Material Detail

This is a free online course offered by the Saylor Foundation.

'What is the best way to respond to global nuclear proliferation?  Under what circumstances should American soldiers be sent to war? How should U.S. policymakers navigate a global economy?  Will a global energy crisis precipitate a third world war? How does history inform contemporary U.S. foreign policymakers, and what issues will challenge future leaders? Such questions can seem beyond the scope of an individual, but they are questions that foreign policy decision makers in the United States must confront. Further, the issues that such questions raise must also be considered by members of the government bureaucracy and any citizen that wishes to be an informed participant in American democracy. The prominent role of the United States and a global leader makes examining and understanding the actions that the U.S. takes toward the rest of the world and how these decisions are made important for both American and citizens of other nations alike. This course will provide history, theory, and perspectives on current foreign policy issues to provide you with a foundation for understanding the study of foreign policy and perspectives to analyze a variety of pressing foreign policy issues.

In general, the foreign policy of the United States includes policy decisions regarding international issues and relationships with foreign countries. The phrase “politics stops at the water’s edge” alludes to the way in which foreign policy issues are treated differently from domestic issues in the study and conduct of American politics. While there are many ways in which foreign policy is a unique policy area in the context of politics and governance in the United States and warranting separate study, it is nonetheless important to apply theories of both domestic politics and international relations to understand and analyze U.S. foreign policy. Towards these ends, this class will begin by outlining the constitutional foundations of foreign policymaking in the United States as well as the structure of and interplay between the formal and informal institutions that craft and implement U.S. foreign policy, including the president, Congress, the bureaucracy, the media, and public opinion. Next, you will examine theories of international relations that may inform and explain U.S. foreign policy as well as specific theories of foreign policymaking to better understand the decisions of policymakers as well as the outcomes of these decisions.'

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