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April 2004
| Author: | Walter Russell Mead, Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy |
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In Power, Terror, Peace, and War, Mead—one of the most original writers on U.S. foreign policy—provides a fascinating and timely account of the Bush administration’s foreign policy and its current grand strategy for the world. He analyzes America’s historical approach to the world, which he describes as not perfect but reasonably moral and reasonably practical. President Bush, according to Mead, is often strategically right but tactically at fault while he attempts to lead a divided nation—and a divided coalition of allies—in a dangerous struggle against ruthless enemies.
What is a CFR Academic Module?
Academic Modules—featuring teaching notes by the authors of CFR publications—are designed to assist educators in creating or supplementing a course syllabus. The modules are customized packages built around a primary CFR text, such as a book or report, and include teaching notes; additional readings; video, audio, and transcripts of CFR meetings; Foreign Affairs articles; and other online resources. Use of these modules is free of charge. They may be used in part or in their entirety.
April 2004
In Power, Terror, Peace, and War, Mead—one of the most original writers on U.S. foreign policy—provides a fascinating and timely account of the Bush administration’s foreign policy and its current grand strategy for the world.
By Walter Russell Mead
Power, Terror, Peace and War examines and assesses the Bush administration’s grand strategy at a critical juncture in American history. This book is equally suited for:
Power, Terror, Peace and War will help students in introductory courses better grasp the broader strategic context of the Bush administration’s strategy. In addition, it will underscore what did change, and no less importantly, what did not change in America’s approach to the world in the wake of September 11th.
Students in upper-division courses can draw on Mead’s incisive analysis to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Bush administration’s prosecution of the war on terror. This work will also help advanced students to identify the way forward for American policymakers.
General Courses on American Foreign Policy
Discussion Questions
Advanced Courses on American Foreign Policy
Discussion Questions
Debate Topics
Op-Eds
Assign your students to write an op-ed succinctly arguing a position on a particular policy of the Bush administration. The standard to meet is importance of the topic, clarity in presenting a specific point of view, and brevity (650-750 words). Because the op-ed is short, it requires different writing skills from a conventional term paper—the point must be made within the first or second paragraph, the writing style is usually more argumentative than in term papers, and the writing must be simple even as the ideas advanced are sophisticated. Students will need help in focusing the argument—which is best done before writing—because most students choose arguments that are either too sprawling or esoteric for good op-eds. Circulate half a dozen examples of good op-eds to give students a template to emulate.
March 14, 2006
Bernard-Henri Lévy dukes it out with Francis Fukuyama over American virtues and vices, neoconservatives, religion, the future of American muscular internationalism, and the role of intellectuals in a free society.
October 27, 2005
September 14, 2005
Part I: Homeland Security, Emergency Preparedness and Response
A summary of progress currently being made on recommendations from the 9/11 Commission.
August 1, 2005
Fork in the Road: UN Reform and the United States. Jeffrey Laurenti, The World Today, August 2005.
Europeans may be forgiven for thinking the United Nations just does not matter to Americans. Even political leaders on the side of American politics that supposedly guards the internationalist flame describe it as just one more wrench in the toolkit of American diplomacy. High ranking figures in the current administration have publicly consigned it to irrelevance, and the modest political attention Washington has been paying this year to the debate on UN institutional reform may be seen as evidence of its marginality. Forgiven, maybe. But they still would be wrong.
July 1, 2005
An open question as George Bush took the oath of office on January 20, 2005, was how different American foreign policy would be in his second term in office. During his first term, he had challenged traditional approaches to foreign policy. Even before the September 11 attacks, his administration made clear that it refused to accept constraints on American freedom of action, doubted the value of international institutions, and was prepared to alienate even close allies in pursuing what it saw as American interests. Those instincts intensified in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The president announced the Bush Doctrine, which held that the United States would “make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these attacks and those who harbor them.” The application of this doctrine led to the Afghanistan War, which had the support of much of the rest of the world, and then the Iraq War, which did not. The administration dismissed complaints that it had invaded Iraq without the express authorization of the United Nations Security Council, even as poll after poll showed that America’s image was plunging around the world.
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A quadrennial poll on foreign policy issues finds both the public and U.S. opinion leaders taking a decidedly cautious view of America’s place in the world, reflecting concerns about the war abroad and growing problems at home.
August 2005
America Unbound argues that President Bush has redefined how America engages the world, shedding the constraints that friends, allies, and international institutions have traditionally imposed on its freedom, insisting that an America unbound is a more secure America.
June 2005
This is a book that describes an unprecedented moment in which the United States has a chance to bring about a world where most people are safe, free, and can enjoy a decent standard of living.
September 2003
Task Force Report No. 48
The world’s opinion of the United States and of U.S. policy has plummeted in the wake of the war in Iraq. The resulting widespread anger, fear, and mistrust, warns this timely report of the independent Task Force on Public Diplomacy, are creating immediate and long-term problems for the United States that must be addressed.
January 1, 2003
As we gain perspective on the initial postwar period in Iraq, a conventional wisdom has formed about key mistakes the U.S. government made in the early months of the occupation. This prescient and essential report, written several months before the war, predicted many of the challenges the United States would face in the post-war period and offers several perceptive and useful recommendations that have been ignored by the Bush administration. Read now, this report is a stunning rejoinder to those who would argue that the problems experienced in Iraq were unforeseeable.
December 2001
The United States has had a more successful foreign policy than any other great power in history. Council Senior Fellow Walter Russell Mead argues that the United States is successful because its strategy is rooted in Americans’ concrete interests, which value trade and commerce as much as military security.
March 7, 2006
Professor Michael Mandelbaum discusses his book, The Case for Goliath, in which he explains how the United States uses its enormous power to provide the world with the services of a government. The U.S. plays this role with the tacit consent of many of its critics, he says.
November 15, 2005
October 26, 2005
October 26, 2005
October 24, 2005
March 7, 2006
Watch the chairs and the director of the Council-sponsored Independent Task Force on Russia present the findings of their report and discuss what is working-and what is not-in U.S.-Russian relations.
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March 7, 2006
Listen to the chairs and the director of the Council-sponsored Independent Task Force on Russia present the findings of their report and discuss what is working-and what is not-in U.S.-Russian relations.
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report argues that the United States must lead with domestic action on climate change and proposes a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global UN climate agreement that includes commitments from all major economies, while also promoting a less formal Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world's largest emitters on implementing aggressive emissions reductions.
This Task Force report examines changes in Latin America and in U.S. influence there, while taking account of the region's enduring importance to the United States. The Task Force offers an agenda for U.S. policy toward Latin America and identifies four critical areas that should provide the basis of a new U.S. approach.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR.
In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.
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Complete list of Council Special Reports.
“ The Latter-Day Sultan:” Akbar Ganji says that blaming Iran's problems on President Ahmadinejad inaccurately suggests that Iran's problems will go away when Ahmadinejad does.
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