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University of California, Irvine  History 183A

RACE, ETHNICITY, AND AMERICA FOREIGN POLICY

Tim Kelly, Ph.d.
 timmer@uci.edu
HOB 223
(949) 509-9778

From its inception, the U.S. has been guided by a series of racial principles in both its North American expansion and its dealings with the outside world.  This course takes a chronological approach from the Revolution to the current war against terrorism to explore the influences of ethnicity and racial hierarchy in American foreign policy. 

This course is a definite departure from traditional foreign relations courses.  Though following a chronological timeline from the colonial period to the present, the course will focus largely on specific case studies in an attempt to be part of an emerging dialogue to discover ways of exploring the connection between America's domestic social structure and the dominant ideology of racism in relation to foreign policies.  Among the questions it seeks to answer are the following: 

bulletWhat were the views on race of America's diplomats, and in what ways did those views shape American foreign relations towards people of color? 
bulletHow can we explain American expansion in North America and specific foreign policy actions in Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa in a racial context?
bulletWhat is the political influence of American racial and ethnic groups in shaping this nation's foreign policy?
bulletAnd finally, can American multi-culturalism serve as a model for a world disintegrating along ethnic lines, or is the U.S. also "disuniting?"

Through the use of lectures, readings, multi-media (film, posters, political cartoons), and especially class discussion we will seek to investigate this fascinating and controversial discipline. 

ADD-DROP POLICY

Students may add-drop this course through the end of the second week; those adding the course late will be responsible for all material covered.  The last day to drop this class without the Dean's approval is May 10.

-- ***Plagiarism/cheating will be treated as automatic failures for the course and offenders will be referred to the Dean of Academic Affairs.***

WEB PAGE

Students may access lecture outlines and PowerPoint lectures (uploaded after the lecture) at the following URL address:  http://www.timmer.org.  Click on History 183A.

 

Course Requirements Grading Policy:   Grades are awarded on a Standard Scale:
1. One 4-5 page paper
2.  Midterm Exam
3.  Final examination 
5. Class Participation 
 (250 pts)
(250 total)
(400 pts)
(100 pts)		 A 
A- 
B+ 
B 
B- 
C+ 		 1000 - 930
929 - 900
899 - 870
869 - 830
829 - 800
799 - 770		 C
C-
D+
D
D-
F		 769 - 730
729 - 700
699 - 670
669 - 630
629 - 600
599 and below

Dates to Remember
April 12:
May 3:
May 10:		 Last Day to Change Grade Option
Midterm
Last Day to Drop		 May 27:
May 28:
June 12		 Memorial Day
Paper due
Final Exam (8:00-10:00 a.m.)

READINGS

The following books may be purchased at the UCI Bookstore:

bulletJohn Dower, War Without Mercy:  Race and Power in the Pacific War
bulletReginald Horsman, Race and Manifest Destiny:  The Origins of American Racial Anglo-
bulletMicahel Krenn, The Impact of Race on U.S. Foreign Policy:  A Reader
bulletAlexander DeConde, Ethnicity, Race, and American Foreign Policy

The following readings are on reserve in the Main Library:

bulletFrances Fitzgerald, "Prospero, Caliban, and Ariel" from Fire In the Lake:  The Vietnamese     and the Americans in Vietnam (New York:  Vintage Books, 1972)
bullet Cary Fraser, "Crossing the Color Line in Little Rock:  The Eisenhower Administration and the Dilemma of Race for U.S. Foreign Policy," Diplomatic History v. 24, n. 2 (Spring 2000):  233-264.
bullet Robert Harris, "Racial Equality and the United Nations Charter" (from Michael Krenn, ed.,    Race and U.S. Foreign Policy From the Colonial Period to the Present:  Race and U.S. Foreign Policy during the Cold War (New York:  Garland Publishing, Inc., 1998)
bulletCharles Heimsath, "The American Images of India as Factors in U.S. Foreign Policy Making" (from Krenn, Race and U.S. Foreign Policy during the Cold War, pp. 99-119).
bulletRichard Hofstadter, "Racism and Imperialism," Social Darwinism in American Thought
bulletGerald Horne, "Race From Power:  U.S. Foreign Policy and the General Crisis of 'White Supremacy,'" Diplomatic History v23, n3 (Summer 1999):437-461
bullet Akira Iriye, "The Genesis of American-Japanese Antagonism" (from Michael Krenn, ed., Race and U.S. Foreign Policy From the Colonial Period to the Present:  Race and U.S. Foreign Policy from 1900 through World War II
bulletPaul Gordon Lauren, "First Principles of Racial Equality:  History and the Politics and Diplomacy of Human Rights Provisions in the United Nations Charter" (from Michael Krenn, ed., Race and U.S. Foreign Policy during the Cold War (New York:  Garland Publishing, Inc., 1998)

