In the past decade the international environment within which the US must operate has been completely rearranged. This is a particularly good point in time to be taking this course. The United States is encountering great difficulties in forming a coherent foreign policy for the post-cold war world. In the cold war era the US based its foreign policy on the containment of Communism and Soviet power. This was the overriding priority.
Today there is still no consensus on post-cold war foreign policy priorities.
At the simplest level, the world is a very different place than it was just a decade ago. A consensus within the US on how to respond to this new world has not yet formed. That fact will make the course a lot of fun. Generally, people think that issues as serious as foreign relations, nuclear weapons policy and armed intervention are decided upon in the most solemn, rational, and analytical manner. Understanding the way decisions are made is the single most important aspect of analyzing foreign policy.