American Foreign Policy And Political Ambition

In his eagerly-awaited second edition of American Foreign Policy and Political Ambition, James Ray revisits his deceptively simple premise that the highest priority of leaders is to stay in power. Looking at how political ambition and domestic pressures impact foreign policymaking is the key to understanding how and why foreign policy decisions are made. The text begins by using this analytic approach to look at the history of foreign policymaking and then examines how various parties inside and outside government influence decision making. In a unique third section, the book takes a regional approach, not only covering trends other books tend to miss, but giving students the opportunity to think comprehensively about how issues intersect around the globe—from human security and democratization, to globalization and pollution. Guided by input from adopters and reviewers, Ray has thoroughly re-organized the book and streamlined some coverage to better consolidate the historical, institutional, regional, and topical chapters and focus the thematic lens of the book. Ray has also brought the book fully up-to-date, addressing the latest events in American foreign policy, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the killing of Bin Laden, the WikiLeaks scandal and its aftermath, the impact of social media on foreign policy and world affairs, nuclear proliferation, developments in U.S.-Russian relations, climate change, and more.

This book argues that the period of U.S. neutrality at the beginning of World War II was crucial in developing the concepts of interdependence and national security that remain integral to U.S. foreign policy today.

Why do some national leaders pursue ambitious grand strategies and adventuresome foreign policies while others do not? When do leaders boldly confront foreign threats and when are they less assertive? Politics and Strategy shows that grand strategies are Janus-faced: their formulation has as much to do with a leader's ability to govern at home as it does with maintaining the nation's security abroad. Drawing on the American political experience, Peter Trubowitz reveals how variations in domestic party politics and international power have led presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama to pursue strategies that differ widely in international ambition and cost. He considers why some presidents overreach in foreign affairs while others fail to do enough. Trubowitz pushes the understanding of grand strategy beyond traditional approaches that stress only international forces or domestic interests. He provides insights into how past leaders responded to cross-pressures between geopolitics and party politics, and how similar issues continue to bedevil American statecraft today. He suggests that the trade-offs shaping American leaders' foreign policy choices are not unique--analogous trade-offs confront Chinese and Russian leaders as well. Combining innovative theory and historical analysis, Politics and Strategy answers classic questions of statecraft and offers new ideas for thinking about grand strategies and the leaders who make them.

Explores the role of public opinion in the conduct of foreign relations.

This “eye-opening analysis” explains how and why America’s culture wars and partisan divide have led to dysfunctional US policy abroad (The Atlantic). In this provocative book, Peter Gries challenges the view that partisan elites on Capitol Hill are out of touch with a moderate American public. Dissecting a new national survey, Gries shows how ideology powerfully divides Main Street over both domestic and foreign policy and reveals how and why, with the exception of attitudes toward Israel, liberals consistently feel warmer toward foreign countries and international organizations—and desire friendlier policies toward them—than conservatives do. The Politics of American Foreign Policy weaves together in-depth examinations of the psychological roots and foreign policy consequences of the liberal-conservative divide; the cultural, socio-racial, economic, and political dimensions of American ideology; and the moral values and foreign policy orientations that divide Democrats and Republicans. Within this context, the book explores why Americans disagree over US policy relating to Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, East Asia, and international organizations such as the UN.

This affordable text offers a clear, concise and readable narrative and analytical history of American foreign policy since the Spanish-American War. Special attention is given to the controversial issues and contrasting views that surround major wars and foreign policy decisions that the United States has made from 1895 to the present. The book narrates events and policies but goes further to emphasize the international setting and constraints within which American policy-makers had to operate, the domestic pressures on those policy-makers, and the ideologies, preferences, and personal idiosyncrasies of the leaders themselves.

This text] provides an overview of the major contending theories that shape U.S. foreign policy. [It] contains selections written by leading scholars in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. The essays provide representative statements of the major contending explanations of U.S. foreign policy and encourage readers to evaluate the issues that shape our foreign policy today. -Back cover.