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A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy
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Expected 19 Feb 26Now in a fully updated edition, A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy offers a conceptual and historical overview of American foreign relations from the founding to the present. Compact and accessible, the text provides students with a clear and concise understanding of key decisions and why they were made. Joyce Kaufman introduces the major themes that have driven the making of U.S. foreign policy, with an emphasis on the importance of economics and trade as well as the relevant political issues of the time to both describe and explain critical decisions. Beginning with the question 'what is foreign policy and why is it important?' the author shows the reader how foreign policy is relevant to everyone, and in some way touches all our lives. The book develops the themes historically to show how various presidents and administrations built upon the past, and where they set a new course and why. Kaufman pays particular attention to the Cold War and beyond, with a chapter devoted specifically to the changes in direction of American foreign policy as a result of September 11. She concludes with a look forward to challenges the United States will face in the coming decades. With its strong narrative and use of compelling case studies, the book engages students fully in this crucial topic, encouraging them to form their own ideas about American foreign policy.
488 pages, Paperback
First published June 29, 2006
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252 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 23, 2025
Indeed a very concise book on the history of U.S. politics. Totally recommend if you’re trying to learn U.S. history!
January 9, 2013
Too often, when watching the news, or talking with other people about such topics about the economy, politics, etc., people mention things such as how much money we spend in foreign aid, or why we do/don't go and bomb another country into the Stone Age, or why we don't intervene in a humanitarian crisis. The reasons why we do or don't do things sometimes as a country can seem opaque at worst, or just "Huh?" at best.
This book doesn't give answers to that. What it DOES do is explain to the reader the basics of foreign policy (which can be applied to any nation). It also gives the reader the background and history of U.S. foreign policy to show how it has evolved over time, from the founding of the nation (pretty much isolationist) to what it is today (very much internationally engaged). With this in mind, it goes on to help the reader understand the hows and whys regarding U.S. foreign policy during its evolution, and set up a framework for understanding why the U.S. held back from jumping into WWII immediately, or why we attacked Spain over the U.S.S. Maine incident - in other words, why the U.S. has chosen certain foreign policy decisions over others when it happened at the time.
Most of all, though, this book gives the reader a set of tools for understanding foreign policy and the things that go into it. One common notion that is thoroughly explored and explained (and in a sense demolished) is how foreign policy doesn't affect domestic policy. Many people think they are totally separate, but they are not (as the book clearly shows in a number of examples, from the War of 1812 to the Gulf of Tonkin incident). It prepares the reader for analyzing and understanding the reasons why we make the choices we do today for our nation's foreign policy, be it with regard to trade, military action, humanitarian action, or something else - all of these, and more, go into and comprise what we call "foreign policy".
I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand more clearly and deeply the reasons why the U.S. does what it does with regards to other nations, whether it is a trade agreement, military action, or something else. The choices the government makes are not made purely due to a particular ideology, but are more often decided upon due to the options available at the time and also by what currently is the best for national interests (and it defines what "national interest" means as well). It also helps to explain the connections that exist between foreign and domestic policy, and how one DOES affect the other more than most people imagine or realize.
One last thing - this book tries to be apolitical. It doesn't take sides. What it does show is the historical facts and the factors that were present when certain foreign policy decisions were made, and when possible, it uses primary sources to back up any "claims" it makes regarding the influences that went into a particular foreign policy decision. One particular case that caught my attention was the input given from some of the players during the Cuban Missile crisis, especially what was said by Robert McNamara, the then-Secretary of Defense.
This book doesn't give answers to that. What it DOES do is explain to the reader the basics of foreign policy (which can be applied to any nation). It also gives the reader the background and history of U.S. foreign policy to show how it has evolved over time, from the founding of the nation (pretty much isolationist) to what it is today (very much internationally engaged). With this in mind, it goes on to help the reader understand the hows and whys regarding U.S. foreign policy during its evolution, and set up a framework for understanding why the U.S. held back from jumping into WWII immediately, or why we attacked Spain over the U.S.S. Maine incident - in other words, why the U.S. has chosen certain foreign policy decisions over others when it happened at the time.
