Syllabus for POLISCI 255:

American Foreign Policy

Spring 2018

Course Information Instructor Information Office Hours

Lecture: Tuesdays and Thursdays Paul Musgrave By appointment:
January 23 – May 1, 2018 musgrave@umass.edu meetme.so/profmusgrave
Thompson Hall 102 o: Thompson Hall 504
4:00-5:15 p.m.

COURSE OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................. 3

A NOTE ON THE SYLLABUS ................................................................................................................ 4
LEARNING GOALS ................................................................................................................................. 5
CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS ................................................................................................................ 6
ELECTRONIC CLASS RECORDINGS POLICY ............................................................................................. 6
COURSE LOGISTICS ............................................................................................................................... 7
PROFESSOR’S OFFICE HOURS ............................................................................................................. 7
TEACHING ASSISTANTS’ CONTACT INFORMATION, OFFICE HOURS, AND SECTIONS ...................................... 7
COURSE ASSESSMENTS ......................................................................................................................... 9
DUE DATES .................................................................................................................................... 9
ASSESSMENT WEIGHTS ..................................................................................................................... 9
Lecture Activities ..................................................................................................................... 9
Section Participation ............................................................................................................... 9
Short Assignments ................................................................................................................ 10
Examination .......................................................................................................................... 10
Simulation ............................................................................................................................. 10
GRADING SCALE ............................................................................................................................ 10
GRADE APPEALS ............................................................................................................................ 10
EXTRA CREDIT ............................................................................................................................... 11
LATE WORK .................................................................................................................................. 11
MAKE-UP EXAMINATION ................................................................................................................ 11
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY ........................................................................................................................ 12
OFFICIAL STATEMENT ..................................................................................................................... 12
PLAGIARISM DETECTION ................................................................................................................. 12
MY PERSONAL VIEW OF CHEATING ................................................................................................... 12

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES .................................................................... 13

COURSE READINGS ............................................................................................................................. 14
JANUARY 23: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 14
JANUARY 25: INTRODUCING—AND DEBATING—STRATEGY ................................................................... 14
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JANUARY 30: ELEMENTARY GAME THEORY ........................................................................................ 14

FEBRUARY 1: GOING HEAD-TO-HEAD OR STANDING SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER? ..................................... 15
FEBRUARY 6: INTRODUCING THE BARGAINING MODEL OF WAR ............................................................ 15
FEBRUARY 8: NEGOTIATIONS IN THE SHADOW OF WAR ....................................................................... 15
FEBRUARY 13: ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE, WAR, AND PEACE ......................................................................... 15
FEBRUARY 15: THE THREAT THAT LEAVES SOMETHING TO CHANCE ....................................................... 16
FEBRUARY 20: WAGING NUCLEAR WAR ........................................................................................... 16
FEBRUARY 22: EXAMINATION .......................................................................................................... 16
FEBRUARY 27: PRESIDENTS AS DECIDERS ........................................................................................... 16
MARCH 1: CONGRESS AND FOREIGN POLICY ...................................................................................... 17
MARCH 6: THE NATIONAL SECURITY BUREAUCRACY ............................................................................ 17
MARCH 8: DECIDING WHO DECIDES ................................................................................................. 17
MARCH 20: THE OPEN ECONOMY AND ITS ENEMIES ........................................................................... 18
MARCH 22: THE POLITICAL COSTS OF OPEN TRADE ............................................................................ 18
MARCH 27: DEAL OR NO DEAL ........................................................................................................ 19
MARCH 29: BUILD A WALL OR OPEN HARBORS: IMMIGRATION AND FOREIGN POLICY .............................. 19
APRIL 3: SHIFT TO MILITARISM? ...................................................................................................... 19
APRIL 5: SIMULATION WORK ........................................................................................................... 20
APRIL 10: AMERICA, RACE, AND THE WORLD ..................................................................................... 20
APRIL 12: RACE AND ETHNICITY IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY ............................................................ 20
APRIL 17: PATRIOT DAY ................................................................................................................. 20
APRIL 19: GENDER IN U.S. FOREIGN POLICY ...................................................................................... 20
APRIL 24: NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION, NUCLEAR ACCIDENTS, AND NUCLEAR USE ................................ 21
APRIL 26: FOREIGN POLICY, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND CLIMATE CHANGE ................................................ 21
MAY 1: CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 22

