As the world’s only superpower, America’s foreign policy inevitably has a major impact Ð be it positive or negative - on contemporary international affairs. Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, George W. Bush’s decision to move away from multilateral decision-making toward a more aggressive, pre-emptive style of foreign policy attracted widespread debate, and criticism, throughout the world. Reversing direction, the Barack Obama presidency is placing greater emphasis on constructive or peaceful engagement within multilateral frameworks, relying on special envoys to deal with some of the thorniest problems. In this book, Paul Viotti explores American foreign policy from the founding of the republic in the late 18th Century to the present day. Part 1 examines the broad policy options available to the US government: namely, peaceful engagement, containment through deterrence or coercive diplomacy, and armed intervention. Part 2 looks at the American experience in foreign policy. By exploring early precedents and elite practices, the moralism of American exceptionalism as well as the roots of an expansionist American foreign policy, the discussion draws out the continuities running from the 18th century to the present. Part 3 concludes with an analysis of the politics of interest on the Potomac with analysis of the interplay of contending policy elites, factions and parties influencing foreign policy making today. Assessing alternatives, the author concludes that even though containment and armed intervention will remain part of the way the United States conducts its foreign policy, diplomatic engagement options are the most promising course of action for the coming decades.

Exhaustive examination from colonial times to the present, emphasizing conflicting opinions on foreign policy issues.

This affordable text offers a clear, concise and readable narrative and analytical history of American foreign policy since the Spanish-American War. Special attention is given to the controversial issues and contrasting views that surround major wars and foreign policy decisions that the United States has made from 1895 to the present. The book narrates events and policies but goes further to emphasize the international setting and constraints within which American policy-makers had to operate, the domestic pressures on those policy-makers, and the ideologies, preferences, and personal idiosyncrasies of the leaders themselves.

Independence, 1765-1788 -- In the shadow of the French Revolution, 1788-1815 -- The continental republic, 1815-1865 -- Great-power debut, 1865-1914 -- The offshore balancer, 1914-1933 -- The arsenal of democracy, 1933-1945 -- The contest of systems, 1945-1953 -- War improbable, peace impossible -- A superpower dies in bed -- The new world order, 1990-2001 -- Back to the future, 2001-2015.

"A concise, comprehensive guide to America's critical policy choices at home and overseas . . . without a partisan agenda, but with a passion for solutions designed to restore our country's strength and enable us to lead." -- Madeleine K. Albright A rising China, climate change, terrorism, a nuclear Iran, a turbulent Middle East, and a reckless North Korea all present serious challenges to America's national security. But it depends even more on the United States addressing its burgeoning deficit and debt, crumbling infrastructure, second class schools, and outdated immigration system. While there is currently no great rival power threatening America directly, how long this strategic respite lasts, according to Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass, will depend largely on whether the United States puts its own house in order. Haass lays out a compelling vision for restoring America's power, influence, and ability to lead the world and advocates for a new foreign policy of Restoration that would require the US to limit its involvement in both wars of choice, and humanitarian interventions. Offering essential insight into our world of continual unrest, this new edition addresses the major foreign and domestic debates since hardcover publication, including US intervention in Syria, the balance between individual privacy and collective security, and the continuing impact of the sequester.

The American foreign policy tradition. -- The kaleidoscope of American foreign policy. -- Changing the paradigms. -- The serpent and the dove: the Hamiltonian way. -- The Connecticut Yankee in the court of King Arthur: Wilsonianism and its mission. -- "Vindicator only of her own": the Jeffersonian tradition. -- Tiger, tiger, burning bright: the school of Andrew Jackson. -- The rise and retreat of the new world order. -- The future of American foreign policy.

One of America's most perceptive young historians examines the misunderstood dimensions and implications of a great question confronting the nation -- our foreign policy. Professor Kolko makes it clear that our foreign policy is neither the result of omission or ignorance nor of a "military-industrial complex." Civilian authority and civilian-defined goals, he asserts, are the consistent sources of American foreign policy. From this premise, Kolko undertakes to investigate "the respectables," the self-styled liberal realists and businessman who are the architects of the decades-old premises of American foreign policy. He also outlines the nature of American power and interests in the modern world and provides an assessment of who gains and who loses as a result of the policies Washington pursues."--Jacket.

Although the foreign policy decisions made by Kennedy and Johnson determined the final form of postwar diplomacy and laid the foundation for the tumultuous worldwide political changes of the last five years, until now no book has examined American diplomacy during 1960s as a whole. During his presidency, Kennedy concentrated on foreign policy. The president and his staff feared that communism had taken the offensive internationally and that the U.S. was in danger of losing the confrontation, particularly in the developing world. While Johnson attempted to focus on domestic issues, foreign issues nevertheless loomed large. Consequently, the contributors to this volume argue, all aspects of American foreign policy during that decade must be viewed through the prism of the fight against communism. The chapters, which were commissioned for this book by the editor, examine the major subjects and themes of this period in a way that provides new insight to students and general readers alike. Each chapter also contains brief notes and a bibliographic sketch.