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It is disturbing for a student of foreign policy to read Tolstoy. It is even more disturbing for anyone interested specifically in the implementation of foreign policy, for in several respects he said it all inWar and Peacein a way that makes twenty-five years of theorising about foreign policy look ridiculous. Tolstoy is greatly interested in the execution of policy and his conclusions are not only distinctive but they attack some of the most basic assumptions on which foreign policy is based. For in his elaboration of a view of historical causation, he is concerned to examine the elusive forces which motivate events and to ridicule the notion that policy-makers shape history by making effective decisions. He demonstrates this most vividly in describing the business of war, where he adopts a tone of devastating sarcasm in his accounts of the generals, "who of all the blind instruments of history were the most enslaved and involuntary'. Thus, he states starkly:

This OER is drawn from a Masters-level online course and the primary aim of this learning material is to give a grounding in the issues and ideas surrounding American foreign policy in the contemporary era. The historical context of America's present world role is explained, followed by a discussion of the process by which US foreign policy is made, and the dominant themes associated with US policy. These include America's status as the 'leading' power in the international system, as well as the objectives it sets itself in that capacity based on a mixture of its perceived values and interests. Towards the end, there will be a more narrowly focus on recent events, discussing the significance of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and also the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. This learning material aims to help you develop the ability to think critically and constructively about the issues at play in the making of American foreign policy, and about the choices and constraints with which American policymakers contend.

The International Criminal Court remains a sensitive issue in U.S. foreign policy circles. It was agreed to at the tail end of the Clinton administration, but with serious reservations. In 2002 the Bush administration ceremoniously reversed course and "unsigned" the Rome Statute that had established the Court. But recent developments in Washingtonand elsewhere indicate that the United States may be moving toward de facto acceptance of the Court and active cooperation in its mission. In Means to an End, Lee Feinstein and Tod Lindberg reassess the relationship of the United States and the ICC, a

The authors of the two volumes under review present different approaches to an analysis of the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China. Gurtov and Hwang stress the importance of national interest and the interaction of domestic factors and foreign policy; they make a connection between China's sensitivity to external threat and its reaction to it, especially at times of domestic political weakness. Armstrong asserts that ideology has played a major role in Chinese foreign policy making. In both volumes, case studies are cited to support the authors' hypotheses. The article concludes that national interest is the principal factor determining the foreign policy of the PRC. Mao Zedong's thought continues to play an important role in Chinese thinking; it is concerned with domestic economic and social change and not with the internal affairs of other countries.

IN THIS AND THE FOLLOWING ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL, PERSPECTIVES IN POLITICAL SCIENCE, SEVERAL SEASONED ANALYSTS WILL GIVE THEIR PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENTS OF THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION. THIS INTRODUCTION PREVIEWS THE ESSAYS AND OUTLINES SEVERAL FACTORS OF REAGAN'S FOREIGN POLICY.

1. Introduction -- 2. Debates on ethical foreign policy in the aftermath of the Cold War -- 3. Ethical realism and responsible power -- 4. US foreign policy after the Cold War : Clinton's foreign policy -- 5. The Clinton administration's intervention in Bosnia -- 6. The Clinton administration's intervention in Kosovo -- 7. Conclusion.

Objectives"Issue ownership" of foreign policy, it is widely believed, gives an electoral advantage to the Republican Party, which generally adopts a hawkish posture. We test the popular proposition that Democrats should adopt more hawkish stances in order to offset this advantage.MethodsWe conducted experiments in which (fictional) candidates take hawkish or dovish positions in response to a real‐world threat to the United States. We complemented these studies with analyses of national survey data for the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.ResultsOur results consistently refute the popular proposition that Democrats stand to benefit from adopting more hawkish foreign policy stances.ConclusionWhile ownership of foreign policy may bestow a trust on the Republican Party to handle foreign policy, this is not necessarily a mandate for hawkish policies. We highlight the importance of the present political context, wherein the American public exhibits a marked weariness of U.S. military intervention overseas.