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Course Overview
The study of foreign policy begins with puzzles. Some of them involve questions at the heart
of international-relations theory. Since war is so expensive relative to any goal that can be
accomplished, why do wars take place? Why has the United States long supported a global free-trade
system despite that system’s costs to the United States? Others involve puzzles about how
institutions behave. Why do Congress and the presidency disagree over the means and ends of U.S.
foreign policy? Why do bureaucracies within the same government seemingly spend as much time
fighting each other as they do working together? Some involve questions of personal psychology
and identity. Why do people appear to vote against their economic interest in regards to trade
policy? Why do men and women see foreign policy issues differently? And why do decision-makers
sometimes fail to reach decisions that others would regard as rational?
As you can tell from that list of puzzles, the study of foreign policy brings together a number
of academic disciplines to investigate questions with profound real-world implications. In this class,
we will examine American foreign policy from several perspectives. At times, we will use history to
illuminate theoretical propositions about why states act as they do. At other times, we will investigate
more contemporary cases showing how people’s affiliation with different parts of the U.S.
government leads them to develop habits, routines, and interests that lead them to take different
stances on the same policy question. And we will consider the implications of these observations for
how we should predict how the United States approaches important issues like war, economics, and
global climate change.
One particular theme of this year’s class will be the special tensions of the year 2018 for U.S.
foreign policy. Our major reading for the year will be Rosa Brooks’s How Everything Became War and
the Military Became Everything, a combination of a personal memoir and analytical assessment of the
militarization of U.S. foreign policy. Over the past year, the long-term erosion of U.S. diplomatic
and civilian capabilities in foreign policy has been accelerated; Brooks’s book, written before the
Trump administration assumed office, discusses why U.S. policymakers increasingly turned to
military strategies. This long-term trend will do much to shape how the United States makes foreign
policy in the future.
This course is conducted in the midst of an unusually turbulent domestic and international
political season. A long tradition of U.S. politics held that “politics stops at the water’s edge”—that
is, that foreign policy was beyond domestic partisan-political concerns. If that was ever true, it
clearly no longer is. The extension of domestic political polarization into foreign policy raises
profound questions about how stable and enduring any U.S. foreign policy can be. Polarization is
not in itself necessarily harmful in domestic politics, but its growing effects on foreign policy might
have disastrous consequences. Foreign policy is essentially different than domestic politics because
even the United States, as powerful as it remains, cannot simply dictate how the rest of the world
reacts to its decisions. An old axiom holds that “the enemy gets a vote”—that the strategy the U.S.
government pursues has to deal with the autonomy and capabilities of other countries. If domestic
political pressures squeeze out room for compromise and conciliation externally as they have done
internally, the chances of catastrophic outcomes increase dramatically.

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Even though we will often deal with topics that seem remote, I want you to understand a
primary theme of this course: you have the potential to participate in international relations, whether
as an activist working to affect how the U.S. and other governments act, a member of the U.S.
government carrying out foreign policy, or as a member of the global community who engages with
world politics as an informed citizen. To underline that message, this course centers around an
unconventional module: a semester-long simulation of the U.S. foreign policy process. Beginning a
few weeks into the semester, you and your classmates will work to analyze U.S. relations with key
players in the international system and craft recommendations about how to adjust U.S. foreign
policy. This will help you understand how policymakers carry out their jobs, from analyzing a
situation to find opportunities for policy initiatives to writing the policy proposal itself to presenting
it to audiences they need to win over.
A Note on the Syllabus
I do not expect to make major changes to the syllabus after the course begins, but if any
amendments become necessary, I will notify you in a timely manner.

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Learning Goals
After completing the assigned readings, participating in course activities, and thinking about
course lectures, a student should be able to:

Fundamental Outcomes
• List major challenges for contemporary U.S. foreign policy.
• Describe how different actors view the actions of the U.S. government.
• Summarize theories of political behavior relevant to U.S. foreign policy.

Intermediate Outcomes
• Apply theories to the actual operation of U.S. foreign policy bureaucracies.
• Distinguish causes of action affecting agents involved in foreign policy.
• Distill relevant data from a variety of sources into a product usable by other team
members.
• Develop techniques to work in flexible, team-based environments.

Ultimate Outcomes
• Discuss major challenges for U.S. foreign policy in a changing world system.
• Analyze major operational challenges in the U.S. national security and diplomatic
establishment.
• Formulate and critique changes to U.S. foreign policy and responsible agencies.
• Prepare professional texts that synthesize data and analyze policy environments.
• Present persuasive messages to large audiences.

