Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM104: US Foreign Policy

This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.

Overview

NQF Level	7
Credits	30	ECTS Value	15
Term(s) and duration	This module ran during term 1 (11 weeks)
Academic staff	Professor Doug Stokes (Convenor)
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
Available via distance learning	No

This is an advanced postgraduate module in which you will examine key debates and developments in US foreign policy. Specifically, in the post-war international system, the US emerged as the linchpin of the Western ‘liberal order’. Even after the end of the Cold War, this system has proved remarkably durable. However, rising powers such as China, the perceptions of strategic failure in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the 2008 financial crisis, have led many to question the durability of US unipolarity. Are we entering a post-American, post-liberal multipolar world? What trends are we likely to witness as the future unfolds and how will the US respond to these? In this module you will examine a broad range of theories and cases studies that help the analyst critically engage with the role of America in the world and apply these to ongoing crises and developments in world politics.

Module created	24/01/2013	Last revised	17/09/2019