A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy

Including new photos and expanded discussions on key issues, this updated edition offers a uniquely historical perspective of U.S. foreign policy and it's ever-changing evolution. In a fully updated Sixth Edition, 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. Joyce P. Kaufman provides students with a clear and concise understanding of key foreign-policy decisions and why they were made. She identifies the major themes that have guided foreign policy and the reasons that the United States pursued certain policies in the context of specific periods in the nation's history. Kaufman focuses on the major actors involved in the making of foreign policy and the changing relationships among them. She also explains the major theoretical perspectives within international relations and contextualizes key foreign policy decisions as they fit these frameworks.

Joyce P. Kaufman is professor emerita of political science at Whittier College. Her books include Introduction to International Relations: Theory and Practice; Women at War, Women Building Peace: Challenging Gender Norms; Women and War: Gender Identity and Activism in Times of Conflict; Women, the State, and War: A Comparative Perspective on Citizenship and Nationalism; Providing for National Security: A Comparative Analysis; and The Future of Transatlantic Relations: Perceptions, Policy, and Practice.

PART I: THE FRAMEWORK 1 Setting the Stage for Understanding U.S. Foreign Policy Introduction to U.S. Foreign Policy What Is Foreign Policy? Foreign Policy Orientations Theory and Context Identifying Themes Who Makes Foreign Policy, and Why Are Particular Decisions Made? Who Is Affected by U.S. Foreign Policy Decisions? Domestic Constituencies Setting the Stage Primary Sources PART II: THE FORMATIVE YEARS 2 Unilateralism to Engagement: The Founding to the End of World War I, 1777-1920 The Beginning Manifest Destiny, the Monroe Doctrine, and Westward Expansion Continued Expansion The Civil War The Spanish-American War The Scramble for Concessions The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine March to World War I U.S. Involvement in Russia Domestic Issues: The Executive and Legislative Branches The Shifting National Interest Chronology from the Founding to the End of World War I Selected Primary Sources 3 From Isolationism to Superpower: The Interwar Years through World War II, 1920-1945 Interwar America Escalation to World War II: 1930-1941 War The Impact of World War II The United Nations: Defining the Postwar World From Isolationism to Engagement Chronology, 1920-1945 Selected Primary Sources PART III: THE COLD WAR 4 The Making of a Superpower: The Evolution of U.S. Cold War Policy, 1945-1968 Background of the Cold War The Early Years of the Cold War 1947: Outlining U.S. Cold War Policy The Escalation of the Cold War: Berlin to Korea Eisenhower The Kennedy Years Johnson: Vietnam, and the Great Society The End of the Decade: Changes in U.S. Policy Chronology, 1946-1968 Selected Primary Sources 5 The Cold War Continued: Nixon through Reagan, 1969-1989 Nixon Carter Reagan The Cold War and Beyond Chronology, 1969-1988 Selected Primary Sources PART IV: THE POST-COLD WAR PERIOD 6 The Period of American Hegemony: Bush-Clinton-Bush (1989-2009) George H. W. Bush and the "New World Order" The Clinton Years Rethinking U.S. Foreign Policy under Clinton George W. Bush: From Election to 9/11 President Bush and Wilsonian Idealism Chronology 1989-2009 Selected Primary Sources 7 Obama and Trump: 2009 to 2021 President Obama and his Foreign Policy Direction The Obama Administration in Retrospect Challenges Facing the Obama Administration Relations with the Middle East U.S. Relations with Other Parts of the World under Obama Other Challenges to the United States under Obama Obama's Legacy The Election of Donald Trump U.S. Foreign Policy Post-Trump Chronology 2009-present Selected Primary Sources 8 Biden and Beyond: The Future of U.S. Foreign Policy The Election of 2020 and the Transition The Challenges and Threats U.S. Relations with other Nations Other Threats The Future of U.S. Foreign Policy: Returning to First Principles The Cold War as a Framework for U.S. Foreign Policy The Actors and the Domestic Balance of Power Selected Primary Sources