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Classroom Expectations
The class will begin on time. During lecture, you should feel free to ask questions, although I
may sometimes choose to hold off on responding.
With one exception (see below), students should turn off all cell phones, pagers, laptop
computers, and other electronic devices while in class. There are studies backing up instructors’
intuitions that students do not learn well if their laptops are open during teaching time, even if they
are using their computers to take notes.1
The one exception: there will be a laptop section (like a smoking section) provided in the
rear of the lecture classroom. You may use laptops there—no cell phones or other electronic
devices—as much as you like, so long as you do not disrupt or disturb class.
I will post lecture slides and other material on Moodle after each class session. Please note,
however, that my lecture slides mostly include graphical and schematic reflections of the lecture
content, and may be inscrutable if you haven’t attended class.
Electronic Class Recordings Policy
Students are permitted to electronically record class using audio and video recorders for
personal use only. These may not be distributed or sold to other persons.

1
See, for instance, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/05/13/allowing-devices-
classroom-hurts-academic-performance-study-finds.

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Course Logistics
Professor’s Office Hours
You should always feel free to drop by my posted office hours. You should also feel
comfortable contacting me to schedule meetings at other times. The fastest way to do this is via my
online scheduling service: meetme.so/paulmusgrave. Please note, however, that I may be unable to
meet with you outside of office hours without an appointment. You can also email me. I try to
respond to all email within 24 “business” hours (that is, I may not reply to an email on a Friday
evening or a Saturday until Monday).

Teaching Assistants’ Contact Information, Office Hours, and Sections

Section TA Days & Times Room

01AA Leiter Mo 9:05AM-9:55AM Machmer W-15
01AB Abassah- Mo 10:10AM-11:00AM Machmer W-15
Manu
01AC Abassah- Mo 11:15AM-12:05PM Machmer W-15
Manu
01AD Leiter Mo 11:15AM-12:05PM Machmer W-21
01AE Abassah- Mo 12:20PM-1:10PM Machmer W-15
Manu
01AF Leiter Mo 12:20PM-1:10PM Machmer W-21
01AG Pezeshk Fr 9:05AM-9:55AM Machmer W-15
01AJ Nylen Fr 10:10AM-11:00AM Machmer W-15
01AK Pezeshk Fr 11:15AM-12:05PM Machmer W-15
01BA Nylen Fr 11:15AM-12:05PM Machmer W-24
01BB Pezeshk Fr 12:20PM-1:10PM Machmer W-25
01BC Nylen Fr 12:20PM-1:10PM Machmer W-24

Ardeshir Pezeshk
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 2:00PM-3:00PM, and Thursdays, 2:00PM-3:30PM
Office Location: Thompson 608
Email: apezeshk@polsci.umass.edu
Biography: I study political violence with a particular interest in why armed groups (i.e. governments
and non-state actors like the Taliban) target civilians and whether rules and norms protecting
civilians actually work.

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Roselyn Abassah-Manu
Office Hours: Mondays, 1:30PM-3:00PM
Office Location: Thompson 612
Email: rabassahmanu@umass.edu
Biography: My research interests are in humanitarian aid in conflict, human rights, humanitarianism,
conflict studies, non-governmental organizations, foreign policy, international humanitarian
law/laws of war. I focus on Africa and the Middle East.

Benjamin Leiter
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 1:30PM-3:00PM, and Thursdays, 2:30-4:00PM, or by appointment
Office Location: Thompson 714
Email: bleiter@umass.edu
Biography: I am a graduate student in political science and study comparative politics and political
theory. I am interested in how epistemologies of white ignorance reproduce our unjust and unequal
racial order and how white people can transform these epistemological orientations towards
positions more receptive of racial justice.

Alexandria Nylen
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 12:45PM-2:45PM
Office Location: Thompson 712
Email: anylen@umass.edu
Biography: I study international relations and comparative politics. My broad interests include
international law, U.S. foreign policy, human security and Middle Eastern and South Asian politics.
My current research focuses on the emergent norms surrounding the use and proliferation of armed
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or ‘drones’). I am particularly interested in teasing out the possible
uniqueness of drones as compared to other weapons technologies, especially banned weapons
technologies.

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Course Assessments
Due Dates
• Examination: February 22
• Individual Written Assignments
1. Short Paper: February 2
2. Short Paper: March 8
3. Book Review: April 6
4. Short Paper: May 1
• Simulation (Subject to more change)
Assessment Weights
Simulation 32% Assignments 32%
Section Participation 12% Examination 12%
Lecture Activities 12%
Lecture Activities
I will not collect attendance for lectures, but I recommend you attend as many sessions as
possible. Over the course of the semester, we will have about 15 small activities for you to complete
during lecture sessions. Lecture activities may include taking a quiz, writing a reflection on the day’s
lecture, participating in an in-class group activity, or something else. In general, a lecture activity will
draw on the readings assigned for that day, although they may also draw on anything we have done
in the course until that point.
To receive full credit for the Lecture Activities part of your final grade, you must earn at
least 12 points. For each lecture activity you complete successfully, you will receive 1 point.
However, if you have fewer than 12 points, then the number of points you have will be the number
of percentage points applied to your grade under Lecture Activities. In other words, if you miss a
course session in which we have a lecture activity, you may have missed a full percentage point of
your final grade. However, there will be more opportunities offered to earn these points than is
required for full credit. I will only offer make-up assignments in truly exceptional circumstances
(such as absences caused by participating in an unexpected number of University-approved athletic
contests, like the Final Four, or severe personal illness). (You can’t earn any extra credit in this
category, so don’t ask for any.)
Section Participation
Each TA will keep a record of your participation in sections. We want to encourage students
to participate, rather than penalizing students who don’t. As a rule of thumb, don’t stress about this
too much: show up, engage with the day’s activity, and be prepared to do something related to the
course material, and you will be fine. However, serial absences, disruptive actions, or other behavior
that negatively affects your and other students’ learning will be penalized.