Most of all, though, this book gives the reader a set of tools for understanding foreign policy and the things that go into it. One common notion that is thoroughly explored and explained (and in a sense demolished) is how foreign policy doesn't affect domestic policy. Many people think they are totally separate, but they are not (as the book clearly shows in a number of examples, from the War of 1812 to the Gulf of Tonkin incident). It prepares the reader for analyzing and understanding the reasons why we make the choices we do today for our nation's foreign policy, be it with regard to trade, military action, humanitarian action, or something else - all of these, and more, go into and comprise what we call "foreign policy".
I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand more clearly and deeply the reasons why the U.S. does what it does with regards to other nations, whether it is a trade agreement, military action, or something else. The choices the government makes are not made purely due to a particular ideology, but are more often decided upon due to the options available at the time and also by what currently is the best for national interests (and it defines what "national interest" means as well). It also helps to explain the connections that exist between foreign and domestic policy, and how one DOES affect the other more than most people imagine or realize.
One last thing - this book tries to be apolitical. It doesn't take sides. What it does show is the historical facts and the factors that were present when certain foreign policy decisions were made, and when possible, it uses primary sources to back up any "claims" it makes regarding the influences that went into a particular foreign policy decision. One particular case that caught my attention was the input given from some of the players during the Cuban Missile crisis, especially what was said by Robert McNamara, the then-Secretary of Defense.
July 25, 2025
This book is pretty bad. It's also profoundly sad. I'm currently writing a book covering the same 120 year period of US history Kaufman focuses on. This has involved reading primary sources as far back as the 1800s, and works of analysis like this dating back to the 1920s. Nothing I have read is more sadly out-of-date than this book, published in 2021, right before Joe Biden took office.
Both the preface and the conclusion are filled with hope that Biden would bring us back to some sensible foreign policy. Something more like the Cold War, where we knew who are enemies were, and what we were doing. She seems very certain that the first Trump administration she had just witnessed was some kind of nasty aberration, not "who we are" or whatever. In some respects, Joe Biden delivered exactly the Cold War presidency she was asking for. And it led directly back to Trump, and a world that is in significantly worse shape than Trump left it in 2020.
The final chapters of this book are enraging. Despite this nominally being a history of all US foreign policy, the final third of the book reckons mostly with Bush, Obama and Trump. There's a lot of faulty analysis of what went wrong, and fairly heart-breaking hope for Biden's future. There is even half a page of quoting Antony Blinken on how he'd learned the lessons of past mistakes. Blinken went on to be the most blood-soaked Secretary of State since Henry Kissinger, and unlike Kissinger he has absolutely nothing to show for it other than political loss to Trump, and a genocide that is burning down the international human rights architecture Biden and the author of this book hoped Blinken's diplomacy would save.
It would be unfair of me to castigate Kaufman for getting Biden so wrong. I got him wrong too. In 2021 it was impossible to imagine that he and his team would be as apocalyptically bad as they were, plunging both Europe and the Middle East into new Bush-style wars without end. But I'm afraid Kaufman is very much part of the problem. Her book is riddled with errors. Mostly of omission, but her description of the 1920s as isolationist is flat-out wrong.
There is no mention of US financial leadership (very important to the 1920s), Bretton Woods (except at the end), or the Federal Reserve. I suppose omitting this sort of thing is necessary if you're aiming for a "concise" history. But she doesn't even include many of the most important events of the past couple decades. There is no mention of Obama's destruction of Libya, an important sign post on the end of China and Russia as participatory actors in the UN security council. Russia & Ukraine get talked about a lot, but the fact that the US supported the overthrow of the Ukrainian president in 2014 is not mentioned.
