POLS 321 Midterm Study Questions

S. Majeski

Questions for the1/27 Midterm will be drawn from this list. You will be asked to respond to 2 questions selected from this list. You should be prepared to answer all of these questions.

1. U.S. foreign policy during and after the Cold War is arguably about maintaining order and stability so as to foster free trade and economic growth -- with the containment of communism and support for democracy as side benefits. How has the creation and maintenance of client states helped U.S. policymakers achieve these basic goals?

2. Describe how the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and NATO fit together into a coherent U.S. foreign policy strategy.

3.Discuss how the foreign policies of the Eisenhower, Carter, and Nixon administrations can be seen as similar and consistent with the NSC-68 blueprint?

4. The U.S. political, economic, and military stature was at its height during the 1950s. By the mid and late 1970s it had appeared to bottom out. What factors account for this change?

5. Suppose the isolationists had won in key Congressional Battles in the late 1940s and the Truman administration's efforts to provide economic and military aid to Greece, economic aid to Western Europe, and join NATO had been defeated in Congress. What would likely have been the results in international affairs in the late 1940s and early 1950s? Based on your assessment would U.S. policy likely have remained isolationist or returned to an aggressive activist internationalist policy? Defend your answer.