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Short Assignments
Throughout the course, there will be four short written assignments. These may take the
form of short essays, problem sets, creative-writing activities, or book reports.
Examination
There will be one test in the course, which will review the material on war, game theory, and
the cases that we will cover in class. It will be open book, open note, and open Internet—indeed,
you will even be allowed to talk to your classmates. But you should anticipate that this will make the
test harder, not easier!
Simulation
Over the course of the term, you will be engaged in a long-term simulation of the U.S.
foreign policymaking process. Each section will be assigned to play as a part of the U.S. foreign-
policy bureaucracy charged with recommending changes in U.S. policy toward the rest of the world.
Each student will also be assigned to a multi-agency task force responsible for researching U.S.
policy toward a particular great power or rising country. You will have several assignments related to
the simulation, including group reports, presentations, and individual reports. These will be detailed
as we progress through the simulation. During the final examination period, the class will meet as a
whole to complete the simulation. There will be opportunities for bonus points for students who
excel during the simulation; more details will be given to you as the course progresses.

Grading Scale
A+ 97-100 B+ 87-89.9 C+ 77-79.9 D+ 67-69.9
A 93-96.9 B 83-86.9 C 73-76.9 D 63-66.9
A- 90-92.9 B- 80-82.9 C- 70-72.9 D- 60-62.9
F < 60

Please note that my grading scale is less linear than logarithmic. I consider work that earns a
90 to be an order of magnitude better than work that earns an 80, and work that earns a 93 is not
incrementally but qualitatively different than work that earns a 90. The practical result is that if you
want to move your grade from (say) an 85 to an 88, you will have to work much harder than a
student who wants to raise her average from a 75 to a 78. Similarly, a B+ student who would like to
earn an A will find that her workload may double or treble. As you should know by now, UMass-
Amherst doesn’t believe that an “A+” exists, and so it has no official standing—it’s just another A.
But it will mean something in this class and to me.
Grade Appeals
You may appeal any grade you receive. To appeal a grade, you must wait 24 hours after the
work has been returned to you. Then submit the original work as well as any feedback you received
on it to me, along with a petition in writing detailing what errors you thought were made and what

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you think should happen. If there is an actual error in grading (e.g., a multiple-choice question in
which a correct answer was marked wrong or in which two answers were actually correct), I will
make the correction immediately. In the case of a subjectively graded assignment, a panel of TAs
who did not grade the original work will then re-grade the assignment. Your grade may increase or
decrease as a result of the re-grade.
Extra Credit
There will be very few announced extra credit opportunities during the semester; other extra
credit will not be available. Any student who emails me a picture of a dinosaur before 11:59 p.m.
Eastern time on February 1, 2018, will receive 0.1% extra credit on their final semester grade.
Late Work
My policy on late work is clear: neither I nor the TAs will accept late work for full credit
without prior, written authorization for an extension from the TA or from me, except in cases of
clear-cut family, personal, or medical emergency that renders it impossible to communicate
beforehand. Vacation or other nonexcused travel falling outside those categories does not qualify.
Without such authorization, we will deduct points as follows:
• 10 percent for the first day or part of a day late (if the deadline is midnight and you hand it in
at 12:01 a.m., that is a part of a day).
• An additional 20 percent for the second day or part of a day late (that is, 30 percent total).
• An additional 30 percent for the third day or part of a day late (that is, 60 percent total).
• An additional 30 percent for the fourth day or part of a day late (that is, 90 percent total).
• Late work will not be accepted five days or more afterward, except under the conditions
described above (prior written arrangement or clear-cut family, personal, or medical
emergency that renders it impossible to communicate beforehand).
Why do we have these standards? The point is not to lower grades for the point of lowering
grades. First, I want to nudge you to be in communication with us when you run into problems. So
be mindful of this policy and, when you think you may run into a problem, email your TA as quickly as
possible. Second, this is a large and complicated class, and we do not have the capacity of monitoring
students for whether they are turning material in late. Therefore, we need some rule to handle the
inevitable late work question that do arise, and this policy seems fair.
Make-Up Examination
Contact your TA if you need a make-up test for reasons of excused absence or clear-cut
family, personal, or medical emergency. We will not accommodate requests because of personal or
vacation travel or because of work assigned in other courses.

