Module POL2106 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL2106: America in the World
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will break down as follows:
- The first section of this module will provide a broad historical overview of the development of US foreign policy from the early Cold War period up to the present day.
- The second section of this module will examine a broad range of issues that pertain to US foreign policy, and which help the analyst to develop applicable knowledge of key developments in US foreign policy including the role of ideology, the rise of non-Western powers, changes in US grand strategy and the viability of the liberal international order.
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 128 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 22 | 11 x 2 hours per week |
| Guided Independent Study | 128 | Reading for seminars (75 hours), reflection and planning for seminars (25 hours), Exam revision + learning consolidation (28 hours). |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Basic reading:
Michael Cox & Doug Stokes (eds.) US Foreign Policy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018) 3rd Edition.
Alan Collins (ed.), Contemporary Security Studies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 2nd ed.
Inderjeet Parmar, Linda B. Miller and Mark Ledwidge (eds.) New Directions in U.S. Foreign Policy (London: Routledge, 2009/13).
Barry Buzan and Lene Hansen, The Evolution of International Security Studies (New York: Cambridge University press, 2009)
William Wohlforth and Stephen G. Brooks, World Out of Balance: International Relations Theory and the Challenge of American Hegemony (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008)
Christopher Layne, The Peace of Illusions: American Grand Strategy from 1940 to the Present (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006)
G. John Ikenberry, Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American World Order (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011).
