POLI 645.01

Dr. James Daniel Steele
NCA&T, Department of Political Science
Web Site (SPHERE): http://www.ncat.edu/~steelej/sphere/index.htm

Lecture Room: 216 Gibbs Hall Office: 232 Gibbs Hall
Office Phone: 336/334-7666 Fax: 336/334-7321
Class Schedule Days: Tuesday and Thursday Class Schedule Time: 3:00 p.m.-4:15p.m.

 Required Texts: Eugene Wittkopf, Charles Kegley, Jr., and James Scott, American Foreign Policy (Belmont, CA: Thomson-Wadsworth, 2003); and Thomas Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree (NY: Anchor Books, 2000).

Supplemental Text: Michael Hunt, Ideology and U.S. Foreign Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987) 

Upon finishing this course, students should be able to

1. List and explain the principles o f the American Constitution;
2. Describe the organization and function of the important federal institutions;
3. Comprehend the basic elements of political opinions, interests, organizations, and participation
4. Present and analyze some important problems confronting the nation;
5. Raise some factual and value questions on the above problems from different viewpoints.
6. Explain the role and contributions of diversity in the formation and development of the American political system 

1. Students are responsible for regular and punctual class attendance. Each instructor will advise students of the class attendance requirements.

2. All students are required to take four examinations of equal importance.

3. All students are expected to complete reading assignments prior to the class in which they are to be discussed. Students are also responsible for materials presented in lectures.

4. Make-up examinations will be given only when a legitimate and documented excuse is presented to the instructor or if the student has received permission from the instructor prior to the examination.

5. Students are advised to read the University’s Academic Dishonesty Policy that is found in the Student Handbook and Undergraduate Bulletin. Students found guilty of cheating, plagiarism, or other actions that undermine the policy of academic honesty may receive a letter grade of "F" for the course. 

a. Examination 1…(25%)…………………………………Tuesday, September 23, 2003
b. Examination 2…(25%)…………………………………Thursday, October 2, 2003

 II. Class Participation (25%)

III. Paper (25%)

If you have conditions, such as physical, psychiatric/emotional, medical or learning disability, which will make it difficult for you to carry out the work as outlined in this syllabus, or which will require extra time for examinations please notify the instructor and the Office of Disability Support Services (Suite 005, Murphy Hall) in the first two weeks of the course so that we may make appropriate arrangements. All information and documentation of disability is confidential. 

1. Extra credit (if you can't do regular credit, how can you do extra credit?).
2. Absences. The university gives you four excused absences for the semester. Only official university excuses are acceptable. For each absence beyond that four, I subtract two points from your overall grade. All others are not acceptable. Absences from tests are impossible.
3. Habitual lateness (this will be subtracted from your grade in Class Participation).
4. Handwritten assignments? There is no such thing. All assignments and projects, unless otherwise indicated by the professor, must be typed. The type will be no larger than a 12 point font.
5. Late assignments. All papers are due at the beginning of class. If you decide to turn in an assignment by the end of class, it will not be accepted.
6. Excuses. You must be kidding.  

Course Overview
Maps: Geography and Topography

Wittkopf et al., Analytical and Thematic Perspectives on American Foreign Policy, pp. 1-22.

Hunt, "Coming to Terms with Ideology," pp. 1-18.

Wittkopf et al., "Principles, Power and Pragmatism: The Goals of American Foreign Policy," pp. 23-72.

 Hunt, "The Hierarchy of Race," pp. 46-91.

 Wittkopf et al., "Instruments of Global Influence: Military Might and Interventionism," pp. 73-108.

 Sun Tzu, "Estimates," The Art of War [R]

 Sun Tzu, "Waging War," The Art of War [R]

 Friedman, "The Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention," pp. 248-275.

Wittkopf et al., "Instruments of Global Influence: Covert Activities," pp. 109-146.

 
Sun Tzu, "Employment of Secret Agents," The Art of War [R]

Test 1-American Foreign Policy Review

 Test 1

 25-27. September---at MSU; Du Bois (class via the internet)

 Wittkopf et al., "External Sources of American Foreign Policy," pp. 147-197.

 Friedman, "The World Is Ten Years Old," pp. xi-xxii.

Friedman, "The New System," pp. 3-16.

 Wittkopf et al., "Societal Sources of American Foreign Policy," pp. 239-277.

 Friedman, "Information Arbitrage," pp. 19-28.

 Friedman, "The Lexus and the Olive Tree," pp. 29-43.

 Friedman, "Globalution," pp. 167-193.

Wittkopf et al., "The Transmission of Values, Beliefs and Preferences: Interest Groups, Mass Media, and Presidential Elections," pp. 278-318.

Friedman, "Shapers, Adapters and Other New Ways of Thinking About Power," pp. 194-211. 

 USFP Research Paper---presented and submitted

 James MacGregor Burns, Leadership (NY: Harper Colophon Books, 1978). [R]

 Wittkopf et al., "Governmental Sources of American Foreign Policy," pp. 319-358.

 Hunt, "Ideology in Twentieth Century Foreign Policy," pp. 125-170.

 Wittkopf et al., "The Foreign Policy Bureaucracy and Foreign Policy Making," 359-402

 Armstrong Williams, "Colin Powell: A Man Apart," Savoy (August 2003): 62-68. [R]

18-20

 Wittkopf et al., "At the Dawn of A New Millennium: The Future of American Foreign Policy"