Social Studies Curriculum

Area Studies Electives

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Adopted January 1999

International Relations

Course Description:

International Relations is the study of political geography among nations in the modern world.  Emphasis is placed upon the history of United States foreign policy and how it is determined and implemented.  Contemporary, topical issues will be studied in the context of their effect on the interests of the United States.

The course title and description have been approved by the Anchorage School Board.  This course outline is meant to serve as an example of one possibility for organizing this class.  It does not represent the only way the course may be organized.  Each course outline has been written by a different teacher so there will be differences in the approach used from one course to another.

Course Goals:

Through this course students will:

• Develop an understanding and knowledge of international relations.
• Understand important developments in the history of United States foreign policy.
• Understand formal and informal factors which influence the making of foreign policy.
• Analyze past and present foreign policy decisions.
• Participate in the discussion of current foreign policy issues.
• Evaluate alternative means useful in shaping peaceful diplomatic relations.
• Conduct research and be encouraged to provide an active voice in the formation of public opinion on the direction of United States foreign policy.
  

Course Objectives:

The student will:

• Describe the sovereign nature of nation-states.
• Identify and describe the means by which nations-states influence one another.
• Identify and explain factors that affect the formation of foreign policy.
• Identify the parameters of lawful interaction within the international community.
• Explain the necessity of peaceful relations between nation-states.
• Describe the growth of global economic and political intradependence among nation-states.
• Describe the continuity of United States foreign policy.
• Describe the history of American isolationism including the influences of Presidents Washington, Monroe, and Wilson.
• Identify the role of the Spanish American War in ending U.S. isolationism.
• Describe the struggle and debate concerning American imperialism.
• Explain the debate over President Wilson's Fourteen Point plan calling for international cooperation in the maintenance of world peace after World War I.
• Explain the role of the U.S. during World War II and the formation of the United Nations.
• Explain the role of the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, and the creation of NATO in the confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
• Identify and describe the significant events of the Cold War.
• Identify and describe the ramifications of Cold War politics in a bipolar world.
• Research and describe the role of the United States as a world leader in the post Cold War era.
• List the Constitutional roles of the President, the State Department, and the Senate in formulating American foreign policy.
• Describe the functions of the United Nations in international relations.
• Explain how nation-states use military, economic, and diplomatic means to achieve their own objectives.
• Describe the effects of national identity, public opinion, the media, special interest groups, and non-governmental organizations upon international policy.
• Identify major foreign policy decisions and the consequences of those actions.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the those decisions.
• Propose alternative directives for failed foreign policy.
• Identify and research current international policy issues.
• Predict possible, probable, and preferred outcomes for unresolved international issues.
• Research and plot a stable course for future United States foreign policy.

Course Outline:

To Be Determined (please provide suggestions)

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