PLT2960

Seeking a new world order? Washington and world politics

Andrew Butfoy

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton

Objectives This subject has three key objectives (a) to introduce students to aspects of US foreign policy - especially its context, formulation, substance and consequences; (b) to enhance the ability of students to engage in reasoned, soundly structured and well presented debate on the role of Washington in the international system; and (c) to suggest ways in which an examination of US foreign policy at second-year level can be seen as a stepping-stone to a deeper study of international relations.

Synopsis This subject is an exploration of the recent and contemporary foreign policy of the world's only superpower. The subject will be looked at in its post-1945 historical context; however, most of the subject deals with the period since 1991. The major contemporary issues looked at include the way in which the US is responding to the challenges of interdependence; US attempts to stabilise international order (both within and outside of the context of the United Nations); and the factors which help shape decision making in Washington. A central theme is the playing out of the relationship between `politics of principle and the politics of power'.

Assessment Essay (3000 words): 50%
* Examination (3 hours): 50%

Recommended texts

Kegley C and Wittkopf E American foreign policy: Pattern and process 5th edn, St Martin's/Macmillan, 1996