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Academic Integrity
Official Statement
Intellectual honesty requires that students demonstrate their own learning during
examinations and other academic exercises, and that other sources of information or knowledge be
appropriately credited. Scholarship depends upon the reliability of information and reference to the
work of others. Student work at the University may be analyzed for originality of content. Such
analysis may be done electronically or by other means. Student work may also be included in a
database for the purpose of checking for possible plagiarized content in future student submissions.
No form of cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, or facilitating dishonesty will be condoned in the
University community.
Plagiarism Detection
Students should be aware that suspect assignments (e.g., those without drafts, works cited
pages, or papers which make large departures in style) will be submitted to Turnitin and/or My
Drop Box by the instructor for the purpose of detecting possible plagiarism. Submitted assignments
will be included in the UMass Amherst dedicated databases of assignments at Turnitin and/or My
Drop Box. These databases of assignments will be used solely for the purpose of detecting possible
plagiarism during the grading process and during this term and in the future. Students must provide
an electronic copy of their assignment to the instructor for submission to one or both of the services
when plagiarism is suspected, in order to receive a grade on the assignment and to avoid possible
sanctions.
My Personal View of Cheating
Honesty and integrity form the core of scholarly work. I treat issues like plagiarism, cheating,
fabrication, facilitating others’ ethical misconduct, and other violations of University policy incredibly
seriously. Although I hope that nobody engages in such misconduct, I will follow University policy
to the letter if I find out that a violation has occurred. You should familiarize yourself with that
policy at http://www.umass.edu/honesty/.

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Accommodations for Students With Disabilities

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to making reasonable, effective and
appropriate accommodations to meet the needs of students with disabilities and help create a barrier
free campus. If you are in need of accommodations for a documented disability, register with
Disability Services to have an accommodation letter sent to your faculty. It is your responsibility to
initiate these services and communicate with faculty ahead of time to manage accommodations in a
timely manner. For more information, consult the Disability Services website
at http://www.umass.edu/disability. Please note that I cannot and will not grant
accommodations outside of the official University process.

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Course Readings
In general, I’ve listed articles and readings in the order that you should read them. Most
readings will be available online, but there is one text you should purchase from Amazon or
elsewhere:
• Rosa Brooks, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the
Pentagon, Simon & Schuster, 978-1476777863 (new, hardcover: $14.82; new, paperback,
$9.86; new Kindle, $12.99)

Week 1: Introduction
January 23: Introduction
What is this course all about? How do I read for this class? How can I succeed—or at least
do well enough to pass? And why should anyone care about a course on U.S. foreign policy?
• Wellerstein, Alex. 2018. “The Hawaii Alert Was An Accident. The Dread It Inspired
Wasn’t.” The Washington Post 16 January. ONLINE
• Swanson, Ana. 2017. “Trump Edges Closer to a Trade War With China, Thanks to
Aluminum Foil.” The Washington Post 9 August. ONLINE
• Tracy, Abigail. 2017. “’Total Bullshit’: Ex-Staffers Say Tilllerson’s ‘Disdain’ Is Killing the
State Department.” Vanity Fair. ONLINE

January 25: Introducing—and debating—strategy

What is “strategy”? What does it mean to say that a person, institution, or country is
following a strategy? And can an organization as complex as the United States really be said to have
a strategy governing its foreign policy?
• Selections from Brands, Hal. 2017. “U.S. Grand Strategy in an Age of Nationalism:
Fortress America and its Alternatives.” The Washington Quarterly. ONLINE
• Edelstein, David, and Ronald R. Krebs. 2015. “Delusions of Grand Strategy: The
Problem with Washington’s Planning Obsession.” Foreign Affairs. ONLINE

Week 2: Strategies of Conflict and Cooperation

January 30: Elementary Game Theory
How do actors’ choices depend on their beliefs about other actors’ choices? What is an
equilibrium and how does it arise from other actors’ choices?
• Radiolab, “The Prisoner’s Dilemma”, http://www.radiolab.org/story/104082-prisoners-
dilemma/
• Schultz et al selection on game theory ONLINE

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February 1: Going Head-To-Head or Standing Shoulder-to-Shoulder?

