What role should the United States play in the world?
Eighth edition. September 2018.
From the first days of the republic, people in the United States have debated how to balance their priorities at home with their involvement in international affairs. Today, the United States is considering its domestic needs and reassessing its international relationships. An array of economic, political, and social transformations are taking place both at home and abroad. For example, how should the United States address climate change? Nuclear weapons? Poverty and inequality? Consensus about how to address these issues is hard to achieve. Nevertheless, a healthy democracy requires debate and discussion about the values and policies that shape the United States’ place in the world. The U.S. Role in a Changing World helps students identify global issues, assess national priorities, and decide for themselves the role the United States should play in the world.
Readings
Readings explore the forces that shape the U.S. role in the world. Part I examines several pressing issues facing the United States and the world today: the economy, human health and the environment, international relations, and human rights. Part II explores security concerns for the United States and considers how the issues presented in Part I influence policy decisions about security. Part II addresses recent wars and interventions, and three critical security issues facing the United States: nuclear weapons, terrorism, and cyber security and warfare.
International Relations Terminology
By organizing key terms into four broad conceptual categories, students gain familiarity with issues and terms that are useful for learning about and discussing international relations.Rethinking International Relations
Analyzing different perspectives on international relations, students begin to identify the issues, values, and assumptions integral to the debate about international affairs. Sources address a range of issues, including globalization, climate change, economic justice, the NATO alliance, government surveillance, and the use of drones.Interpreting Political Cartoons
Students explore a range of opinions on U.S. foreign policy by interpreting political cartoons from around the world.The Options Role Play
Working cooperatively, students explore four different options for U.S. foreign policy in a role-play activity.Expressing Your Views
Students articulate their own opinions on U.S. foreign policy based on newly acquired knowledge, personally held values, and historical understanding.
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For use with the lesson “Interpreting Political Cartoons.”
Supplemental Resources
Additional reference material for added context and support.
Cleveland, William L. and Martin Bunton. A History of the Modern Middle East, Sixth Edition. Boulder: Westview, 2016.
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1999.
Mearsheimer, John. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003.
Nye, Joseph S., Jr. Is the American Century Over? Malden: Polity Press, 2015.
Roberts, J. Timmons, David Ciplet, and Mizan Khan. Power in a Warming World: The New Geopolitics of Climate Change. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, Fall 2015.
Sen, Amartya. Development as Freedom. New York: Knopf, 1999.