U.S. Foreign Policy Today: American Renewal?

This new contributed volume from Steven Hook and James Scott introduces students to the conduct of foreign policy under the Obama administration. Its twelve original essays, written by a stellar cast of experts in the field, address whether the Obama administration’s strategy represents a "renewal" of U.S. engagement. To what extent has this administration succeeded in building both the domestic and international constituencies needed to implement its foreign policy goals? How exactly have Obama’s policies regarding drone strikes, prisoner abuse, extraordinary rendition, and climate change differed from Bush-era policies? Contributors provide detailed assessments of these and many other key questions. Designed to fit easily into courses on U.S. foreign policy, the volume’s first part looks at policy formulation, while the second part tackles policy domains. An extensive bibliography makes a great student resource for further research.

Table of Contents:
Preface Seeking Renewal: American Foreign Policy in the Obama Era - Steven W. Hook and James M. Scott Policy FormulatIon Presidents, Advisers, and Future Directions of American Foreign Policy - Glenn Hastedt Striking a Balance: Congress and U.S. Foreign Policy - Ralph G. Carter and James M. Scott Vox Populi as a Foundation for Foreign Policy Renewal? Unity and Division in Post-Bush Administration Public Opinion - Douglas C. Foyle Ethnic Lobbying in the Obama Administration - Patrick J. Haney Policy Domains Renewing U.S. National Security Policy: Something Old, Something New - Peter Dombrowski Change and Continuity in America’s Counterterrorism Strategy under Obama - Stuart Gottlieb U.S. Intelligence Policy: Where Do We Stand? - Jennifer Sims Conducting Diplomacy - Christopher M. Jones and Kevin P. Marsh Protecting Human Rights - David P. Forsythe “First, Do No Harm”: Foreign Economic Policy Making under Barack Obama - I. M. Destler U.S. Global Environmental Policy in the Post-Bush Era - Michael E. Kraft

About the Author :
Steven W. Hook (1959-2022) was professor of political science at Kent State University. In addition to this book, he was co-author of American Foreign Policy Since World War II (CQ Press, 2019, 21st ed., with John Spanier) and author of National Interest and Foreign Aid (Lynne Rienner, 1995). His edited books include U.S. Foreign Policy Today: American Renewal? (CQ Press, 2012, with James M. Scott), the Routledge Handbook of American Foreign Policy (Routledge Press, 2012, with Christopher M. Jones), and Democratic Peace in Theory and Practice (Kent State University Press, 2010). His journal articles have appeared in World Politics, International Studies Quarterly, Asian Survey, Foreign Policy Analysis, International Interactions, and other leading journals. Professor Hook received a BA (1982) in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Michigan and an MA (1990) and PhD (1993) in International Studies from the University of South Carolina. At Kent State, he received the university’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2007 and served as department chair from 2008 to 2012. He was a past president of the Foreign Policy Analysis sections of the American Political Science Association and the International Studies Association. James M. Scott is the Herman Brown Chair and Professor of Political Science at Texas Christian University. His primary research and teaching interests are in international relations and foreign policy analysis and he has special interests in U.S. foreign policymaking, the role of Congress, and U.S. democracy promotion. He has authored/co-authored seven books and more than hundred journal articles, book chapters, other nonrefereed publications, review essays, and conference papers. During his career, Dr. Scott has earned over two dozen awards from students, faculty, administration, and professional associations including, most recently, the 2019 Textbook Excellence Award from the Textbook and Academic Authors Association (for IR: International, Economic, and Human Security in a Changing World, Third Edition, co-authored with Ralph G. Carter and A. Cooper Drury); the 2018-2019 Distinguished Faculty Lecture Award (Addran College of Liberal Arts, Texas Christian University); the 2018 Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring Award (International Studies Association – Midwest), the 2018 AddRan College of Liberal Arts Division of Social Sciences Award for Distinguished Achievement as a Creative Teacher and Scholar (Texas Christian University) and the 2012 Quincy Wright Distinguished Scholar Award (International Studies Association – Midwest). Dr. Scott has been active in professional associations, serving on the governing boards, as conference Program Chair, and as President of both the International Studies Association-Midwest (2000) and the Foreign Policy Analysis Section (2001) of the International Studies Association, and as a councillor for the Council on Undergraduate Research (2017-2019). He served as associate editor of Foreign Policy Analysis (2009-2015) co-editor of Political Research Quarterly (2015-2018), and lead editor of International Studies Perspectives (2020-present). From 2004-2013, he was the Director of the annual NSF-funded Democracy and World Politics Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates Program.

Review :
This book arrives at a time when the U.S. is reassessing its role in the world after the optimism of the 1990s, the shock of 9/11, and the ongoing challenges of a global economic downturn and two lingering wars. Its well-selected contributors assess not only the key foreign policy actors and issues two years into the Obama Presidency, but the enduring institutional, political, and international constraints that make it difficult for any President to carry out foreign policies that enjoy bipartisan support at home and success abroad. In so doing it provides a valuable resource for courses on the policy-making processes and substantive issues of contemporary American foreign policy -- Andrew Bennett Not since Abraham Lincoln entered the White House in 1861 has an incoming president inherited such a daunting agenda as Barack Obama: Two costly wars and an economy beset by the worst crisis since the Depression. The thoughtful essays in this excellent volume guide the reader through the domestic constraints his "renewal agenda" has confronted and provide an interim report on his achievements in various policy domains. This is essential background reading for understanding foreign policy during the second half of Obama's term -- Ole Holsti This anthology by Hook and Scott is as fine a collection of original articles on foreign policy during the initial years of the Obama Administration as one can find. The authors are an all-star line up of foreign and security policy experts, and the topics cover the waterfront. The set would serve as an excellent complement to a foreign policy text, or could stand on its own, for courses on this subject. Among the anthology's many virtues is a premium on lucid prose and the presence of a theme-an evaluation of America's relations abroad in the last few years under President Obama-that bind the essays together -- Loch K. Johnson US Foreign Policy Today brings together leading scholars to puzzle through whether Obama can achieve the improbable renewal of American liberal internationalism. This is an indispensable guidebook for understanding the obstacles and opportunities in the American political system that work against the lofty and traditional foreign policy goals articulated so well by Obama. This volume arrives in the nick of time to help us make sense of foreign policy in this age of sharp domestic disunity. -- Laura Neack Steven Hook, James Scott and a collection of top-notch analysts have given us a careful, balanced assessment of Obama Administration foreign policy at mid-term. Required reading for those analyzing foreign policy in a divided America -- Howard Wiarda