This course concentrates on the foreign policy aspects of U.S. National Security. We will study the Cold War preface to current policy as well as broad issues of substance and process affecting national security policy. We will examine and discuss questions involving morality, idealism, pragmatism and realism; levels of U.S. involvement in international affairs such as isolationism, unilateralism and multilateralism; differences between conservative, neoconservative and liberal approaches to foreign affairs; civil-military relations; the NSC system; the use of force and its alternatives; the roles of diplomacy, sanctions and public diplomacy; and coalition building. We will examine and test against current policy the U.S. National Security Strategy. We will also focus on specific issues involving U.S. regional and global interests. Written assignments include two brief policy papers on specific cases and one including a critique of the current National Security Strategy, with a final five-seven-page policy memorandum on a subject to be agreed upon with your instructor.
