Primacy or World Order. American Foreign Policy Since the Cold War

Since the end of the Cold War, religion has been systematically brought to the fore of American foreign policy. US foreign policymakers have been increasingly tasked with promoting religious freedom globally, delivering humanitarian and development aid abroad through faith-based channels, pacifying Muslim politics and reforming Islamic theologies in the context of fighting terrorism, and engaging religious actors to solve multiple conflicts and crises around the world. Across a range of different domains, religion has progressively become an explicit and organized subject and object of US foreign policy in ways that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. If God was supposed to be vanquished by the forces of modernity and secularization, why has the United States increasingly sought to understand and manage religion abroad? In what ways have the boundaries between faith and state been redefined as religion has become operationalized in American foreign policy? What kind of world order is emerging in the twenty-first century as the most powerful state in the international system has come to intervene in sustained and systematic ways in sacred landscapes around the globe? This book addresses these questions by developing an original theoretical framework and drawing upon extensive empirical research and interviews. It argues that American foreign policy and religious forces have become ever more inextricably entangled in an age witnessing a global resurgence of religion and the emergence of a postsecular world society.

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The Cold War in North Africa: American Foreign Policy and Postwar Muslim Nationalism 1945‐1962

Historian ◽

10.1111/j.1540-6563.1976.tb01894.x ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 40-61 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Paul J. Zingg

Keyword(s):

Foreign Policy ◽

Cold War ◽

North Africa ◽

American Foreign Policy ◽

The Cold War

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US grand strategy after the Cold War: Can realism explain it? Should realism guide it?

International Relations ◽

10.1177/0047117817753272 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 3-22 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Stephen M Walt

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Foreign Policy ◽

Cold War ◽

World Order ◽

The United States ◽

Grand Strategy ◽

Structural Constraints ◽

The Us ◽

The Cold War ◽

Policy Elites

This article uses realism to explain past US grand strategy and prescribe what it should be today. Throughout its history, the United States has generally acted as realism depicts. The end of the Cold War reduced the structural constraints that states normally face in anarchy, and a bipartisan coalition of foreign policy elites attempted to use this favorable position to expand the US-led ‘liberal world order’. Their efforts mostly failed, however, and the United States should now return to a more realistic strategy – offshore balancing – that served it well in the past. Washington should rely on local allies to uphold the balance of power in Europe and the Middle East and focus on leading a balancing coalition in Asia. Unfortunately, President Donald Trump lacks the knowledge, competence, and character to pursue this sensible course, and his cavalier approach to foreign policy is likely to damage America’s international position significantly.

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14. US foreign policy in Russia

US Foreign Policy ◽

10.1093/hepl/9780199585816.003.0014 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Peter Rutland ◽

Gregory Dubinsky

Keyword(s):

Foreign Policy ◽

Cold War ◽

Soviet Union ◽

World Order ◽

The United States ◽

Bill Clinton ◽

The North ◽

The Soviet Union ◽

The Cold War ◽

Vladimir Putin

This chapter examines U.S. foreign policy in Russia. The end of the Cold War lifted the threat of nuclear annihilation and transformed the international security landscape. The United States interpreted the collapse of the Soviet Union as evidence that it had ‘won’ the Cold War, and that its values and interests would prevail in the future world order. The chapter first provides an overview of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 before discussing U.S.–Russian relations under Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin, respectively. It then turns to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its enlargement, the Kosovo crisis, and the ‘Great Game’ in Eurasia. It also analyses the rise of Vladimir Putin as president of Russia and the deterioration of U.S.–Russian relations and concludes with an assessment of the cautious partnership between the two countries.

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4. American foreign policy during the Cold War

US Foreign Policy ◽

10.1093/hepl/9780199585816.003.0004 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Richard Saull

Keyword(s):

Foreign Policy ◽

Cold War ◽

Third World ◽

American Foreign Policy ◽

The Third ◽

The Soviet Union ◽

The Korean War ◽

Historical Developments ◽

The Third World ◽

The Cold War

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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