American Foreign Policy: Past, Present, and Future

Book Synopsis: The twelfth edition of American Foreign Policy comes at a time when Donald Trump’s presidency is breaking away from many of the traditional foundation points in American foreign policy in terms of how foreign policy is made and its content. The results have pleased some and angered others but almost uniformly raised political tensions at home and abroad. This text does not try to present students with an answer on how best to move American foreign policy forward. Rather, it is designed to help students cultivate the critical thinking skills they need to develop their own answers and participate in current and future debates about the conduct and content of U.S. foreign policy.

New to this Edition: The twelfth edition introduces students to key facets of Trump’s foreign policy style and the content of his decisions. It adds to the previous edition more extensive discussions of China trade policy, the conflict with Iran, relations with Russia, U.S. involvement in Africa, and arms control talks with North Korea, as well as providing a foundation for understanding the Congressional move to impeachment.

Critical Thinking Features: Dateline sections open each chapter and introduce students to the material via a short contemporary case study. Historical Lessons provide a historical context for students to understand current U.S. foreign policy issues and are linked to the Dateline feature. Over the Horizon sections conclude each chapter with a speculative view to the future to spur student thinking about how American foreign policy might evolve in the coming years.