Study-unit US Foreign Policy

Course name International relations
Study-unit Code GP003772
Curriculum Conflitti internazionali, studi strategici e analisi di politica estera
Lecturer Claudia Bernardi
Lecturers
  • Claudia Bernardi
Hours
  • 42 ore - Claudia Bernardi
CFU 6
Course Regulation Coorte 2024
Supplied 2024/25
Supplied other course regulation
Learning activities Affine/integrativa
Area Attività formative affini o integrative
Sector SPS/05
Type of study-unit Opzionale (Optional)
Type of learning activities Attività formativa monodisciplinare
Language of instruction Italian
Contents The course traces the main historical processes related to US foreign policy in the 19th and 20th centuries. At the beginning of the course, the main methodological tools for the study of the Americas will be provided.
The lessons will analyze the historiographical debate and the main historical transformations that have affected the United States, including the definition and militarization of the border, imperialism, the Second World War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, CIA operations in Latin America, counter-guerrilla warfare and cultural diplomacy. Particular emphasis will be placed on the most recent historiographical perspectives, providing insights into the global history approach to the study of the United States.
Reference texts > TEXTS FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS (A+B):

A) MANDATORY TEXT
The following text is mandatory for all attending students. Attending students are allowed to a maximum of 4 absences. All texts and materials are available in the university libraries and databases; some materials are provided by the instructor and uploaded to the educational platform.

Arnaldo Testi, Il secolo degli Stati Uniti, Il Mulino, 2022.
Raffaele Nocera, Stati Uniti e America Latina dal 1945 a oggi, Carocci, 2005, 126 pp.

B) TEXTS FOR IN-CLASS PRESENTATIONS
Each student will choose an option and present all the texts of the chosen option, critically analyzing their contents. Each option corresponds to a theme. The presentations will take place from mid-April.

> TEXTS FOR NON ATTENDING STUDENTS:
Non attending students must study critically all the texts listed in A (common texts) and then choose two options among those listed in B.

A) COMMON TEXTS:
The following texts are mandatory for all non-attending students. All texts and materials are available in the University Libraries and databases.

Arnaldo Testi, Il secolo degli Stati Uniti, Il Mulino, 2022.
Raffaele Nocera, Stati Uniti e America Latina dal 1945 a oggi, Carocci, 2005, 126 pp.
Howard Zinn, Storia del popolo americano dal 1492 a oggi, Il Saggiatore, Milano, 2007. [disponibile in inglese presso l’Ateneo: A People’s History of the United States, Harper, New York, 1990]. Capitoli: 1, 12.


B) TEXTS OF YOUR CHOICE:
Non-attending students must choose two options among the following ones and study critically all the texts listed in the two chosen options.

B1) Storiografia della Guerra Fredda

Federico Romero, “La guerra fredda nella recente storiografia americana. Definizioni e interpretazioni”, in Italia Contemporanea, settembre, 1995, n. 200. Url: https://www.sissco.it/download/biblio_digitale/Romero_Guerra_fredda.pdf.

Michael F. Hopkins, “Continuing Debate and New Approaches in Cold War History.” The Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 4, 2007, pp. 913–34, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20175133.

John Lewis Gaddis, “The Tragedy of Cold War History.” Diplomatic History, vol. 17, no. 1, 1993, pp. 1–16. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24912257.

Odd Arne Westad, “The New International History of the Cold War: Three (Possible) Paradigms.” Diplomatic History, vol. 24, no. 4, 2000, pp. 551–65, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24914139.

J. Samuel Walker, “The Origins of the Cold War in United States History Textbooks.” The Journal of American History, vol. 81, no. 4, 1995, pp. 1652–61, https://doi.org/10.2307/2081654.

B2) Sviluppo e politica estera USA
Latham, Michael E.. The Right Kind of Revolution : Modernization, Development, and U. S. Foreign Policy from the Cold War to the Present, Cornell University Press, 2011 (parti selezionate)


B3) Interventi della CIA
Blum, William. 2004. Killing Hope¿: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II. 2nd ed., updated. Monroe, Me.: Common Courage Press. (parti selezionate)


B4) FBI in Ecuador
Becker, Marc, The FBI in Latin America. The Ecuador Files, Duke University press, 2017. (parti selezionate)

B5) LIC e War on drugs
Timothy J. Dunne, The Militarization of the U.S.-Mexican Border (1978-1992) Low Intensity Conflict Doctrine Comes Home, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1996, [Introduzione e Capitolo 4].


