PSCI256 - INTL REL OF US & ASIA: In'tl Rel of US&Asia

This course is one of the first arising out of scholarship on cold war international history. It draws on declassified government documents and other archival records to provide a window into the world-view of decision-makers who need to make national security policy based on incomplete information about ambiguous threats. The materials reveal a great deal about the importance of divergent historical perspectives and strategic cultures in the foreign policy-making process. The main focus of the course is on the intersection of the cold war and the rise of Asian nationalism. At the core of the analysis is the clash between America's global strategy of military containment against the Soviet Union and the assertion of Indian, and Chinese nationalism, concerned with preventing the United States from succeeding to Great Britain's imperial rule. The course examines new patterns of power after the Cold War, especially the emergence of two major powers in Asia - China and India - and the issues raised by the U.S. unilateralist use of military power to preserve its predominant position.