How do theories help us understand the world? What kinds of theories should we have in
our intellectual portfolio? Why is conflict so rare if cooperation is so difficult in international
relations?
• Selections from Robert Jervis, “Cooperation Under the Security Dilemma,” World Politics
1978 ONLINE
• Mike Brandl, “The Free Rider Problem”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
dY7XT5bJUc

Week 3: War and Peace, I

February 6: Introducing the Bargaining Model of War
Countries disagree about issues all the time, but only a very small percentage of
disagreements between countries—even between great powers with strong militaries—ever result in
armed conflict or full-scale war. Why do states prefer to negotiate instead of fighting? Why could
war still break out despite incentives to avoid conflict?
• Shultz et al, Chapter 3 ONLINE

February 8: Negotiations In the Shadow Of War

How does the United States government negotiate with other governments when the use of
force is a possibility? We begin by examining a simple theoretical case: how negotiations in the
shadow of conflict work when (pretty much) all domestic parties agree on the best course of action.
We illustrate this with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and American (non)-response to the Barbary
Pirates in the 1780s.
• Meinig, D.W. 1993. “Doubling the National Territory: Louisiana.” From The Shaping of
America Volume 2. ONLINE
• Caplan, Dennis. 2003. “John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Barbary Pirates: An
Illustration of Relevant Costs for Decision Making.” Issues in Accounting Education. ONLINE

Week 4: War and Peace, II

February 13: All’s Fair in Love, War, and Peace
A more complicated version of the problems we saw last week. How do international
negotiations over war and peace work when domestic parties disagree on the best course of action?
• Selections from Shultz et al, Chapter 4 ONLINE
o For this week, read 136-144, 154-165
• Meinig, OregonONLINE
• Meinig, “Annexation and Conquest: Texas and the Hispanic Borderlands.” ONLINE

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February 15: The Threat That Leaves Something to Chance

Do nuclear weapons render other forms of great-power war obsolete? Can nuclear weapons
affect how great powers bargain with other great powers or lesser powers? And how do great
powers bargain at the brink of conflict?
• Selection from Thomas Schelling, “The Threat That Leaves Something To Chance”
ONLINE

o You must read Chapter 8, “The Threat That Leaves Something To Chance”
o You should read Chapter 7, “Randomization of Threats and Promises” for the
mathematical background, but that is optional
• PBS (Frontline), The Cuban Missile Crisis: Three Men Go To War (about one hour)
ONLINE

Week 5: War and Peace, III

February 20: Waging Nuclear War
If nuclear wars are too costly to be fought, then why threaten them at all? How do nuclear
weapons affect relations between states? How can nuclear wars be avoided?
• Farley, Robert. 2016. “Why NATO Expected to Lose Most of Europe to Russia.” The
National Interest. ONLINE
• Selections from Gibson, David R. 2011 “Avoiding Catastrophe: The Interactional
Production of Possibility During the Cuban Missile Crisis.” American Journal of Sociology
ONLINE

• Naftali, Timothy. 2017. “The Problem with Trump’s Madman Theory.” The Atlantic.
ONLINE

• Wit, Joel S. 2016 “How ‘Crazy’ Are the North Koreans?” New York Times 9 January.
ONLINE

• Optional: Rosenberg, David Alan, and W.B. Moore. 1981/2 “Smoking Radiating Ruin at
the End of Two Hours:” Documents on American Plans for Nuclear War with the
Soviet Union.” International Security 6(3). ONLINE
February 22: Examination

Week 6: The People Who Make Foreign Policy

February 27: Presidents as Deciders
It seems obvious that presidents matter to foreign policy. But how? What are the constraints
and incentives under which they operate? What incentives do presidents have to shape foreign
policy?

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• Selections from Shultz et al, Chapter 4 ONLINE

o For this week, read 144-153
• Voeten, Erik, and Paul R. Brewer. 2006. “Public Opinion, the War in Iraq, and
Presidential Accountability.” Journal of Conflict Resolution. ONLINE
• Elizabeth Saunders, 2016. “Mitch McConnell Thinks You Don’t Need Experience to Be
President. Here’s Why He’s Wrong.” The Washington Post 27 July ONLINE

March 1: Congress and Foreign Policy

How does Congress affect U.S. foreign policy? How do voters affect foreign policy? And
what role do political parties play in shaping foreign policy?
• Selections from Beattie, Congress and the Making of the Middle East, 2015 ONLINE
• Lupton, Danielle. 2017. “Having Fewer Veterans in Congress Makes It Less Likely To
Restrain the President’s Use of Force.” The Washington Post 10 November. ONLINE
• Howell and Pevehouse, “When Congress Stops Wars,” Foreign Affairs 2007 ONLINE

