The Free World Colossus: A Critique of American Foreign Policy in the Cold War. Rev. ed

This chapter offers a theoretically informed overview of American foreign policy during the Cold War. It covers the main historical developments in U.S. policy: from the breakdown of the wartime alliance with the USSR and the emergence of the US–Soviet diplomatic hostility and geopolitical confrontation,to U.S. military interventions in the third world and the U.S. role in the ending of the Cold War. The chapter begins with a discussion of three main theoretical approaches to American foreign policy during the Cold War: realism, ideational approaches, and socio-economic approaches. It then considers the origins of the Cold War and containment of the Soviet Union, focusing on the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. It also examines the militarization of U.S. foreign policy with reference to the Korean War, Cold War in the third world, and the role of American foreign policy in the ending of the Cold War.

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1. Theories of US foreign policy

US Foreign Policy ◽

10.1093/hepl/9780199585816.003.0001 ◽

2012 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Brian Schmidt

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Foreign Policy ◽

Cold War ◽

American Foreign Policy ◽

International System ◽

The United States ◽

Post Cold War ◽

Offensive Realism ◽

Defensive Realism ◽

The Cold War

This chapter examines some of the competing theories that have been advanced to explain U.S. foreign policy. In trying to explain the foreign policy of the United States, a number of competing theories have been developed by International Relations scholars. Some theories focus on the role of the international system in shaping American foreign policy while others argue that various domestic factors are the driving force. The chapter first considers some of the obstacles to constructing a theory of foreign policy before discussing some of the competing theories of American foreign policy, including defensive realism, offensive realism, liberalism, Marxism, neoclassical realism, and constructivism. The chapter proceeds by reviewing the theoretical debate over the origins of the Cold War and the debate over the most appropriate grand strategy that the United States should follow in the post-Cold War era.

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6. American foreign policy during the Cold War

US Foreign Policy ◽

10.1093/hepl/9780198707578.003.0006 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Richard Saull

Keyword(s):

Foreign Policy ◽

Cold War ◽

American Foreign Policy ◽

Us Foreign Policy ◽

The Us ◽

The Korean War ◽

Containment Policy ◽

Historical Developments ◽

The Third World ◽

The Cold War

This chapter examines US foreign policy during the Cold War, beginning with an overview of the main historical developments in US policy. It first considers the origins of the Cold War and containment, focusing on the breakdown of the wartime alliance between the United States and the USSR, the emergence of US–Soviet diplomatic hostility and geopolitical confrontation, and how the Cold War spread beyond Europe. It then explains how the communist revolution in China in 1949 and the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 propelled the US towards a much bolder and more ambitious containment policy. It also looks at US military interventions in the third world, the US role in the ending of the Cold War, and the geopolitical, ideational, and/or socio-economic factors that influenced American foreign policy during the Cold War. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the dual concerns of US foreign policy.

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