lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667
2023 - American Foreign Policy (Syllabus-Sep 2023-SANG)
British and American History (Đại học Khoa học Xã hội và Nhân văn, Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh) lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES
FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS I.
Course title: American Foreign Policy II. Course code: III. Course credits: 3 IV. Course prerequisites:
Students must complete all the Reading courses before they are allowed to take this course. V. Course overview
The course is designed to help students develop critical reading skills and prepare
them for the types of texts and reading assignments they are likely to encounter in
advanced academic courses.
The course is structured around topics and themes that have significant relevance to
IR students at the personal, professional, and societal levels. To this end, the selected
readings for the course represent pressing social, economic, and political issues whose
impact and consequences are felt locally and internationally. The readings are mostly
drawn from academic books, journals and high-quality print and online newspapers. VI. Course Materials
Bruce W. Jentleson (2013), American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the
21st Century, W. W. Norton & Company.
Supplementary reading articles will be provided by teacher or administrative staff. VII. Course goals
1. Provide students with basic knowledge of American foreign policy making process.
2. Provide students with necessary background and perspective to understand
contemporary issues and challenges facing American foreign policy.
3. Help students develop analytical and presentation skills to discuss pressing issues
related to American foreign affairs. VIII. Assessment scheme
No. Assessment Criteria Percentage Note 1
Mid-term test (Written assignments and Presentation) 30% 2 Final exam 70%
• Instructions for Presentations: lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667
✓ All students shall be members of study teams (3 members maximum), who will work
together on a presentation and will all share responsibility for presenting the work in class as a group.
✓ Starting in the second week, group presentations will be given in class based on the assigned
readings for that week. The presentation should be designed to last 15-30 minutes.
✓ Each student will be graded on their individual performance during the group
presentation, NOT on the collective performance of the whole group. IX. Course Policies
Students are required to be on time and remain until the conclusion of class.
O Students who arrive late within 15 minutes will be marked as ‘late’ yet still
allowed to join the class. Two tardies to class equals one absence.
O Students who are more than 15 minutes late will not be accepted into class.
O Students who need to leave early should inform the instructor before class.
Leaving early without permission also counts as absence for the day.
Attendance: Students who are absent more than once without legitimate excuses will
be disqualified from taking the final exam.
• Students should notify the instructor of their absence at least one day before class,
unless their absence is due to an emergency. Written documents are required for
their absence to be excused.
• One point will be deducted from your final grade for each absence from class.
Participation: Bonus points will be awarded to students with a good record of class participation.
• Midterm and Final exams: The format shall be a mix of multiple choice, short
answer, and/or a short essay. The final exam is not cumulative, i.e. it covers only the
materials learned in the second half of the course.
• Written assignments: A number of questions based on the textbook have already
been posted on the course website. Students are required to choose and answer a
minimum of three questions. Submit your answers in class.
Students are not allowed to use laptops/mobile phones/tablet computers for any
purposes not related to their study. Any violation will result in the students being
required to leave the classroom and marked as absent.
• Disruptive behavior that affects classroom instructions and academic performance of
both the instructor and other students include laughing and talking inappropriately in class.
O You will receive a warning and a 1-point deduction from your final grade for your
first violation. A second time violation will result in a deduction of 3 points from
your grade. For your third time violation, you will be expelled from the classroom
and the administrative staff will be accordingly notified so they can take your
name off the class list.
• Students who are disrespectful to classmates or the instructor will be removed from class permanently.
• Cheating, academic dishonesty and plagiarism are NOT tolerated. Those students
who violate these terms will be expelled from the course and receive “zero” for their final grade. lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667
• Email is the preferred channel of communication. However, in urgent cases,
instructors can be contacted via phone or zalo.
IX. Course Content WEEK Teaching and CONTENT learning format WEEK 1
How American Foreign Policy is Made? - Lecture Readings: - Discussion
▪ The Strategic Context: Foreign Policy Strategy and the Essence of Choice (pp. 2-26)
▪ The Domestic Context: The Three Branches and the Process of Choice (pp. 27-55)
▪ The Domestic Context: Interest Groups, Media, and Public Opinion (pp. 56-88)
WEEK 2 Great Debates in American Foreign Policy - Lecture Readings: - Discussion ▪
Great Debates over Foreign Policy Strategy & Great Debates in Foreign - Presentation Policy Politics (pp. 100-130) Presentations:
▪ Richard N. Hass, “Five Not-So-Easy Pieces: The Debates on American
Foreign Policy”, Brookings, March 1, 2000, link.
▪ Ivan Krastev & Leonard Benardo, “The Foreign Policy Debate We
Need”, The American Interest, link.
▪ Anne-Marie Slaughter, “What’s wrong with America First?”, The
Security Times, February 2019, link.
▪ Will Moreland, “America’s global role: An ongoing debate”, Brookings, June 5, 2019, link.
▪ Julia Azari, “Why It’s Important To Debate Foreign Policy Even In
Times Of Conflict”, FiveThirtyEight, Mar. 10, 2022, link.
WEEK 3 Cold War - Lecture Readings: - Discussion
▪ The Cold War Context: Origins and First Stages (pp. 131-166) - Presentation
▪ The Cold War Context: Lessons and Legacies (pp. 167-214) Presentations:
▪ Mackubin Thomas Owens, “Lessons from the Cold War”, Foreign
Policy Research Institute, July 17, 2014, link.
▪ “Henry A. Kissinger Looks Back on the Cold War”, Council on Foreign
Relations, November 4, 2014, link.
▪ Lee Edwards, “4 Most Important Lessons of Cold War—And Why
They Are Important Today”, Heritage, Dec 30, 2019, link.
