This course examines the international relations of the United States from the Founding to 9/11. Even before the twentieth century marked the rise of the nation to a superpower with a myriad of global interests and commitments, foreign relations was a significant concern of the U.S. Accordingly, students will examine the role of foreign policy in this rise of the U.S. in the 19th century, with special attention to the ways in which the principles and practices of democracy and capitalism have shaped American foreign policy. Topics will include the nation's relations with European powers in the early republic, the War of 1812, the acquisition of overseas territory and colonies, the influence of Wilsonianism and America's entry into the world wars, the Cold War, and the new challenges of the post-9/11 era.
Instructors: Steven Hayward is the Thomas and Mabel Guy Professor of American History & Government at Ashland University, and the F. K. Weyerhaeuser Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of Churchill on Leadership: Executive Success in the Face of Adversity; The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, 1964-1980; and The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution, 1980-1989. Stephen Knott is Professor of National Security Studies at the United States Naval War College. He is the author of Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth; Secret and Sanctioned: Covert Operations and the American Presidency; At Reagan's Side; and Rush to Judgment: George W. Bush, The War on Terror, and His Critics.