American Foreign Relations since Independence

Richard Dean Burns, Joseph M. Siracusa, Jason C. Flanagan

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781440800511
• eBook ISBN: 9781440800528
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Teaching History
• Index: History

This book provides a succinct and accessible interpretation of the major event and ideas that have shaped U.S. foreign relations since the American Revolution—historical factors that now affect our current debates and commitments in the Middle East as well as Europe and Asia.

American Foreign Relations since Independence explores the relationship of American policies to national interest and the limits of the nation's power, reinterpreting the nature and history of American foreign relations.

The book brings together the collective knowledge of three generations of diplomatic historians to create a readily accessible introduction to the subject. The authors explicitly challenge and reject the perennial debates about isolationism versus internationalism, instead asserting that American foreign relations have been characterized by the permanent tension inherent in America's desire to engage with the world and its equally powerful determination to avoid "entanglement" in the world's troubles. This work is ideally suited as a resource for students of politics, international affairs, and history, and it will provide compelling insights for informed general readers.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• 1. The Diplomacy of the Revolution
• 2. The New Republic in a World at War
• 3. The War of 1812: Reestablishing American Independence
• 4. The Monroe Doctrine and Latin American Independence
• 5. Manifest Destiny Triumphant: Oregon, Texas, and California
• 6. A House Divided: Diplomacy during the Civil War
• 7. Territorial and Commercial Expansionism: Alaska, the Caribbean, and the Far East
• 8. War with Spain and the New Manifest Destiny
• 9. The United States Adjusts to Its New Status
• 10. Woodrow Wilson and a World at War
• 11. The Slow Death of Versailles
• 12. World War II: The Grand Alliance
• 13. A New Global Struggle: Founding of the UN to the Cold War
• 14. Crises, Conflicts, and Coexistence
• 15. The United States and Southeast Asia: Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam
• 16. Reagan, Bush, Gorbachev, and the End of the Cold War
• 17. The United States and the Middle East: Israel, Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq
• 18. Twenty-First-Century Challenges
• Notes
• Selected Bibliography
• Index
• About the Authors