, how long this strategic respite lasts, according to Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass, will depend largely on whether the United States puts its own house in order. Haass lays out a compelling vision for restoring America's power, influence, and ability to lead the world and advocates for a new foreign policy of Restoration that would require the US to limit its involvement in both wars of choice, and humanitarian interventions. Offering essential insight into our world of continual unrest, this new edition addresses the major foreign and domestic debates since hardcover publication, including US intervention in Syria, the balance between individual privacy and collective security, and the continuing impact of the sequester.

Download or read book American Foreign Policy written by Glenn P. Hastedt and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-02-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Glenn Hastedt’s clear and succinct introduction to the field prepares students to think about America’s changing role in the world and to develop the critical thinking skills needed to participate in the debate about the conduct and content of American foreign policy. He begins by asking “What do we mean by foreign policy and what is the national interest?” Next, Hastedt looks to the past and examines the defining experiences that have helped to shape American foreign policy today. Third, he looks at how American foreign policy is made in the current hyperpartisan political climate. Here Hastedt examines the various institutions and how they come together to make policy, as well as the policy instruments available to decision makers. And finally, he encourages students to wonder, “What’s next?” The eleventh edition reflects the latest headlines, including more extensive discussions of hybrid warfare, cyber wars, drones, and an assessment of Obama’s foreign policy. There are new case studies on ISIS, authorization of force resolutions, women in combat, the climate agreement, the Iran nuclear agreement, Obama’s opening to Cuba, and the future of COIN. And new Historical Lessons boxes feature the War Powers Act, the integration of the military, the Kyoto Agreement, NAFTA, and Afghanistan. This book is accompanied by a learning package designed to enhance the experience of both instructors and students: Test Bank. The Test Bank includes a variety of test questions and is available in either Word, PDF or Respondus formats. For every chapter in the text, the Test Bank includes a complete test with a variety of question types, including multiple choice, true false, and essay formats. Our Test Bank is most flexibly used in Respondus, test authoring software which is available in two forms. Check with your university to see if you have a site license to the full program, Respondus 4.0, which offers the option to upload your tests to any of the most popular course management systems such as Blackboard. If you don’t have a Respondus license or do not care about having your tests in a course management system, you can use our test bank file in Respondus LE. The LE program is free and can be used to automate the process of creating tests in print format. • Visit the Respondus Test Bank Network to download the test bank for either Respondus 4.0 or Respondus LE. • If you prefer to use our Test Bank in Word or PDF, please Sign-In if you are a registered user, or Register then email us at [email protected]. Companion Website. Accompanying the text is an open-access Companion Website designed to reinforce the main topics. For each chapter, flash cards and self-study quizzes help students master the information they learn in the classroom. Students can access the Companion Website from their computer or mobile device at textbooks.rowman.com/hastedt11e.

Download or read book Special Providence written by Walter Russell Mead and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-13 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "God has a special providence for fools, drunks and the United States of America."--Otto von Bismarck America's response to the September 11 attacks spotlighted many of the country's longstanding goals on the world stage: to protect liberty at home, to secure America's economic interests, to spread democracy in totalitarian regimes and to vanquish the enemy utterly. One of America's leading foreign policy thinkers, Walter Russell Mead, argues that these diverse, conflicting impulses have in fact been the key to the U.S.'s success in the world. In a sweeping new synthesis, Mead uncovers four distinct historical patterns in foreign policy, each exemplified by a towering figure from our past. Wilsonians are moral missionaries, making the world safe for democracy by creating international watchdogs like the U.N. Hamiltonians likewise support international engagement, but their goal is to open foreign markets and expand the economy. Populist Jacksonians support a strong military, one that should be used rarely, but then with overwhelming force to bring the enemy to its knees. Jeffersonians, concerned primarily with liberty at home, are suspicious of both big military and large-scale international projects. A striking new vision of America's place in the world, Special Providence transcends stale debates about realists vs. idealists and hawks vs. doves to provide a revolutionary, nuanced, historically-grounded view of American foreign policy.

