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America in the World

Module description

From Cold War triumphs to twenty-first-century power struggles, America in the World: Power, Strategy, and the Future of International Security explores how the United States shapes—and is shaped by—the global order. Whether your career interests lie in diplomacy, international business, policy analysis, or journalism, this module helps you develop critical skills in research, strategic communication, and problem-solving. Real-world case studies and applied debates equip you to synthesise complex geopolitical data, craft policy recommendations, and negotiate diverse perspectives—abilities highly valued in today’s competitive employment landscape.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aim of this module is to provide you with a detailed examination of US foreign policy. A key emphasis of the module will be to enrich contemporary understandings of international crises and global security through the use of a range of theoretical approaches, keen use of empirical material and solid reasoning. Through taking this module and fully participating in it, you will leave with a grasp of key debates in US foreign policy and knowledge of potential global strategic trends based on historical evidence and analysis of current developments in global politics.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. demonstrate good knowledge of key issues in international security as they pertain to US foreign policy and develop the capacity to apply this knowledge to a range of theoretical positions, case studies and international crises;
• 2. display knowledge of the contemporary historical dimensions of US foreign policy and world order;

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. develop analytical understanding of the role of great powers, especially the US in helping shape world politics;
• 4. exercise informed judgment concerning the role of the US in world politics and how this role pertains to international security whilst locating arguments within an historical context;

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. conduct independent research, exercise critical judgment, write cogently and persuasively;
• 6. demonstrate personal responsibility for knowledge interpretation, assimilation and articulation.
• 7. work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will break down as follows:

• The first section of this module will provide a broad historical overview of the development of US foreign policy from the early Cold War period up to the present day.
• The second section of this module will examine a broad range of issues that pertain to US foreign policy, and which help the analyst to develop applicable knowledge of key developments in US foreign policy including the role of ideology, the rise of non-Western powers, changes in US grand strategy and the viability of the liberal international order.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

Michael Cox & Doug Stokes (eds.) US Foreign Policy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018) 3^rd Edition.

Alan Collins (ed.), Contemporary Security Studies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 2nd ed.

Inderjeet Parmar, Linda B. Miller and Mark Ledwidge (eds.)  New Directions in U.S. Foreign Policy (London: Routledge, 2009/13).

Barry Buzan and Lene Hansen, The Evolution of International Security Studies (New York: Cambridge University press, 2009)

William Wohlforth and Stephen G. Brooks, World Out of Balance: International Relations Theory and the Challenge of American Hegemony (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008)

Christopher Layne, The Peace of Illusions:  American Grand Strategy from 1940 to the Present (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006)

G. John Ikenberry, Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American World Order (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011).

Key words search

US foreign policy, America, Foreign Relations