American Foreign Relations since Independence

by Richard Dean Burns, Joseph M. Siracusa, Jason C. Flanagan

Overview

This book provides a succinct and accessible interpretation of the major event and ideas that have shaped U.S. foreign relations since the American Revolution—historical factors that now affect our current debates and commitments in the Middle East as well as Europe and Asia.

American Foreign Relations since Independence explores the relationship of American policies to national interest and the limits of the nation's power, reinterpreting the nature and history of American foreign relations.

The book brings together the collective knowledge of three generations of diplomatic historians to create a readily accessible introduction to the subject. The authors explicitly challenge and reject the perennial debates about isolationism versus internationalism, instead asserting that American foreign relations have been characterized by the permanent tension inherent in America's desire to engage with the world and its equally powerful determination to avoid "entanglement" in the world's troubles. This work is ideally suited as a resource for students of politics, international affairs, and history, and it will provide compelling insights for informed general readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440800511
Publisher:	ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/21/2013
Pages:	445
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Richard Dean Burns, PhD, is professor emeritus of history at California State University, Los Angeles, CA.

Joseph M. Siracusa, PhD, is professor of human security and international diplomacy at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.

Jason C. Flanagan, PhD, is assistant professor of international studies at the University of Canberra, Australia.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

1 The Diplomacy of the Revolution 1

2 The New Republic in a World at War 15

3 The War of 1812: Reestablishing American Independence 29

4 The Monroe Doctrine and Latin American Independence 45

5 Manifest Destiny Triumphant: Oregon, Texas, and California 57

6 A House Divided: Diplomacy during the Civil War 75

7 Territorial and Commercial Expansionism: Alaska, the Caribbean, and the Far East 87

8 War with Spain and the New Manifest Destiny 107

9 The United States Adjusts to Its New Status 125

10 Woodrow Wilson and a World at War 145

11 The Slow Death of Versailles 165

12 World War U: The Grand Alliance 185

13 A New Global Struggle: Founding of the UN to the Cold War 211

14 Crises, Conflicts, and Coexistence 237

15 The United States and Southeast Asia: Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam 271

16 Reagan, Bush, Gorbachev, and the End of the Cold "War 295

17 The United States and the Middle East: Israel, Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq 321

18 Twenty-First-Century Challenges 343

Notes 365

Selected Bibliography 407

Index 419