Week 7: The People Who Make Foreign Policy, II

March 6: The National Security Bureaucracy
Who makes foreign policy? What is their life like? And how do they balance ordinary human
impulses with their tremendous responsibilities?
• Zacka, Bernardo. “Why Bureaucrats Don’t Seem to Care.” The Atlantic. ONLINE
• Weintraub, Leon. “Five Myths About The Foreign Service.” The Washington Post. ONLINE
• Brooks, Rosa. 2016. How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything,
Part I and Chapters 1-3.
March 8: Deciding Who Decides
How does the United States government decide who decides foreign policy? And why is the
choice so often made in favor of the military?
• Brooks, Rosa. 2016. How Everything Became War, chapters 4-8.
• Bender, Bryan. 2016. “Pentagon Muscles Out State Dept. On Foreign Aid.” Politico 23
March. ONLINE

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Week 8: Spring Break

Week 9: The Business of American Foreign Policy, I

March 20: The Open Economy and Its Enemies
Why do countries trade? What is the “economists’ argument” for free trade? What do
political scientists say about how trade politics play out in real life?
• Williams, Alex. 2016. “No Room for America Left in Those Jeans.” New York Times. 10
November. ONLINE
• Minter, Adam. “An American-Made iPhone? Not Happening.” Bloomberg View, 23
November 2016. ONLINE
• Carnegie, Allison. “A lot of people want to restrict free trade. But that would have
serious trade-offs.” Washington Post ONLINE
• Donald Boudreaux, “Comparative Advantage and the Tragedy of Tasmania,”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwx9fZOL81c
• Alex Tabarrok, “Comparative Advantage,”
http://www.mruniversity.com/courses/development-economics/comparative-
advantage
March 22: The Political Costs of Open Trade
So what are the political costs of free trade? Why does the distribution of benefits from trade
not cancel out the losses from trade?
• Hagerty, 2012.“`Made in America’ Has Its Limits”, Wall Street Journal ONLINE
• Appelbaum, Binyamin. 2015. “Perils of Globalization: When Factories Close and Towns
Struggle”, New York Times ONLINE
• Konitzer, Tobias, Sam Corbett-Davies, and David Rothschild. 2016. “Who Cares About
Free Trade? Not Many Americans, It Turns Out.” The Washington Post ONLINE
• Smith, Noah. The Man Who Made US See That Trade Isn’t Always Free. 16 March
2017. Bloomberg. ONLINE
• Guisinger, Alexandra. 2017. “Politicians Take A Negative View On Trade Deals—Even
The Ones They Voted For.” Washington Post ONLINE
• Rodrik, Dani. “The Great Globalization Lie”. December 2017. Prospect. ONLINE

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Week 10: The Business of American Foreign Policy, II

March 27: Deal or No Deal
Can the Trump administration make better trade deals than its predecessors? And what
factors besides economics influence how people view trade deals?
• Grunwald, Michael. “The Trade Deal We Just Threw Overboard.” Politico , March/April
2017. ONLINE
• Guisinger, Alexandra. 2017. “Americans’ Views Of Trade Aren’t Just About Economics.
They’re Also About Race.” Washington Post ONLINE
• Colgan, Jeff D. and Robert O. Keohane. 2017. “The Liberal Order Is Rigged.” Foreign
Affairs 2017. ONLINE
• Kucik, Jeffrey, and Rajan Menon, “What Trump Gets Wrong About the WTO”, Foreign
Affairs 8 March 2017.ONLINE

Week 10.5: Identities in U.S. Foreign Policy

March 29: Build a Wall or Open Harbors: Immigration and Foreign Policy
How do debates over immigration constitute foreign policy? Who counts in setting
immigration policy? How have Americans sought to use immigration laws to shape their country,
and what have been the consequences of their choices
• Julia Higgins, “The Rise and Fall of the American ‘Melting Pot’”, The Wilson Quarterly
ONLINE

• Citrin, Jack, Morris Levy, and Matthew Wright. 2017. “Trump Wants An Immigration
System Overhaul. Do Americans Agree?” Washington Post ONLINE
• Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof, “The Immigration Reform Act of 1965,” from The Familiar
Made Strange ONLINE

Week 11: Identities in U.S. Foreign Policy, II

April 3: Shift to Militarism?
How does the growing prominence of military institutions affect U.S. foreign policy self-
conception and practice? What are the alternatives?
• Brooks, How Everything Became War, Chapters 17-19.
• Dayal, Anjali. 2017. “Is UN Peacekeeping Under Fire? Here’s What You Need To
Know.” The Washington Post 1 February. ONLINE
• Howard, Lise Morje. 2017. “Trump Wants To Cut U.N. Funding—But Peacekeeping
Saves Money, As Well As Lives.” The Washington Post ONLINE

