GOVT 59 Foreign Policy and Decision Making

This course examines conceptual, political, psychological, and organizational challenges in foreign policy decision making. Throughout class discussions and course assignments, we will evaluate how well practitioners grapple with these challenges. Case studies include escalation in Vietnam, assessments of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs, and the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound. As we analyze and critique foreign policy, we seek to develop broader intuitions for making better decisions in everyday contexts.

The course spans three units. Unit 1 surveys conceptual lenses in the study of decision making from the standpoints of cost-benefit analysis, organizational behavior, domestic politics, culture, and psychology. Unit 2 surveys tools for foreign policy analysis, including intelligence, threat perception, and political forecasting. Unit 3 examines how that analysis is used and misused when making and executing policy decisions. 

Instructor

Friedman

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:INT or SOC

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.