▪ Jeff Neal, “Containing Russian aggression: Lessons from the Cold
War”, Harvard Law Today, March 17, 2022, link.
WEEK 4 Midterm Test
Grand Strategy for a New Era Readings: - Lecture
▪ Power and Peace (pp. 286-331) - Discussion - Presentation lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667
▪ Prosperity and Principles (pp. 332-384) Presentations:
▪ Walter Mead (2015), “Global Challenges and Grand Strategy”, The
American Interest, October 22, 2015, link.
▪ Daniel W. Drezner, Ronald R. Krebs, and Randall Schweller, “The End
of Grand Strategy: America Must Think Small”, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2020, link.
▪ Francis J. Gavin, “Blame It on the Blob? How to Evaluate American
Grand Strategy”, War on the Rocks, August 21, 2020, link.
▪ Andrew Latham, “In search of America’s next ‘grand strategy’”, The
Hill, March 1, 2023, link.
WEEK 5 Post–Cold War Foreign Policy Politics - Lecture Readings: - Discussion
▪ Post–Cold War Foreign Policy Politics: Politics beyond the Water’s - Presentation Edge (pp. 385-418) Presentations:
▪ Sam Hananel nd Doug Molof, “The Lessons Learned for U.S. National
Security Policy in the 20 Years Since 9/11, Foreign Affairs, Sept 10, 2021, link.
▪ Richard Hass, “How Has U.S. Foreign Policy Changed Over The
Years? The Answer May Surprise You”, NPR, September 29, 2021, link.
▪ “"Rogue States" and the United States: A Historical Perspective”, September 2011, link. WEEK 6
American Relations with Asia, Europe, and Russia (1) - Lecture Readings: - Discussion
▪ Asia’s Rising Strategic Importance: Relations with China and in the - Presentation
Asia-Pacific Region (pp. 419-454)
▪ Old Friends, Old Enemy: Twenty-First-Century Relations with Europe and Russia (pp. 503-540) Presentations:
▪ William J. Burns, “The United States Needs a New Foreign Policy”,
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, July 14. 2022, link.
▪ John J. Mearsheimer, “The Inevitable Rivalry: America, China, and the
Tragedy of Great-Power Politics”, Foreign Affairs, October 19, 2021. link.
▪ Thomas G. Mahnken, “Could America Win a New World War?”, October 27, 2022, link.
▪ “China Rising: How the Asian colossus is changing our world”,
Carnegie Endowment Special Report, Jan. 2023, link. - Lecture WEEK 7
American Relations with Asia, Europe, and Russia (2) - Discussion Readings: - Presentation
▪ Asia’s Rising Strategic Importance: Relations with China and in the
Asia-Pacific Region (pp. 419-454)
▪ Old Friends, Old Enemy: Twenty-First-Century Relations with Europe and Russia (pp. 503-540) Presentations: lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667
▪ Hee-Yong Yang, “A Study on Role-Based Approach to Bilateral
Alliances in Northeast Asia”, Journal of International and Area Studies,
Vol. 23, No. 1, 2016, pp. 33-57.
▪ Eugene Rumer, Richard Sokolsky, “Post–Cold War U.S.-Russian
Relations—What Went Wrong?”, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2019.
▪ Bruce Stokes, “Setting the table: More than half a century of US-EU
relations”, European Parliament, 2022. WEEK 8
Contemporary Issues in American Foreign Policy - Lecture Readings: - Discussion
▪ James Dobbins and Gabrielle Tarini, “The Lost Generation in American - Presentation
Foreign Policy”, RAND, 2020, link.
▪ Pramila Jayapal and Barbara Lee, “A U.S. Foreign Policy Fit for the
21st Century”, Foreign Policy, 2022, link.
▪ Paul B. Stares, “The foreign policy issues keeping experts up at night in
2023”, The Hill, 2023, link. Presentations:
▪ Sen. Ben Sasse, “The End of the End of History: Reimagining U.S.
Foreign Policy for the 21st Century”, Texas National Security Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2019, link.
▪ 1/ “The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy: Weak Power, Great
Power, Superpower, Hyperpower”, 2022, link YouTube; 2/ Charles A.
Kupchan, Review: “America’s Long Road to Global Power”, 2022,
link; 3/ Tunku Varadarajan, “‘The Four Ages of American Foreign
Policy’ Review: The Ascent to Hyperpower”, The Wall Street Journal, 2022, link.
▪ “London Conference 2023: How can countries respond to great power
competition?”, July 2023, link YouTube. Issues to be discussed:
-Can the multilateral system manage geopolitical flashpoints between rival powers?
-Can it prevent clashes from escalating into conflict?
-What lessons can be drawn from global responses to intensified
competition between the US and China
-What are the security and economic implications for middle powers
of a return to great power competition?
▪ “The New Era of Great Power Competition | John Mearsheimer &
Stephen Walt”, Hidden Forces, 2022, link YouTube. WEEK 9
The Future of American Foreign Policy Readings:
Glenn P Hastedt (2020), American Foreign Policy: Past, Present, and Future,
Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 355-368. Presentations:
▪ Antony J. Blinken, A Foreign Policy for the American People, March 3, 2021. link.
▪ Dan Caldwell, “The Case for a Restrained Republican Foreign Policy”,
Foreign Affairs, March 22, 2023, link.
▪ G. John Ikenberry, “Why American Power Endures”, Foreign Affairs, November/December 2022, link. lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667
Final exam (Writing Assignment)
▪ Late submission is unacceptable.
▪ Academic dishonesty or plagiarism will entail the strongest
punishment, e.g., failing the course.
▪ Additional requirements will be notified.
Lecturer: Huynh Tam Sang (Ph.D.) Email: sangtamhuynh@gmail.com Office Hour: By appointment Mobile Phone: 0974-433-209