Kaufman's main issue with Obama seems to be that he didn't invade enough places. That's what the Blinken quote is on, how much he regrets not invading Syria during the Obama administration. Kaufman's most quoted analyst, quoted again and again, is Walter Russel Mead, a barely reconstructed hyper-interventionist. The last time I checked in with Mead he was very much in the camp of "well I guess Iraq could have gone better" but otherwise Bush had the right ideas about things. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that Kaufman feels the same.
Kaufman got the Biden administration she was hoping for, whether she believes that or not. The result is hundreds of thousands dead, a US reputation that's even lower than the depths of Vietnam, and a renewed Trump presidency. It's important to do a better job with our history. I hope to do so one day.
Both the preface and the conclusion are filled with hope that Biden would bring us back to some sensible foreign policy. Something more like the Cold War, where we knew who are enemies were, and what we were doing. She seems very certain that the first Trump administration she had just witnessed was some kind of nasty aberration, not "who we are" or whatever. In some respects, Joe Biden delivered exactly the Cold War presidency she was asking for. And it led directly back to Trump, and a world that is in significantly worse shape than Trump left it in 2020.
The final chapters of this book are enraging. Despite this nominally being a history of all US foreign policy, the final third of the book reckons mostly with Bush, Obama and Trump. There's a lot of faulty analysis of what went wrong, and fairly heart-breaking hope for Biden's future. There is even half a page of quoting Antony Blinken on how he'd learned the lessons of past mistakes. Blinken went on to be the most blood-soaked Secretary of State since Henry Kissinger, and unlike Kissinger he has absolutely nothing to show for it other than political loss to Trump, and a genocide that is burning down the international human rights architecture Biden and the author of this book hoped Blinken's diplomacy would save.
It would be unfair of me to castigate Kaufman for getting Biden so wrong. I got him wrong too. In 2021 it was impossible to imagine that he and his team would be as apocalyptically bad as they were, plunging both Europe and the Middle East into new Bush-style wars without end. But I'm afraid Kaufman is very much part of the problem. Her book is riddled with errors. Mostly of omission, but her description of the 1920s as isolationist is flat-out wrong.
There is no mention of US financial leadership (very important to the 1920s), Bretton Woods (except at the end), or the Federal Reserve. I suppose omitting this sort of thing is necessary if you're aiming for a "concise" history. But she doesn't even include many of the most important events of the past couple decades. There is no mention of Obama's destruction of Libya, an important sign post on the end of China and Russia as participatory actors in the UN security council. Russia & Ukraine get talked about a lot, but the fact that the US supported the overthrow of the Ukrainian president in 2014 is not mentioned.
Kaufman's main issue with Obama seems to be that he didn't invade enough places. That's what the Blinken quote is on, how much he regrets not invading Syria during the Obama administration. Kaufman's most quoted analyst, quoted again and again, is Walter Russel Mead, a barely reconstructed hyper-interventionist. The last time I checked in with Mead he was very much in the camp of "well I guess Iraq could have gone better" but otherwise Bush had the right ideas about things. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that Kaufman feels the same.
Kaufman got the Biden administration she was hoping for, whether she believes that or not. The result is hundreds of thousands dead, a US reputation that's even lower than the depths of Vietnam, and a renewed Trump presidency. It's important to do a better job with our history. I hope to do so one day.
September 5, 2024
I think the operative word here is 'concise.'
The book is well done & tries to be as neutral as possible in terms of policitcal parties and policies.
Unfortunately, there is so much left out that the policies mentioned feel almost exclusively limited to the Middle East, Russia, and China.
If it weren't for a map early on in the book, readers wouldn't even hear mention of South America. Africa is mentioned mostly in passing at the end of the book. But the gaping hole is with Latin America (which is of course not only Mexico) and many policies that have sharply affected not only US external relations but also many domestic issues. There is extensive coverage of communism's scare throughout the Cold War, but not how US foreign policy RAVAGED many Latin American countries because of the same scare.
Also notably missing is the US policy in Cambodia after Vietnam that all but set the stage for the Cambodian genocide.
Concise but also very limited in its scope of what kind of policies were included.
