Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations

Originally published in 1991, Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations has become an indispensable volume not only for teachers and students in international history and political science, but also for general readers seeking an introduction to American diplomatic history. This collection of essays highlights a variety of newer, innovative, and stimulating conceptual approaches and analytical methods used to study the history of American foreign relations, including bureaucratic, dependency, and world systems theories, corporatist and national security models, psychology, culture, and ideology. Along with substantially revised essays from the first edition, this volume presents entirely new material on postcolonial theory, borderlands history, modernization theory, gender, race, memory, cultural transfer, and critical theory. The book seeks to define the study of American international history, stimulate research in fresh directions, and encourage cross-disciplinary thinking, especially between diplomatic history and other fields of American history, in an increasingly transnational, globalizing world.

• Each chapter offers a concise, clearly written overview of a major theoretical or analytical framework in recent American international history scholarship • Each essay from the first edition has been substantially revised and updated to reflect new literature over the last decade • New chapters discuss some of the newer, innovative theories that have influenced study of American foreign relations including race, gender, and cultural studies

1. Introduction Michael J. Hogan and Thomas G. Patterson; 2. Defining and doing the history of American foreign relations: a primer Frank Cosigliola and Thomas G. Paterson; 3. Toward a pluralist vision: the study of American foreign relations as international and national history Robert J. McMahon; 4. Theories of international relations Ole R. Holsti; 5. Bureaucratic politics J. Garry Clifford; 6. Psychology Richard Immerman; 7. National security Melvyn P. Leffler; 8. Corporatism Michael J. Hogan; 9. World systems Thomas J. McCormick; 10. Dependency Louis A Pérez, Jr.; 11. Considering borders Emily S. Rosenberg; 12. The global frontier: comparative history and the frontier-borderlands approach Nathan J. Citino; 13. Modernization theory Nick Cullather; 14. Ideology Michael Hunt; 15. Culture and international history Akira Iriye; 16. Cultural transfer Jessica C. E. Gienow-Hecht; 17. Reading for meaning: theory, language, and metaphor Frank Costigliola; 18. What’s gender got to do with it? Gender history as foreign relations history Kristin Hoganson; 19. Race to insight: the US and the world, white supremacy and foreign affairs Gerald Horne; 20. Memory and understanding US foreign relations Robert D. Schulzinger.