AU kursuskatalog arkiv

Valgfag: Power, Peace and Politics -The history of US foreign policy, 1945-74 ( efterår 2010 - 10 ECTS )

Rammer for udbud

• Uddannelsessprog: engelsk
• Niveau: Master
• Semester/kvarter: Autumn Term
• Timer per uge: 3 hours
• Deltagerbegrænsning: Max. 30
• Undervisningssted: Århus
• Hovedområde: Det Humanistiske Fakultet
• Udbud ID: 23264

Formål

Qualifications
Upon completion of the programme, the student will have knowledge, understanding and skills in the following areas:

• advanced skills in communicating knowledge of history to people with no academic qualifications;
• specialisation of the degree programme in a specific academic and/or professional direction;
• knowledge of the way other academic areas approach problems;

• skills in applying specialist knowledge when performing practical tasks.

Skills
Through his/her academic course work, the student develops the following abilities:

• the ability to refer to various academic areas when resolving problems;
• the ability to engage in multidisciplinary collaboration;
• the ability to enter into a dialogue with people of a different academic background;
• the ability to work in a result-oriented manner under the conditions of the labour market.

Indhold

The four and a half decades from the end of World War II in 1945 until the fall of the Berlin Wall, marked some of the most interesting, dangerous and defining moments of US foreign policy. This was the Cold War - the ideological, geopolitical, military, economic and cultural conflict between East and West. Significant milestones include the Berlin Blockade, the Korean War, the creation of NATO, the Suez and Berlin crises, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War and détente between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The title of this course refers to several important features concerning US foreign policy. The terms "Power" and "Peace" signify two strains of thought and motives, which served as driving forces behind American foreign policy: the idealist quest for peace and the realist search for power in defence of the national interest. The third term "Politics" signifies not a driving force, but the existence of a political arena, in which domestic and international pressures and preconditions served as additional elements in shaping US foreign policy. Together these various tracks will help us understand the development of US foreign policy during the Cold War.

Although we shall look at all aspects of US foreign policy during the period, two elements will feature more prominently than others: 1) Berlin as a key hotspot through all of the Cold War and a central feature of US policy, and 2) the National Security State, which signifies the expansion of the government's ability to control, monitor and limit the civil liberties of its people. Whereas Berlin (and Germany) was probably the most important foreign policy area of US foreign policy during the Cold War, the National Security State was an important bi-product of various administrations' perceived needs to keep the country safe. The concept of the National Security State has survived until today - the era of terrorism.

The course will be intensive: we will meet 2 times a week for 3 hours each time and the first time will be on Monday 13 September. This is done so that course participants will have ample time to write their research papers after the course ends.

The basic monograph for the course will be Craig Campell & Fredrik Logevall: America's Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009). For Monday 13 September, please read the introduction carefully - browse through chapter 1 (The Demise of Free Society). A reader of additional articles and primary sources will also be provided.

Faglige forudsætninger

None

Underviser

Kasper Grotle Rasmussen

Undervisnings- og arbejdsform

Seminar

Engelsk

Litteratur

Tid og sted

Monday 11-14, room 1410/039 + Wednesday 13-16, room 1412/229 (first time on monday 13th of September)

Bedømmelse