The following reading is available on-line:

bulletSamuel Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations?", Foreign Affairs v72, n3 (Summer 1993):22
(This can be accessed on the UCI Library's CDL database, as well as at http://www.foreignaffairs.org/Search/document.asp?i=19930601FAESSAY5188.XML)

Topics for the course are as follows:

WEEK 1  -      Course Overview
+ Definitions of race and ethnicity
+ relation to ideology and culture

Reading (4/1 - 4/5):               Krenn, Introduction; DeConde, Ch 1; Horne, "Race From Power"

WEEK 2 -       Colonial expansion and revolution

Reading (4/8 - 4/12):  DeConde, Ch 2; Horsman, Intro, Chs 1,3, 5-9

WEEK 3  -      Race and Manifest Destiny
+ the Indian and Mexican "Problems"
+ Slavery

Reading (4/15 - 4/19):         Horsman, Chs 10-13, Conclusion; DeConde, Ch 3 (suggested:  Krenn, pp. 48-89)

WEEK 4 -       Expansion and Imperialism
+ Social Darwinism and foreign policy
+ America's Asia Policy

Reading (4/22 - 4/26):        Akira Iriye, "The Genesis of American-Japanese Antagonism" (from Krenn, Race and U.S. Foreign Policy from 1900 through World War II); Hofstadter, "Racism and Imperialism"; Krenn, pp. 90-123.

WEEK 5 -       Immigration and the ethnic influence
+ Nativism and Exclusion
+ Ethnic Politics and Foreign Policy I

                        MAY 3  **MIDTERM**

        Reading (4/29 - 5/3):              DeConde, Chs 4-6

WEEK 6 -       World War II as a racial conflict
                        + "Why We Fight!" (including Capra film and discussion)  

Reading (5/6 - 5/10):  Dower, 3-181, Epilogue 

WEEK 7 -       Human Rights and the United Nations Charter
+Cold War:  The Hoards from the East

Reading (5/13 - 5/17):         Robert Harris, "Racial Equality and the United Nations Charter" and Paul Gordon Lauren, "First Principles of Racial Equality:  History and the Politics and Diplomacy of Human Rights Provisions in the United Nations Charter" (From Michael Krenn, Race and U.S. Foreign Policy during the Cold War pp. 2-51)

WEEK 8 -       "The Ugly American"
                        + America and the Developing Nations

Reading (5/20 - 5/24):         Krenn, pp. 227-264; Charles Heimsath, "The American Images of India as Factors in U.S. Foreign Policy Making" (from Krenn, Race and U.S. Foreign Policy during the Cold War, pp. 99-119); Fitzgerald, "Prospero, Caliban, and Ariel" from Fire In the Lake:  The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam


WEEK 9 -       HOLIDAY - MONDAY MAY 27

African Americans and foreign policy
                        + civil rights and apartheid  

Reading (5/27 - 5/31):           Krenn, pp. 287-333; Fraser, "Crossing the Color Line in Little Rock"; DeConde, Ch. 7

WEEK 10 -     Ethnic Politics and Foreign Policy II
+ The Clash of Civilizations?
+ East versus West
+ The War Against Terrorism

Reading (6/3 - 6/7):                DeConde, Chs 8, 9; Samuel Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations?"

FINAL EXAM  -  Wednesday, June 12, 8:00 - 10:00 am