This engaging case study approach brings together a diverse set of contributors to help students question motives, consider alternatives, and analyze outcomes in many of the most controversial foreign policy issues now confronting the United States. Many actors?from the president and members of Congress to interest groups, NGOs, and the media?compete to shape U.S. foreign policy. While previous editions of this popular text focused more on national security issues in the wake of 9/11 and the War on Terror, the 13 case studies in this edition deal with a wide range of policy areas: national security, homeland security, diplomacy, trade, immigration, epidemics, climate change, and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Many reflect how the demarcation between foreign and domestic policy has become even more blurred and polarization has come to plays a significantly increased role in American foreign policy.

Contents

Preface

Contributors

Introduction

Ralph G. Carter

PART I. The Setting of US Foreign Policymaking

1. US in a Turbulent World: US Intervention into the Syrian Civil War

Sibel Oktay

Among the consequences of the Arab Spring of 2011 was a civil war in Syria. Both Presidents Obama and Trump faced challenges in determining if, and how, to respond to a conflict involving chemical weapons, human rights violations, multiple competing factions, and various states with their own agendas.

2. US Foreign Policy and the Iran Nuclear Deal

Cagla Demirduzen and Özgür Özdamar

The Obama administration participated in a multinational agreement to significantly delay the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran. The Trump administration challenged Iran and US allies by withdrawing from that agreement, preferring a more aggressive stance toward Iran.

PART II. Policymaking Actors and Influencers

3. Donald Trump and the Border Wall: Policy Continuity with a National Emergency Twist

Yu Ouyang and Michael A. Morgan

While both the Obama and Trump administrations faced significant political cross-pressures in dealing with border security issues, President Trump made building a wall along the Mexican border a key campaign promise. Despite the presence of a Republican-controlled Congress, Trump was forced to rely on controversial emergency powers to shift budget funds from other departments to fund wall construction.

4. From the Hill with Love: Congress, Donald Trump, and Russian Interference in the 2016 Elections

Frédérick Gagnon and Vincent Boucher

Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election challenged incumbent President Obama and newly-elected President Trump in different ways. Despite President Trump's denial of Russian interference or campaign collusion with Russians, Congress found bipartisan ways to penalize Russia for its malign actions.

5. The Hollowed State: Managing Trump's State Department

Jennifer Selin

Each year, the Trump administration sought to reorganize the State Department by reducing its personnel and programs via large budget cuts. Despite the administration's consistent efforts, each year State Department personnel and their congressional allies successfully resisted this executive effort.

6. President vs. Congress: US Intervention in the Yemeni Civil War

Kelly A. McHugh

After initially supporting a Saudi intervention into the civil war in Yemen, Saudi airstrikes on civilian targets caused the Obama administration to change its policies. After President Trump strenuously defended continued US arms sales to the Saudis, Congress sought to limit the president's actions through the War Powers Resolution.

7. The President vs. the Courts: The Trump Travel Bans

Ralph G. Carter and James M. Scott

Donald Trump's campaign pledge to halt the entry of Muslims into the US resulted in a ban on entry from citizens from a number of Muslim-majority countries. Multiple court challenges resulted, and it took three tries for the administration to enact a travel ban acceptable to the Supreme Court.

8. The US Embassy Move to Jerusalem

Lena Saleh and Mira Sucharov

Since 1995, all US presidents have used a national security waiver to avoid moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, due to cross-cutting domestic pressures and concerns about regional stability. With the support of his political b...