Assignment: American Foreign Policy Questions
1. The constitution of the United States grants explicit powers to the Executive and Legislative Branches for the conduct of foreign policy. Describe the major sources of friction between the two branches in the execution of foreign affairs.
2. What examples can you offer of significant influences on foreign policy decision making by outside interest groups? Structure your post using the Jentleson's typologies of outside interest groups.
3. What important elements are necessary for achieving policy objectives, when successfully using diplomacy as an instrument of power? Draw from the Fedyszyn's article for this assessment.
4. Assume you are in charge of public diplomacy at the State Department. What recommendations would you offer to make public diplomacy more effective?
5. The perennial question for defense budgets is "How much is enough?" Given the domestic economic crisis, the amount currently spent on security from all agencies, and the most likely threats in the future, what broad categories would you cut from defense? What are the "untouchables"?
6. Do civilian leaders have a significant role to play at all three levels of warfare-strategic, operational, and tactical?
7. What are the most significant factors in the post-9/11 intelligence reforms? Are they working as intended? Make reference to the Joshua Rovner assessment of the politicizing of intelligence. The McConnell reading is adequate to answer the question.
8. The NSA and FBI controversy over "Meta data" and collecting the electronic files of American citizens has opened a major debate on security versus civil liberties and privacy. How can we best resolve these issues and find the proper balance in a democracy?
9. What are the major functions of a National Security Strategy? (Use lecture slide to answer & discuss). Who actually reads this document and why?
10. The 2002 (and 2006) Bush National Security Strategies contain four major elements known as the "Bush Doctrine"-Primacy, Unilateralism, Preemption, & The Democracy Crusade. How do these compare with the "Obama Doctrine?" Include references to the political context from which each NSS emerged.
11. If you were writing a strategy to counter radical extremism what would you consider its most important element? Include references to the 2011 NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR COUNTERTERRORISM and the White House Fact Sheet on the use of force in counterterrorism
12. Using Jentleson's 4 P formulations, what are our most important national interests in future relations with China? Integrate materials from the Sanger and Jentleson analysis in your post.
13. Using Jentleson's 4 P formulations, what are our most important national interests in future relations with Russia? Integrate materials from the Jentleson analysis in your post.