World Power Trends And U.S. Foreign Policy For The 1980s

World Power Trends And U.S. Foreign Policy For The 1980s
Author: Ray S. Cline
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2019-07-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000010422

This book, based on information consolidated to cover the calendar years 1978 and 1979, assesses the power of nations in the international context as a basis for planning American defense and foreign policy. It suggests a realistic way of thinking about the balance of power in the 1980s.

The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction

The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Robert J. McMahon
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2021-02-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 0192603272

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring The Cold War dominated international life from the end of World War II to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But how did the conflict begin? Why did it move from its initial origins in Postwar Europe to encompass virtually every corner of the globe? And why, after lasting so long, did the war end so suddenly and unexpectedly? Robert McMahon considers these questions and more, as well as looking at the legacy of the Cold War and its impact on international relations today. The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction is a truly international history, not just of the Soviet-American struggle at its heart, but also of the waves of decolonization, revolutionary nationalism, and state formation that swept the non-Western world in the wake of World War II. McMahon places the 'Hot Wars' that cost millions of lives in Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere within the larger framework of global superpower competition. He shows how the United States and the Soviet Union both became empires over the course of the Cold War, and argues that perceived security needs and fears shaped U.S. and Soviet decisions from the beginning—far more, in fact, than did their economic and territorial ambitions. He unpacks how these needs and fears were conditioned by the divergent cultures, ideologies, and historical experiences of the two principal contestants and their allies. Covering the years 1945-1990, this second edition uses recent scholarship and newly available documents to offer a fuller analysis of the Vietnam War, the changing global politics of the 1970s, and the end of the Cold War. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

American Foreign Policy Toward Latin America in the 80s and 90s

American Foreign Policy Toward Latin America in the 80s and 90s
Author: Howard J. Wiarda
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 373
Release: 1992
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 081479257X

This thoughtful, controversial book, by one of the country's leading Latin America scholars, examines the fundamental tenets and ideologies behind America's policy towards Latin America over the course of the last three administrations. Howard Wiarda, who has served as a consultant for the State Department, the Department of the Army, the National Security Council, the Kissinger Commission, and the White House, is ideally situated to provide an insider account of policy decisions and process during the Reagan-Bush era. The combination of Wiarda's academic background and his hands-on knowledge of Washington practices and processes results in a volume that is extremely readable and will serve as a vital link between the scholarly and policymaking communities. Wiarda supplements his incisive analysis on the role of the military in Latin America, shifting U.S. strategic policy, democracy and human rights, and the problems presented by dictators in decline with illuminating case studies of Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, South America, and the Caribbean. The result is a book that will be of interest to both scholars and students of American foreign policy and Latin American studies, as well as policymakers and analysts.

Special Providence

Special Providence
Author: Walter Russell Mead
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2013-05-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136758674

"God has a special providence for fools, drunks and the United States of America."--Otto von Bismarck America's response to the September 11 attacks spotlighted many of the country's longstanding goals on the world stage: to protect liberty at home, to secure America's economic interests, to spread democracy in totalitarian regimes and to vanquish the enemy utterly. One of America's leading foreign policy thinkers, Walter Russell Mead, argues that these diverse, conflicting impulses have in fact been the key to the U.S.'s success in the world. In a sweeping new synthesis, Mead uncovers four distinct historical patterns in foreign policy, each exemplified by a towering figure from our past. Wilsonians are moral missionaries, making the world safe for democracy by creating international watchdogs like the U.N. Hamiltonians likewise support international engagement, but their goal is to open foreign markets and expand the economy. Populist Jacksonians support a strong military, one that should be used rarely, but then with overwhelming force to bring the enemy to its knees. Jeffersonians, concerned primarily with liberty at home, are suspicious of both big military and large-scale international projects. A striking new vision of America's place in the world, Special Providence transcends stale debates about realists vs. idealists and hawks vs. doves to provide a revolutionary, nuanced, historically-grounded view of American foreign policy.

Contemporary American Foreign Policy

Contemporary American Foreign Policy
Author: Richard Mansbach
Publisher: CQ Press
Total Pages: 1012
Release: 2015-12-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1483324672

Contemporary American Foreign Policy: Influences, Challenges, and Opportunities looks at today’s most pressing foreign-policy challenges from a U.S. perspective, as well as from the vantage point of other states and peoples. It explores global issues such as human rights, climate change, poverty, nuclear arms proliferation, and economic collapse from multiple angles, not just through a so-called national interest lens. Authors Richard Mansbach and Kirsten L. Taylor shed new light on the competing forces that influence foreign-policy decision making, outline the various policy options available to decision makers, and explore the potential consequences of those policies, all to fully grasp and work to meet contemporary foreign-policy challenges.

America Unbound

America Unbound
Author: Ivo H. Daalder
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2008-04-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0470325224

"A splendidly illuminating book." —The New York Times Like it or not, George W. Bush has launched a revolution in American foreign policy. He has redefined how America engages the world, shedding the constraints that friends, allies, and international institutions once imposed on its freedom of action. In America Unbound, Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay caution that the Bush revolution comes with serious risks–and, at some point, we may find that America’s friends and allies will refuse to follow his lead, leaving the U.S. unable to achieve its goals. This edition has been extensively revised and updated to include major policy changes and developments since the book’s original publication.

In Uncertain Times

In Uncertain Times
Author: Melvyn P. Leffler
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2011-05-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0801460816

In Uncertain Times considers how policymakers react to dramatic developments on the world stage. Few expected the Berlin Wall to come down in November 1989; no one anticipated the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in September 2001. American foreign policy had to adjust quickly to an international arena that was completely transformed. Melvyn P. Leffler and Jeffrey W. Legro have assembled an illustrious roster of officials from the George H. W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush administrations—Robert B. Zoellick, Paul Wolfowitz, Eric S. Edelman, Walter B. Slocombe, and Philip Zelikow. These policymakers describe how they went about making strategy for a world fraught with possibility and peril. They offer provocative reinterpretations of the economic strategy advanced by the George H. W. Bush administration, the bureaucratic clashes over policy toward the breakup of the USSR, the creation of the Defense Policy Guidance of 1992, the expansion of NATO, the writing of the National Security Strategy Statement of 2002, and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. A group of eminent scholars address these same topics. Bruce Cumings, John Mueller, Mary Elise Sarotte, Odd Arne Westad, and William C. Wohlforth probe the unstated assumptions, the cultural values, and the psychological makeup of the policymakers. They examine whether opportunities were seized and whether threats were magnified and distorted. They assess whether academicians and independent experts would have done a better job than the policymakers did. Together, policymakers and scholars impel us to rethink how our world has changed and how policy can be improved in the future.