Document Type

Graduate Syllabus

Date

Spring 2021

School

Diplomacy

Course Number

DIPL 6181

Course Description

This course will introduce students to the study of statecraft: the design of strategies to achieve foreign policy goals; the choice of policy instruments within these strategies; and an assessment of their relative utility in achieving national objectives. This class begins by exploring key theoretical underpinnings of statecraft such as bargaining, power, threats, promises and cost/benefit analysis. It then examines different tools of statecraft, including strategic bombing, economic sanctions, foreign aid and trade, targeted killings, and propaganda. The course analyzes the objectives typically associated with each policy tool, the conditions under which they are most likely to be effective in accomplishing these goals, and debates regarding the proper way to measure effectiveness. Using the conceptual tools studied in class, all students will craft a foreign affairs strategy on a topic of their choice.

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