B6) Detention Empire

Kristina Shull, Detention Empire. Reagan's War on Immigrants and the Seeds of Resistance, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2022 [Prefazione, Introduzione e Capitolo 1].

B7) Transimperialismo USA
Kristin L. Hoganson, Jay Sexton ( eds), Crossing Empires. Taking U.S. History into Transimperial Terrain, Duke University press, 2020. (parti selezionate)
Educational objectives • Develop an advanced knowledge of the main historical processes related to US foreign policy in the 19th and 20th centuries;
• Present the acquired contents into a coherent discourse considering the temporal axis;
• Develop students’ critical thinking through the analysis of the main historiographical approaches;
• Acquire the essential analytical tools for connecting historiographical issues to contemporary problems that are of greater interest to political science;
• Improve oral expressive skills through participation in class debate and through class presentation;
• Improve written expressive skills through a final test and the writing of a short essay.
Prerequisites A good knowledge of contemporary history and of the English language is required.
Teaching methods The lessons will be carried out with the support of power point presentations to facilitate the first approach to the main historiographical issues. The course will use primary and secondary sources, including maps, films, photographs, documentaries, etc. During the lessons, all students are encouraged to ask questions, comment and join the discussion with doubts and insights to foster class debate and collective understanding. The second part of the course works as a seminar and will take place through the in-class presentation of selected essays by the attending students, from the end of April.
The instructor is always available to support the student in the study of primary and secondary sources, in the preparation of the in-class presentation, and in the writing of the short essay.
Other information Class begins on Wednesday 19 of February and end on May 28.
Attendance is mandatory and students are allowed up to four absences.
CONTACT: claudia.bernardi@unipg.it

OFFICE HOURS: by appointment, please get in contact with the instructor. Before getting in contact with the instructor, please read the syllabus carefully.
HOURS: Wednesday 11:30- 13:30,
Thursday 10:30-12:30
ROOM: Wednesday in room 301; Thursday in room 302
Learning verification modality The final grade will be calculated as follows:
• Attendance and participation (25%): the students will have to attend every lesson and are allowed to a maximum of 4 absences. Class discussions are the driving force behind this course as learning is a collective process that is enriched with everyone’s contribution. Students are warmly invited to discuss the topics raised in class, asking questions and commenting during the lesson.
• In-class presentation (25%): the students will choose one option among the eight proposed and prepare a 10-minute oral presentation to the class. The oral presentation is not a mere summary, but it is required to critically analyze the texts and present them clearly. The presentations will take place from 2 to 24 May.
• Short essay (25%): the students will prepare a short scientific article of 800/1000 words on the texts they have studied for the in-class presentation. The article is not a summary of the essays assigned, but a critical work in which doubts are raised, a historiographical problem is analyzed, further research hypotheses are proposed, also making use of additional sources. The article must be clear in terms of spelling and syntax. The short essay will be delivered via email to the teacher by 1 June 2023 (essays will not be accepted after this date).
• Final test (25%): the final test consists of multiple choice questions and open-ended questions and verifies the learning of the main historical processes studied during the lessons and through the study of the mandatory texts. The written exam must be clear in terms of spelling and syntax. The test takes place during the last lesson of the course.
Extended program The course traces the main historical processes related to US foreign policy in the 19th and 20th centuries. At the beginning of the course, the main methodological tools for the study of the Americas will be provided.
The lessons will analyze the historiographical debate and the main historical transformations that have affected the United States, including the definition and militarization of the border, imperialism, US reproductive policies in the Caribbean, the crisis of 1929 in a global perspective, the Second World War, the representation of the USA in the media, the Alliance for Progress, the war in Vietnam, the Cold War. Particular emphasis will be placed on the most recent historiographical perspectives, providing insights into the global history approach to the study of the United States.