Foreign Policy Research Institute A Nation Must Think Before it Acts American Foreign Policy Since 1776

American Foreign Policy Since 1776

Date : Sat., October 26, 1996 to Sun., October 27, 1996 Category : Butcher History Institute

As the Cold War fades into history, Americans are realizing that they need a better understanding of the multipolar world now taking shape.  The confrontation with the Soviet Union was in many ways an unusual chapter of American history.  At century’s end, the U.S. faces not one but many challenges; to meet them, Americans will need to recollect the many traditions and dimensions of their foreign policy that go beyond the superpower confrontation.

The future will not be like the past, but without knowing the past, Americans will not be able to understand the emerging new world.  U.S. foreign policy has been more than a series of pendulum shifts between isolationism and engagement.  In certain times and places, we have been imperialists; in others, moralists; in others, realists.  American foreign policy has drawn, and will continue to draw, on a repertory of worldviews, impulses, and interests.  Knowing what these are and how they have affected our fate and that of the world is the best foundation for a deeper understanding of what is happening in the world today, and how the U.S. can contribute to global freedom, security, and prosperity.

FPRI is proud to announce a History Institute on American foreign policy, part of a special project that examines America’s identity and relates it to the way history is taught in our schools.  A program specially designed for secondary-school teachers and curriculum supervisors, the History Institute will provide an intensive weekend of instruction about the history of U.S. foreign policy, what that history reveals about the American identity, and what lessons it holds for America’s future role in the world.  Seminars will be conducted by leading scholars and supplemented by workshops that will provide an opportunity to brainstorm about new teaching strategies.

Topics and Speakers

Promised Land/Crusader State: American Foreign Relations Since 1776

10/26/1996 - 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM
Walter A. McDougall

Co-Director of History Academy, FPRI

Alloy-Ansin Professor of International Relations, University of Pennsyvlania

America and Europe Over Two Centuries

10/26/1996 - 2:30 PM to 3:45 PM
James Kurth

Professor of Political Science, Swarthmore College

The American Encounter with Asia

10/26/1996 - 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Akira Iriye

Charles Warren Professor of American History, Harvard University

Workshop: What Do Our Youth Need To Know about Foreign Policy?

10/26/1996 - 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM
Harvey Sicherman

President

Walter A. McDougall

Co-Director of History Academy, FPRI

Alloy-Ansin Professor of International Relations, University of Pennsyvlania

James Kurth

Swarthmore College

David Gress

Co-Director of History Academy, FPRI

The U.S. and Russia

10/26/1996 - 8:30 AM to 9:45 AM
Charles Fairbanks, Jr.

Research Professor of International Relations, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

The U.S. and the Third World

10/26/1996 - 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM
Peter W. Rodman

Director of National Security Programs, The Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom

Workshop: Teaching Strategies That Work

10/26/1996 - 11:15 AM to 12:30 PM
Paul Dickler

Neshaminy High School

James Sanzare

Senior Fellow - Wachman Center for Civic and International Literacy

Marcia Goldberg

Moderator

Senior Fellow - Wachman Center for Civic and International Literacy

Panel Discussion: American Foreign Policy After the Cold War

10/26/1996 - 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM
James Kurth

Swarthmore College

Walter A. McDougall

Co-Director of History Academy, FPRI

Alloy-Ansin Professor of International Relations, University of Pennsyvlania

Peter W. Rodman

The Nixon Center

Harvey Sicherman

President

Location

Venue

Gregg Conference Center

270 S. Bryn Mawr Ave.
PA Bryn Mawr 19010

Registration links

Register Deadline