Further information: David Sauer, U.S. National Security Policy Foundation and Future

Course material:  Initial sessions will rely on John Lewis Gaddis, Strategies of Containment, Revised and Expanded Edition, Oxford University Press, 2005.  Considerable information pertaining to U.S. National Security Policy can be found on the internet, and select information from the web will be used in discussions of U.S. national security policy.

Schedule: 

Session I:  Containment

Required Reading: Strategies of Containment, Chapters 1 and 2

Further Information:

History of the National Security Council, 1947-1997

An Overview of America’s National Security Policy

A New National Security Structure, Short History of the the Department of State

History of the National Security Council 1947-1997, Federation of American Scientists

Lessons Learned from Prior Attempts at National Security Reform
The Project on National Security Reform
Overarching Issues Working Group
Drew Cramer & Grant Mullins
Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy
The College of William & Mary

NSC 68: United States Objectives and Programs for National Security

Session 2:  Eisenhower:  The New Look

Required Reading: Strategies of Containment, Chapters 5 and 6

Further Information:

Eisenhower and US Grand Strategy, Raymond Millen U.S. Army War College Proceedings Volume 44 issue 2, pps. 35-47

THE ARMY OF THE COLD WAR FROM THE “NEW LOOK” TO FLEXIBLE RESPONSE; U.S. Army Center of Military History

Session 3:   Kennedy-Johnson:   Flexible Response

Required Reading: Strategies of Containment, Chapters 7 and 8

Further Information:

The Myth of Flexible Response: United States Strategy in Europe during the 1960s, Francis J. Gavin

Explaining America’s Transition to a Strategy of Flexible Response, Sam Seitz

Session 4:  Nixon/Ford/Carter

Required Reading: Strategies of Containment, Chapters 9 and 10

Further Information:

National Security Memoranda

https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/short-history/nixon-nsc

The Formation of a New National Security Council, Santino Labate

The Nixon Administration National Security Council

Session 5:  Reagan Administration

Required Reading: Strategies of Containment, Chapter 11 and Epilogue

Further Information:

Goldwater-Nichols Act

The Campaign for Goldwater-Nichols

Session 6:  Bush/Clinton Administrations

Bush:

Required Reading: George H.W. Bush: Foreign Affairs. Stephen Knott

Required Reading: Assessing George H.W. Bush’s National Security Legacy

Clinton:

Required Reading:

The Clinton Doctrine, archive

The Clinton Doctrine

Clinton and Democratic Enlargement

Session 7: Bush/Obama Administrations

Bush Administration:

Required Reading:

The Bush National Security Strategy An Evaluation

The National Security Strategy 2002

Obama Administration:

2010 National Security Strategy

2015 National Security Strategy

The 2015 National Security Strategy Issues for Congress, CRS

Session 8:     Trump/Biden and the Future:

Required Reading:

National Security Strategy December 2017

Brookings Experts on Trump’s National Security Strategy

China:

How Taiwan with US Assistance Can Deter China

The Next US President has a Tall Order Keeping China in Check