Download or read book United States National Interests in a Changing World written by Donald E. Nuechterlein and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2014-07-15 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the term national interest has long been used in reference to the foreign policy goals of nations, there has been no generally agreed upon definition of the concept; as a result, Donald E. Nuechterlein contends, there has been a tendency for foreign policy to be determined by institutional prejudice and past policy rather than by a systematic assessment of national interests. By what criterion does a President decide that a given interest is or is not vital-that is, whether he must contemplate defending it by force if other measures fail? In this study Nuechterlein offers a new conceptual framework for the analysis of foreign policy decisions; resting on more precise definitions and distinguishing among the degrees of interest that the United States perceives in the range of foreign policy issues it faces. He also deals with the constitutional problem of checks and balances between the Presidency and Congress in setting the goals of foreign policy, and the influence of private interest groups and the media on the definition of national interest. Underlining the need for constant reassessment of priorities in a rapidly changing international environment, Nuechterlein illustrates his analysis by drawing on the American experience in foreign affairs since World War II. A case study of the American involvement in Southeast Asia describes how six presidents, beginning with Franklin Roosevelt, viewed United States interests there and the conclusions each drew in terms of policy tools to defend those interests in Vietnam. Finally, he assesses what the future vital interests of the United States are likely to be in light of the shifting balance of world power, and the growing importance of international economics.

Download or read book In Defense of the National Interest written by Hans Joachim Morgenthau and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A landmark in the study of international relations, this reprint of the 1951 Alfred Knopf publication calls on Americans to recognize the primacy of national interest in the formulation of foreign policy. A controversial thesis in 1951, this statement of ideas has stood the test of time well into the 1980s. The author argued that it was essential to relearn on a continuing basis the enduring principles of international politics. He never abandoned the conviction that the national interest, expanded and redefined to make possible the mitigation and relief of novel and unprecedented threats to human survival, was fundamental.

Download or read book US Foreign Policy in the Middle East written by Bledar Prifti and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-02-06 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive historical overview of US foreign policy in the Middle East using the theoretical framework of offensive realism and highlighting the role of geography and regional power distribution in guiding foreign policy. It argues that the US has been pursuing the same geostrategic interests from President Truman’s policy of containment to President Obama’s speak softly and carry a big stick policy, and contends that the US-Iran relationship has been largely characterized by continued cooperation due to shared geostrategic interests. The book highlights the continuity in US foreign policy over the last seven decades and offers a prediction for US foreign policy in reaction to current and future global events. As such, it will serve as a reference guide for not only scholars but also policy analysts and practitioners.

Download or read book The Roots of American Foreign Policy written by Gabriel Kolko and published by Beacon Press (MA). This book was released on 1969 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of America's most perceptive young historians examines the misunderstood dimensions and implications of a great question confronting the nation -- our foreign policy. Professor Kolko makes it clear that our foreign policy is neither the result of omission or ignorance nor of a "military-industrial complex." Civilian authority and civilian-defined goals, he asserts, are the consistent sources of American foreign policy. From this premise, Kolko undertakes to investigate "the respectables," the self-styled liberal realists and businessman who are the architects of the decades-old premises of American foreign policy. He also outlines the nature of American power and interests in the modern world and provides an assessment of who gains and who loses as a result of the policies Washington pursues."--Jacket.

Download or read book American Foreign Relations written by Andrew Preston and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-04-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For better or worse--be it militarily, politically, economically, technologically, or culturally--Americans have had a profound role in shaping the wider world beyond them. The United States has been a savior to some, a curse to others, but either way such views are often based on a caricature of American actions and intentions. American Foreign Relations, then, is a subject of immense global importance that provokes strong emotions and much debate, but often based on deep misunderstanding. This Very Short Introduction analyzes the key episodes, themes, and individuals in the history of American foreign relations. While discussing diplomacy and the periods of war that have shaped national and international history, it also addresses such topics as industrialization, globalization, imperialism, and immigration. Covering the Revolution through the War on Terror, it examines the connections between domestic politics and foreign affairs, as well as the importance of ideals and values. Sharply written and highly readable, American Foreign Relations offers a clear-eyed narrative of America's role in the world and how it has evolved over time. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Download or read book Financial Statecraft written by Benn Steil and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: divAs trade flows expanded and trade agreements proliferated after World War II, governments—most notably the United States—came increasingly to use their power over imports and exports to influence the behavior of other countries. But trade is not the only way in which nations interact economically. Over the past two decades, another form of economic exchange has risen to a level of vastly greater significance and political concern: the purchase and sale of financial assets across borders. Nearly $2 trillion worth of currency now moves cross-border every day, roughly 90 percent of which is accounted for by financial flows unrelated to trade in goods and services—a stunning inversion of the figures in 1970. The time is ripe to ask fundamental questions about what Benn Steil and Robert Litan have coined as “financial statecraft,” or those aspects of economic statecraft directed at influencing international capital flows. How precisely has the American government practiced financial statecraft? How effective have these efforts been? And how can they be made more effective? The authors provide penetrating and incisive answers in this timely and stimulating book. /DIV