The document provides instructions and content for a POL 403 foreign policy theory class. It outlines several key concepts for students to consider when developing a collective foreign policy theory, including the international system, domestic politics, governmental structure, power types, realism, liberalism, and levels of analysis. Students are asked to determine the basic goals of states, how states should behave, and be prepared to share their answers with the class. The document covers theoretical frameworks and considers factors like the role of the nation-state, rational choice theory, and defensive versus offensive realism.

1. POL 403
Spring 2019

4. INSTRUCTIONS
Each group should write a collective theory of foreign policy.
What are the basic goals of states?
How should states behave?
Be prepared to share your answers with the class.

6.  International System
 Domestic Politics
 Governmental Structure
 Formal Institutions
 Informal Institutions

9.  Joseph Nye
 Hard Power: Emphasis on Coercion
 Soft Power: Emphasis on Cooperation
 Walter Russell Mead
 Sharp Power: Military
 Sticky Power: Economic
 Sweet Power : Culture and Ideals
 Hegemonic Power: Combination ofThree

10.  Nation-States are Primary Actors
 World is in state of Anarchy
 Importance of Security Concerns
 States are Rational in Behavior
 Rational ChoiceTheory
 Cost and BenefitAnalysis
 What are “core interests?”

12.  Emphasizes international level
 Defensive Realism (Waltz)
 Maintaining BOP
 Status Quo States and Revisionist States
 Offensive Realism (Mearsheimer)
 Goal: Global Hegemony
 Engagement in “Passing-the-Buck”

17.  NOT “liberals” in domestic politics
 State of International System
 States = Security
 Emphasize States as Part of Collective
 Sense of Optimism
 How can states overcome anarchy?

22.  Blending of Realism and Idealism
 How is it connected to Realism?
 How is it connected to Idealism?

33.  International Level
 BOP, Geopolitics, Interdependence
 National Level
 Isolationism and Interventionism
 Individual Level
 Role-Playing, Prior Experience, Distorted
Perceptions, Groupthink, Executive Fatigue