Overview
The Joe Biden administration has been in office for nearly three years.Things have not always gone smoothly, including a challenging withdrawal of U.S. personnel from Afghanistan, persistent Republican efforts to delegitimize his election, mixed American public views of the proper U.S. role in the world, tensions with China over the future of Taiwan, debates about U.S. support for Israel, and uncertainty among other nations regarding whether the United States may be in decline or becoming less dependable in international affairs.On the other hand, the Biden administration has bolstered NATO in its support of Ukraine against the unprovoked Russian invasion, thus reestablishing much of the U.S. reputation as a dependable ally, and the United States has managed to avoid other potential military conflicts while also rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change and passing the most significant climate change bill in U.S. history (somewhat mistitled as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022). Here’s where you come in.As part of the Biden administration, you have just been named the new director of the U.S. State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, the arm of the department charged with long-term thinking about U.S. interests in the world as well as strategies and tactics for best pursuing those interests.This position requires you to think pragmatically about realistic U.S. foreign policies, but also to use your historical knowledge to consider creatively how to do things better. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, your immediate superior and also an old friend, calls you into his office and gives you your first assignment. The Secretary wants an analysis of what the Biden administration should remember about the past as it forges a coherent strategy for dealing with the rest of the world over the next year. Keep it brief, the Secretary says: no more than six pages. *** The paper should be double-spaced with size-12 font and regular margins.It should have a title page and page numbers and be no more than 6 pages in length (not including the title page).
*** This is not a research paper.The sources you are expected to use are the readings, slide sets, and postings from the course.(You are welcome to use other materials if you wish, but they should only supplement the central sources from History 348.)
*** As with all historical writing, you are expected to footnote specific information and ideas (as well as quotations) that are not “common knowledge” to your readers, so that your reader knows which sources you are drawing on to make your arguments.For readings from History 348, you are welcome to use just the author’s surname and the page reference in parentheses, rather than a complete footnote—for example: (Hunt, 223).
*** Your goal is to develop a thesis—an argument about how to view U.S. foreign relations in historical perspective, in order to think more clearly about the future.Be careful to avoid simply narrating events.Instead, choose specific evidence to illustrate your broader arguments about what the U.S. has done and should do.A superior essay will require extensive rereading, broad and creative thinking, careful organization and outlining, fluid prose and clear argumentation, and attentive proofreading.Try to anticipate weaknesses in your arguments before you begin writing.This exam is to be completed on your own, without consultation or collaboration with others, and without use of AI assistance (easy to detect).