Assignment 1
Essay: Making Foreign Policy
According to the rational model of foreign policy decision making, policy decisions are the rational outcome of cost-benefit analysis. But in the real world, foreign policy decisions are often influenced by individual behavior, domestic politics, lobbying, and public opinion.
Imagine you are the President of the United States faced with a difficult foreign policy decision: whether or not to deploy US forces to Iraq to help stabilize the country. Tell how you would arrive at your decision using the traditional, rational outcome model of foreign policy decision making. Describe how your individual preferences and beliefs or domestic political considerations might also affect your decision.( 500 – 700 words)
assignment 2
Traditionally, foreign policy elites have faced only sporadic pressure from mass public opinion. Is the role of television and the Internet changing this relationship? If you were a top foreign policy maker, what steps could you take to keep TV news and online blogs from shaping the foreign policy agenda before you could define your own goals and directions? ( minimum of 150 words)
