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November 2002
| Author: | Charles A. Kupchan, Senior Fellow for Europe Studies |
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This module addresses the broad strategic challenges and emerging nature of global politics facing the United States in this new century. It would be appropriate in a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses.
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.
November 2002
At a time when American primacy appears to be stronger than ever, Council Fellow and Georgetown Professor Charles Kupchan argues that the end of Pax Americana is near. What will replace American supremacy, and how American leaders should prepare for this new era, are the central questions of this provocative new book.
By Charles A. Kupchan
The End of the American Era addresses the broad strategic challenges facing the United States in this new century. It weaves together historical narrative, academic debate, and discussion of contemporary developments in world affairs to paint a compelling and provocative picture of the emerging nature of global politics. The book would be appropriate in a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses, including the following:
Courses on Introduction to World Politics
The book is written in a very accessible style and is therefore appropriate for survey courses. It also contains useful overviews of seminal historical periods, including the rise and decline of the Roman empire, Britain’s imperial grand strategy, early American foreign policy, the Great Depression and its impact on Germany and Japan, and World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. One of the central themes is that global power is becoming more diffuse as Europe, China, India and others rise, necessitating that the United States prepare for a more multipolar world.
Discussion Questions
Courses on U.S. Foreign Policy
The central focus of the book is U.S. foreign policy, past, present, and future. The early chapters lay out the policy challenges facing the United States. The book then draws on U.S. history to explore the political and ideological foundations of U.S. foreign policy, putting contemporary issues in a broader context. The concluding chapters offer concrete policy recommendations for the future.
Discussion Questions
1. What are principal domestic influences on U.S. foreign policy? What role do ideology, political culture, and partisan politics play in shaping America’s role in the world?
2. How can the United States. most effectively address the threat posed by international terrorism? To what degree should this threat be the centerpiece of U.S. grand strategy?
3. How should the United States go about integrating rising powers such as China into the international community?
4. What can be done to jump-start economic development and political liberalization in the developing world?
Courses on International Security
The book addresses the seminal security issues of the day, including: U.S. grand strategy, the impact of September 11 and international terrorism on foreign affairs, the consequences and lessons of the Iraq War, and the role of international institutions in promoting security cooperation.
Discussion Questions
1. What are the long-term consequences of the Iraq war of 2003? Has the United States demonstrated its unprecedented primacy or weakened its global influence by eroding its international legitimacy?
2. How effective is military force in achieving desired political outcomes? Should military force be used to help promote the spread of democracy?
3. In light of America’s military primacy, are other countries more likely to balance against or bandwagon with American power? What attributes of American behavior might affect how others respond to U.S. power?
4. Is great power war obsolete or only in abeyance? What can the United States do to make sure that great power rivalry does not return?
5. What are the most effective military and non-military instruments for combating international terrorism?
Courses on European Affairs and Transatlantic Relations
The book places considerable focus on the continuing integration of Europe, examining the evolution of the European Union (EU) and its impact on transatlantic relations. By examining the trajectory of the EU from a historical and comparative perspective, the analysis suggests that U.S. policymakers underestimate the geopolitical consequences of European integration.
Discussion Questions
1. What are the sources of recent discord across the Atlantic and what policy initiatives would help renew the Atlantic Alliance?
2. What forces have been driving European integration? Is the widening and deepening of the EU likely to continue, or is the enterprise reaching its limits?
3. Are the EU’s growing geopolitical ambition and its gradual steps toward a more unified and capable foreign policy likely to improve or worsen its relations with the United States?
4. What are the long-term implications of the Iraq war for European integration and transatlantic relations?
5. Will the divide between “old” Europe and “new” Europe that emerged over the Iraq war weaken the union over the long run?
Upper Level Courses in International Relations
Although written in an accessible style, the book takes on theoretical debates within the field of international relations, making it appropriate for upper level courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. In analyzing contending visions of the emerging geopolitical landscape, the volume studies in detail the writings of John Mearsheimer, Francis Fukuyama, Samuel Huntington, Paul Kennedy, and others.
Discussion Questions
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.
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.
March 2004
Task Force Report No. 51
In the year that has passed since the war in Iraq, the United States and its European allies have done much to repair their relations. Nonetheless, the end of the Cold War, Europe’s continuing integration, and the new array of threats confronting the West continue to test the strength of the Atlantic partnership. To revitalize the Atlantic alliance, Europe and America must forge new “rules of the road” governing the use of force, adapt the North Atlantic Treaty Organizaton (NATO) to meet today’s threats coming from outside Europe, and launch a major initiative to bring about political and economic reform in the greater Middle East. These are the conclusions of an independent Task Force chaired by former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and former Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers.
May 2003
Almost exactly a year after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush released to Congress and the American public his National Security Strategy, the most detailed and comprehensive statement of how his administration intends to protect the security of the United States in the post-September 11 world. While few have disagreed with the goals of the strategy, a great deal of controversy has arisen about how these goals should be implemented. This innovative paper, written by Senior Fellow Lawrence Korb, an expert with decades of experience on national security issues, lays out the best case for three different ways in which the administration could implement the president’s strategy.
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.
In this report, Bruce W. MacDonald illuminates the strategic landscape of military space competition between the United States and China and highlights the dangers and opportunities the United States confronts in space.
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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