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SHAFR Opinion

Visions of War

by Susan Brewer

On December 15th President Barack Obama welcomed home U.S. troops from a war he once had called “dumb.” His speech avoided the reasons why the Iraq War was fought and focused instead on honoring the American servicemen and women who fought it.  Inspiring words–“extraordinary achievement,” “honor,” “sacrifice,” “finest fighting force,” “unbroken line of heroes,” “progress [...]

Posted in Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, Iraq, Iraq War: 2003-present, Middle East, Post-9/11: 2001-present | No Comments »

Newt Gingrich and the (ab)Uses of History

by Andrew Johnstone

It is an honor to join the SHAFR blogging team for 2011-12.  While SHAFR is (as the name makes perfectly clear) a society that focuses on the history of American foreign relations, there is no doubt that we are as well placed as anyone to make connections between historical events and contemporary issues in American [...]

Posted in Presidency, Public Opinion | No Comments »

Issues for the 2012 Presidential Election

by Nick Sarantakes

The United States of America is about to enter a presidential election year.  Actually, it already has entered the political season.  The election of 2012 will most likely turn on economics, but as Andy Johns pointed out in his blog, foreign policy is always important and next year’s contest will be no different.  In addition, [...]

Posted in Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, China, India, Middle East, North Korea, Pakistan, Policymaking--American | No Comments »

W(h)ither the Bilateral Study?: what of the History of U.S. Foreign Policy can tell us about the Emergent Multilateral World

by James Siekmeier

Back during the Cold War, bilateral studies were common. Indeed the proliferation of bilateral studies seemed to be almost a natural process—it was thought that we humans were seemingly biologically hard-wired to separate things in to this/that, either/or,  good/evil, etc.
Recently, however, the genre of “United States and …[insert country name here] “ studies seem to [...]

Posted in Americas | No Comments »

Rising Isolationism, A Renewed Danger?

by Christopher McKnight Nichols

It is an honor to be kicking off the blog for the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations for the fall of 2011. I thank Andrew Johns, Brian Etheridge, and the officers of SHAFR for the invitation, and I look forward to an excellent year of diverse debates and dynamic discussions.
For this column, which [...]

Posted in Africa, Anti-War Efforts, Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, Dwight Eisenhower administration: 1953-1961, Early Cold War: 1945-1961, Foreign aid, George W. Bush administration: 2001-2008, Gilded Age: 1876-1900, Ideology, Inter-war Diplomacy: 1919-1939, Military affaris, Peace and dissent, Post-9/11: 2001-present, Post-Cold War: 1991-2001, Public Opinion, State Department, Theory and Ideas, United Nations, United States, World War I: 1914-1918, World War II: 1939-1945 | No Comments »

A Note from Europe: The End of the World is Nigh

by Michaela Hoenicke Moore

The mid-July headline of the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) commenting on the two debt crises in Europe and the United States reads “The End of the World Is Near – But Only for You.” The article cleverly illustrates the deepening transatlantic gap when it comes to political and economic frames of reference. Americans are [...]

Posted in Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, Congress, Culture and international relations, Domestic groups and organizations, Domestic politics, Europe, European Union, Financial Policies, Franklin Roosevelt administration: 1933-1945, Harry Truman administration: 1945-1953, Ideology, International Economic Relations, International Trade and Economics, Policymaking--American, Policymaking--International, Post-9/11: 2001-present, Presidency | No Comments »

Moving Beyond (and Before) the Cold War

by David Ekbladh

I’ll take up the point raised by Shane Maddock’s recent post on moving beyond the Cold War.  I share his feeling that the focus on the conflict has imposed its own “interpretive framework” on scholarship in U.S. foreign relations and international history generally and that this scaffolding can limit our understanding of a slew of [...]

Posted in Anti-War Efforts, Domestic groups and organizations, Early Cold War: 1945-1961, Financial Policies, International Organizations, Modernization, Policymaking--International, Post-Cold War: 1991-2001, United Nations, World War II: 1939-1945 | No Comments »

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George H. W. Bush administration: 1989-1993

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Moving Beyond the Cold War

by Shane Maddock
Monday, July 11th, 2011

The Cold War ended twenty years ago, but it remains the preeminent focus of historians of U.S. foreign relations. The disappearance of the Soviet Union also prompted few changes in U.S. national security policy. One could chalk up both phenomena to inertia. Once a field begins to focus heavily on a period [...]

Posted in Arms Control, Bill Clinton administartion: 1993-2001, Decolonization, Disarmament, Early Cold War: 1945-1961, George H. W. Bush administration: 1989-1993, Harry Truman administration: 1945-1953, Historiography, Policymaking--American, Post-9/11: 2001-present, Post-Cold War: 1991-2001 | No Comments »

Foreign Policy and the 2012 Presidential Election

by Andrew Johns
Monday, June 6th, 2011

In a little over six months, voters in both major American political parties will begin the official process of selecting their respective presidential nominees.  Of course, the race for the White House in 2012 unofficially began on 5 November 2008 (the day after Barack Obama won his first term) and really picked up steam after [...]

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Posted in Afghanistan War: 2001-present, Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, Bill Clinton administartion: 1993-2001, Domestic politics, George H. W. Bush administration: 1989-1993, George W. Bush administration: 2001-2008, Late Cold War: 1961-1991, Lyndon Johnson administration: 1963-1969, Middle East, Post-9/11: 2001-present, Presidency, Public Opinion, Richard Nixon administration: 1969-1974, Ronald Reagan administration: 1981-1989, Vietnam: 1961-1975 | No Comments »

What Obama Might Learn from the Past: Bending History in the Direction of Justice

by Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

It is the nature of the political process that presidents campaign outside history and must then live within it. For Barack Obama, this meant promising a speedy withdrawal from Iraq, a stronger focus on defeating Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, firm but respectful relations with Russia and China, engagement with opponents like Iran, and progress with our [...]

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Posted in Afghanistan, Argentina, Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, Brazil, Chile, China, Early Cold War: 1945-1961, Europe, European Union, Franklin Roosevelt administration: 1933-1945, George H. W. Bush administration: 1989-1993, Germany, Human Rights, Indochina, Iran, Iraq, Japan, North Korea, Op-Eds, Post-9/11: 2001-present, Russia, South Korea, Vietnam, Vietnam: 1945-1961, Vietnam: 1961-1975, World War I: 1914-1918 | No Comments »

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