Course Objectives and Description:

In this course, we will examine the sophisticated interplay between the domestic and external actors and factors involved in the making of US foreign policy. The objective is to give you a deeper understanding of the role, responsibility, and power exerted in this domain by key foreign policy players such as the White House, Congress, the Pentagon, think tanks, various foreign policy experts, media, special interest groups (both ethnic, business-oriented and religious), lobbyists, corporations and the defense industry. We will also take into account the influence exerted on US foreign policy makers by key allies (such as Great Britain, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Jordan). We will pay special attention to the role of Public Opinion and media in the making of US foreign policy. We will for example study the different strata of US Public Opinion and focus on how American Public Opinion has changed over time under the influence of geopolitical events and key domestic junctures (such as the Second World War, the Social Revolution in the 1960s, the Vietnam War, "9/11" and the financial crisis). Furthermore, we will investigate the role and functioning of media in foreign policy-making with a special focus on its role in creating long-lasting images and representations that ultimately are adopted by the American Public and therefore influence its world-view. Finally, since it is part of my special expertise, we will examine the influence and functioning of key foreign policy think-tanks such as the Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment of International Peace and Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Detailed program and readings to be announced in September 2014.