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April 5: Simulation Work

Week 12: Identities in U.S. Foreign Policy, III

April 10: America, Race, and the World
What role did images of racial hierarchy play in shaping U.S. foreign policy during its
history? How did U.S. foreign policy shape U.S. ideas of race?
• Dudziak, Mary. 2004. “Brown as a Cold War Case.” Journal of American History. ONLINE
• Hunt, Michael H. “Chapter 3: The Hierarchy of Races”. Ideology and U.S. Foreign Policy.
ONLINE

April 12: Race and Ethnicity in American Foreign Policy

What role did images of racial hierarchy play in shaping U.S. foreign policy during its
history? How have members of U.S. racial minorities sought to change U.S. foreign policy more
recently?
• Selections from Dominguez, Jorge I. 2006. “Latinos and U.S. Foreign Policy.”
Weatherhead Center (Harvard) Working Paper. ONLINE
• Tillery, Alvin. “Chapter 5: We are a Power Bloc.” Between Homeland and Motherland. ONLINE

Week 13: Identities in U.S. Foreign Policy, IV

April 17: Patriot Day
(Monday class schedule; NO CLASS)

April 19: Gender in U.S. Foreign Policy

How is gender identity correlated with differences in support for U.S. foreign policy? Does
feminism belong in U.S. foreign policy—and how do women make a difference? What issues does
gender raise for foreign policy analysis and for foreign policymakers?
• Cohn, Carol. 2018. “The Perils of Mixing Masculinity and Missiles.” New York Times. 5
January. ONLINE
o Optional: Cohn, Carol. 1987. “Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense
Intellectuals.” Signs. ONLINE
• Read one of:
o Eichenberg, Richard C. 2016. “Gender Difference in American Public Opinion
Toward Military Force, 1982-2013.” International Studies Quarterly. ONLINE
o Mansfield, Edward, Diana Mutz, and Laura Silver, 2015, “Men, Women, Trade,
and Free Markets,” International Studies Quarterly ONLINE
• Selections from Valerie Hudson and Patricia Leidl, The Hillary Doctrine: Sex & American
Foreign Policy ONLINE

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Week 14: Threats to the Future

April 24: Nuclear Nonproliferation, Nuclear Accidents, and Nuclear Use
Why are nuclear weapons such a worry today? What risks do they pose to the world and to
America? What shifts are making their use more likely? (This looks like a lot of reading but many of
these articles are short.)
• Gibbons, Rebecca Davis. 2015. “Nuclear Nonproliferation is Under Threat, and So Is
American National Security.” Washington Post 14 February. ONLINE
• Gibbons, Rebecca Davis. 2017. “The 27 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wants to Ban
Nuclear Weapons. Here’s Why the U.S. is Opposed.” Washington Post 11 December.
ONLINE

• Schlosser, Eric. “World War Three, by Mistake.” The New Yorker 24 December 2016.
• Wellerstein, Alex. 2016. “No One Can Stop President Trump From Using Nuclear
Weapons. That’s By Design.” Washington Post 1 December. ONLINE
• “The President and the bomb,” Restricted Data 18 November 2016.
http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2016/11/18/the-president-and-the-bomb/
April 26: Foreign Policy, the Environment, and Climate Change
What are the challenges for U.S. foreign policy in addressing climate change? What
institutions exist and which will need to be created—and why hasn’t the world moved to address
these problems? (This looks like a lot of reading, and even though some of these articles are shorter
it is a lot of reading.)
• Paul G. Harris, “Collective Action on Climate Change: The Logic of Regime Failure,”
Natural Resources Journal 2007 ONLINE
• Joshua Busby, “After Paris: Good Enough Climate Governance,” Current History January
2016 ONLINE
• “Is Trump’s Paris Withdrawal a Major Climate Setback?” Foreign Affairs 14 August 2017.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ask-the-experts/2017-08-14/trumps-paris-withdrawal-
major-climate-setback
• Green, Jessica. 2017. “The Trump Administration Can’t Entirely Roll Back Progress On
Climate Change.” Monkey Cage/Washington Post 10 February ONLINE
• Zack Beauchamp, 2017 “Trump’s Withdrawal From Paris Is A Major Blow To The
American-Led Global Order,” Vox.com ONLINE

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Week 15: The End

May 1: Conclusion
• Goldgeier, James, and Elizabeth N. Saunders. 2017. “Good Foreign Policy Is Invisible.”
Foreign Affairs. 28 February. ONLINE
• Schultz, Kenneth A. 2017. “Perils of Polarization for U.S. Foreign Policy.” The
Washington Quarterly. ONLINE

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