Ideas and American Foreign Policy: A Reader

by Andrew Bacevich (Editor)

Andrew Bacevich's Ideas and American Foreign Policy is a broad-ranging reader that serves as a comprehensive overview of the role of ideas in American foreign policy over the entirety of the nation's history. Chronological in structure, the book features over 100 writings from major figures across all eras of American history, from John Winthrop to John Quincy Adams to Woodrow Wilson to George Kennan to Barack Obama. All of the book's 14 sections include clear introductions that contextualize the primary source essays. In combination, the pieces illustrate how foundational the power of ideas in US foreign policy thinking has been from the first English settlement to the Trump presidency. Throughout, Bacevich emphasizes the contest between affirming ideas, which justify actually existing policy, and dissenting ideas, which either call into question or challenge government actions and priorities while advancing alternatives. Ultimately, the volume shows how ideas--although not
ideas alone--have always defined the framework within which policymakers operate. Understanding the evolution of the core ideas that drive US foreign policy facilitates our understanding of both the environment in which policymakers make decisions and the constraints within which they operate. Beginning with the founding of Anglo-America and concluding with the post-9/11 era, this will be an essential volume for anyone teaching a course on the history of US foreign policy or--more generally--any reader desiring an expertly arranged and authoritative collection of the most important documents in US foreign policy history.

Genres: Politics

544 pages, Paperback

Published April 20, 2018

Reviews

[Joseph Stieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

First to review! Read this well-selected volume of primary sources on the history of USFP mainly for future teaching purposes. However, I think that this book, although the sources are excellent, is more valuable for scholars than for teachers. The source selections are quite long, the book is fairly expensive, so that limits its utility in undergraduate teaching compared to something like the Foner reader or the Major Problems series. I think Bacevich could have provided a little more context for each speaker, especially a little more bio, if he wanted it to be an undergrad text. Still, on the plus side, I was exposed to classics of this field (the farewell address, Wilsonian documents, other major speeches and essays leading up to the present) and stuff I normally wouldn't come across, especially Catholic thought on foreign policy and war. I will definitely draw on the sources for teaching, but I'll probably use it mainly for my own research as a consolidated volume of essential documents in diplomatic history.