The book is well done & tries to be as neutral as possible in terms of policitcal parties and policies.
Unfortunately, there is so much left out that the policies mentioned feel almost exclusively limited to the Middle East, Russia, and China.
If it weren't for a map early on in the book, readers wouldn't even hear mention of South America. Africa is mentioned mostly in passing at the end of the book. But the gaping hole is with Latin America (which is of course not only Mexico) and many policies that have sharply affected not only US external relations but also many domestic issues. There is extensive coverage of communism's scare throughout the Cold War, but not how US foreign policy RAVAGED many Latin American countries because of the same scare.
Also notably missing is the US policy in Cambodia after Vietnam that all but set the stage for the Cambodian genocide.
Concise but also very limited in its scope of what kind of policies were included.
June 2, 2025
It was informative and covered the basics of American foreign policy quite well. But it lacks a critical perspective that is informing foreign policy writings in this day and age. For example, the author does go into the implications of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but sidesteps the process through which these wars came to be from inside the power corridors, wherein the possible civilian victims were never taken into the account.
Furthermore, it does not deal with USA's near fanatical backing of Israel in whatever actions in takes place. Given the horrors we are seeing being inflicted on the people in Gaza, and the antecedent violence that has taken place, this book is not specifically equipped with the conceptual tools needed to unpack American foreign policy on that.
Otherwise, on many other issues, the book is still informative and accurate to be fair to it.
Furthermore, it does not deal with USA's near fanatical backing of Israel in whatever actions in takes place. Given the horrors we are seeing being inflicted on the people in Gaza, and the antecedent violence that has taken place, this book is not specifically equipped with the conceptual tools needed to unpack American foreign policy on that.
Otherwise, on many other issues, the book is still informative and accurate to be fair to it.
August 18, 2025
Great Introduction to US Foreign Policy
Read this book for a college class and was really happy with it.
Strengths:
very easy to read. the vocab is student friendly.
very concise in the foreign policies presented. the book goes from point A to B.
Great introduction to USA policy. If you are looking for something really detailed on a specific US foreign policy this is not that book. This book serves as a concise summary of different US foreign policy, not specializing in any one policy.
Would recommend to anyone, students and the average joe alike.
Read this book for a college class and was really happy with it.
Strengths:
very easy to read. the vocab is student friendly.
very concise in the foreign policies presented. the book goes from point A to B.
Great introduction to USA policy. If you are looking for something really detailed on a specific US foreign policy this is not that book. This book serves as a concise summary of different US foreign policy, not specializing in any one policy.
Would recommend to anyone, students and the average joe alike.
October 2, 2017
Timely information
Book is informative; uses the past to highlight current issues and trends. Definitely a book to read in today’s climate.
Book is informative; uses the past to highlight current issues and trends. Definitely a book to read in today’s climate.
March 11, 2019
A good overview of the history!
Read
October 31, 2022*3.5*
April 21, 2023
Was forced to read this…
May 26, 2023
Realism and US foreign policy yassss
December 1, 2024
The Book offers a methodological description of U.S foreign policy without any bias or support for a specific philosophy, which i find particularly useful as a neutral researcher..
March 10, 2025
It’s concise! And it’s history!
September 14, 2020
Read for Pol 445W: American Foreign Policy
October 4, 2013
This was a very slim volume that I had to read for my last political science class. It's blunt and to the point, mostly hitting the highlights. It felt a bit disjointed to me as well, but that might be because my professor had us moving randomly through the chapters. If you want the concise version of United States foreign relations, this is a handy book to have.
April 8, 2023
I assigned this as a recommended book for most students in American Foreign Policy this semester. This new edition is quite a bit longer than the last one I adopted and includes material about the Trump and Biden presidencies.
January 22, 2013
Great book with appropriate title. A "concise" look into the history of US foreign policy indeed. Easy to read and keeps you intrigued and motivated to learn more.
April 10, 2019
Worked well for my class. Will use again.
February 8, 2021
The title says it all.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews