A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy

Now in a fully updated edition that considers the Trump administration and the election and formative period of the Biden administration, this compact and accessible introduction offers a historical perspective on the evolution of U.S. foreign policy from the founding of the country to the present.

1116879417
A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy

Now in a fully updated edition that considers the Trump administration and the election and formative period of the Biden administration, this compact and accessible introduction offers a historical perspective on the evolution of U.S. foreign policy from the founding of the country to the present.

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A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy

A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy

by Joyce P. Kaufman
A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy

A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy

by Joyce P. Kaufman

Hardcover(6th ed.)

$95.00 
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Overview

Now in a fully updated edition that considers the Trump administration and the election and formative period of the Biden administration, this compact and accessible introduction offers a historical perspective on the evolution of U.S. foreign policy from the founding of the country to the present.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9798881806439
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 02/15/2026
Edition description: 6th ed.
Pages: 368
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.11(d)

About the Author

Joyce P. Kaufman is professor emerita of political science at Whittier College. Her books include Introduction to International Relations: Theory and Practice.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Fifth Edition xi

Part I The Framework

1 Setting the Stage 3

Introduction to U.S. Foreign Policy 8

What Is Foreign Policy? 13

National Interest 13

Foreign Policy Orientations 19

Unilateralism and Isolationism 20

Engagement/Internationalism 22

Theory and Context 22

Identifying Themes 23

Who Makes Foreign Policy, and Why Are Particular Decisions Made? 24

The Actors 24

Role of Economics 29

Role of Domestic Politics and Factors 29

Who Is Affected by U.S. Foreign Policy Decisions? 30

Impact of U.S. Foreign Policy Decisions on Other Countries 30

Domestic Constituencies 31

The "Powerless": The Feminist Perspective 33

Setting the Stage 34

Primary Sources 36

Part II The Formative Years

2 Unilateralism to Engagement: The Founding to the End of World War I, 1777-1920 39

The Beginning 40

Creating a Foreign Policy Framework 40

Beware of Entangling Alliances 41

Manifest Destiny, the Monroe Doctrine, and Westward Expansion 45

The War of 1812 46

The Monroe Doctrine 47

Continued Expansion 48

Mexican-American War 50

The American Genocide 52

Expansion into the Pacific 53

The Civil War 54

The Spanish-American War 55

Implications of the Spanish-American War 56

The Scramble for Concessions 57

The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine 58

March to World War I 61

Wilsonian Idealism and U.S. Foreign Policy 62

Wilson's Fourteen Points 65

U.S. Involvement in Russia 66

Domestic Issues: The Executive and Legislative Branches 66

The Shifting National Interest 67

Chronology from the Founding to the End of World War I 69

Selected Primary Sources 70

3 From Isolationism to Superpower: The Interwar Years through World War II, 1920-1945 71

Interwar America 72

U.S. Foreign Policy, 1920-1930 74

Escalation to World War II: 1930-1941 75

Neutrality Acts 79

From Neutrality to Nonbelligerency 80

War 82

Executive Order 9066 84

Preparing for Peace 84

The Impact of World War II 87

Technology and World War II 88

The Decision to Bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki 89

The United Nations: Defining the Postwar World 91

Creation of the United Nations 92

From Isolationism to Engagement 94

The Domestic Context for the Postwar Period 95

Chronology, 1920-1945 96

Selected Primary Sources 96

Part III The Cold War

4 The Making of a Superpower: The Evolution of U.S. Cold War Policy, 1945-1968 101

Background of the Cold War 102

The Early Years of the Cold War 104

George Kennan and Early Cold War Policy 106

1947: Outlining U.S. Cold War Policy 111

The Truman Doctrine 111

The National Security Act of 1947 116

The Marshall Plan 117

The Escalation of the Cold War: Berlin to Korea 118

The Creation of NATO 119

The End of the Decade 120

NSC 68 121

War in Korea 122

The Cold War at Home 123

The Domino Theory 124

Eisenhower 124

Doctrine of Massive Retaliation 125

The U-2 Incident 127

The Kennedy Years 127

Berlin 128

Cuba 129

Vietnam 131

Johnson: Vietnam, and the Great Society 132

The Tonkin Gulf Resolution 132

The Great Society 135

The End of the Decade: Changes in U.S. Policy 136

The 1960s into the 1970s 137

Chronology, 1946-1968 138

Selected Primary Sources 139

5 The Cold War Continued: Nixon through Reagan, 1969-1989 141

Nixon 141

Nixon and Vietnam 142

War Powers 146

The Soviet Union, Detente, and Arms Control 147

Nixon and Europe 148

China and Normalization 149

Gerald Ford 150

Carter 151

The Carter Administration: Successes and Failures 152

Reagan 156

From Cold War to Democratic Revolutions 156

Continuing the Arms Control Process 158

Iran-Contra 162

The Cold War and Beyond 164

Chronology, 1969-1988 165

Selected Primary Sources 165

Part IV The Post-Cold War Period

6 The Period of American Hegemony: Bush-Clinton-Bush, 1989-2009 169

George H. W. Bush and the "New World Order" 171

The Persian Gulf War 172

The End of the Soviet Union 174

The Balkans and Ethnic Conflict 175

The Clinton Years 176

Somalia 178

Haiti 179

The Balkans 181

NATO Enlargement 183

Economics: Trade and Globalization 184

The Environment: The Kyoto Protocol 185

Terrorism 186

Rethinking U.S. Foreign Policy under Clinton 188

George W. Bush: From Election to 9/11 188

Contested Election and Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy 190

September 11 and the Responses 191

War with Afghanistan 192

The Bush Doctrine and the War with Iraq 194

War with Iraq and Its Aftermath 201

Freedom and Democracy for All 202

President Bush and Wilsonian Idealism 204

The Iraq War: A Postscript 204

Chronology 1989-2009 206

Selected Primary Sources 207

7 Obama and Trump: 2009-2021 209

President Obama and his Foreign Policy Direction 210

The Obama Administration in Retrospect 210

Challenges Facing the Obama Administration 213

Obama and Iraq and Afghanistan 214

Relations with the Middle East 216

Ties to the Islamic World 216

Iran and the Nuclear Arms Deal 220

The United States and Israel 221

The "Arab Spring" and Civil War in Syria 222

U.S. Relations with Other Parts of the World under Obama 225

U.S. Relations with Russia 225

U.S. Relations with Europe 227

"Pivot to the Pacific" 229

U.S. Relations with Africa 230

Other Challenges to the United States under Obama 231

Obama's Legacy 232

The Election of Donald Trump 233

An "America First" Foreign Policy 235

The Early Outlines for a Trump Foreign Policy 238

The Political Emergence of Donald J. Trump 238

Coronavirus Pandemic 242

U.S. Relations with Russia 245

U.S. Relations with the Western Allies 247

U.S. Relations with China under Trump 248

North Korea 251

The Middle East 253

Other Noteworthy Foreign Policy Issues 259

U.S. Foreign Policy Post-Trump 261

Chronology 2009-Present 261

Selected Primary Sources 262

8 Biden and Beyond: The Future of U.S. Foreign Policy 265

The Election of 2020 and the Transition 267

The Challenges and Threats 270

U.S. Relations with other Nations 271

U.S. Relations with China 271

The United States and the Iran Nuclear Agreement 273

The United States, Russia, and Arms Control 274

U.S. Relations with Europe 276

Other Threats 278

Threats from Disease: Pandemics 278

Climate Change 280

The Future of U.S. Foreign Policy: Returning to First Principles 281

The Cold War as a Framework for U.S. Foreign Policy 282

The Changing Notion of Power 283

U.S. Power and National Interest 284

The Changing Notion of Threat 285

The Actors and the Domestic Balance of Power 287

Challenges to U.S. Foreign Policy in the Future 289

Selected Primary Sources 290

Notes 291

Index 337

About the Author 353

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