United States Diplomatic History Since 1914
HIUS 352
M, W 3:30-4:45 | Clark 107
 
Course grades will reflect performance on a mid-term exam, a paper, and a final exam. The weighting of these instruments is as follows:

  Mid-Term Exam: 35%
Paper: 25%
Final Exam: 40%

Mid-term Exam

  The mid-term exam will cover material from the first day of the course through February 28. It will contain:
 


• an "ID-SIG" section, where you will identify a particular term, person, concept, or event, and comment briefly on its significance; and
• an essay section, for which you will have a choice of essays on which to write.

 

Paper
  In 10-12 pages, compose a critical essay centered around the documents in one of the following clusters, placing them in historical context. In the process, you are to answer the following questions:

1) How do they reflect the evolution of the political and intellectual currents underlying U.S. foreign policy in the twentieth century?
2) In what ways do they represent either a departure from past practice or a continuation of long-term trends?

Your essay should present and sustain an argument, and cite specific evidence drawn from readings and class lectures.

All of these documents appear in Merrill and Paterson, Major Problems of American Foreign Relations, vol. II: Since 1914, except where noted. In many cases, the documents, as presented, contain only snippets of the original work. For the purposes of this paper, I would prefer that you consult the documents in their entirety, where possible; citations for each are located at the bottom of the relevant pages.


Note: This assignment is due at the beginning of class on April 11, 2005.

1. Wilsonianism
Wilson's War Message to Congress
Wilson's Fourteen Points
Lodge's Reservations

2. Interwar Internationalism
Hughes Advocates Naval Disarmament
"Trade Follows the Film"
Kellogg-Briand Pact

3. Depression Diplomacy
Nye Radio Address on Neutrality
Roosevelt's Quarantine Speech
FDR Proposes Lend-Lease Aid to Britain

4. The Origins of the Cold War
Kennan's Long Telegram
The Truman Doctrine
NSC-68


5. The Expansion of the Cold War
Acheson's "Defensive Perimeter" Speech
Truman's Blair House Meeting on Korea
MacArthur's "No Substitute For Victory" Speech

 

 6. The Militarization of the Cold War
Dulles and Eisenhower Threaten Use of Nuclear Weapons
SANE Statement on Nuclear Arms Race
Eisenhower's Warning About "Military-Industrial Complex"

7. Frontiers, New and Old
Kennedy Launches the Peace Corps
Guidelines for Operation Mongoose
Kennedy's American University Address
[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, vol. III (Washington: GPO, 1962-1964)]

8. Retrenchment
The Nixon Doctrine
Kissinger on Détente
Committee on the Present Danger

9. The End of the Cold War
Reagan Denounces the Soviet Union
Reagan Introduces the Strategic Defense Initiative
Bush (41) Proclaims Cold War Victory

10. Responding to Terror
Bush's "Why Do They Hate Us" Speech
National Security Strategy of the United States, September 2002
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html)
Bush Makes the Case for War in Iraq

 

Final Exam

  The final exam will focus primarily on material from March 14 through May 2, but also will ask you to draw on material from the first half of the course. It will contain:
 
• an "ID-SIG" section, where you will identify a particular term, person, concept, or event; and
• an essay section, in which you will write two essays. One of these essays will involve material covered only during the last half of the course. The other will be comprehensive and will ask you to synthesize themes and concepts covered during the entire course.

Grading


 Grades will be distributed as follows:

  93 -100 = A
90 - 92 = A -		 87 - 89 = B +
83 - 86 = B
80 - 82 = B -		 77 - 79 = C +
73 - 76 = C
70 - 72 = C -		 67 - 69 = D +
63 - 66 = D
60 - 62 = D -		 0 - 59 = F