Chris J. Dolan

This book argues that domestic politics and political pressures determine the extent of the U.S. role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from the emergence of containment strategy against the Soviet Union to the Russian war in Ukraine. NATO has evolved in the domestic politics of U.S. foreign policy from a conventional military alliance to contain the Soviet Union during the Cold War to an important instrument in the competition against China and Russia. This book examines American domestic political implications of U.S. security commitments to NATO. It adopts a historical approach and places the U.S. foreign policy toward NATO on the domestic level of analysis by highlighting domestic political determinants in the foreign policymaking process. It also highlights the connections between the Biden Administration’s definition of a struggle between democracy and autocracy and the state of American democracy following the January 6th insurrection by far-right Trump extremists. U.S. These include the evolution of American attitudes towards NATO, societal and economic factors, and entrenched bureaucratic interests shaping U.S. foreign policy. The book incorporates the contributions of major theoretical works on the domestic political factors that shape foreign policy preferences and behavior to understand the extent to which domestic politics influences the historical evolution of the U.S. role in NATO and American foreign policy toward Europe.

This book argues that domestic politics and political pressures determine the extent of the U.S. role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from the emergence of containment strategy against the Soviet Union to the Russian war in Ukraine. NATO has evolved in the domestic politics of U.S. foreign policy from a conventional military alliance to contain the Soviet Union during the Cold War to an important instrument in the competition against China and Russia. This book examines American domestic political implications of U.S. security commitments to NATO. It adopts a historical approach and places the U.S. foreign policy toward NATO on the domestic level of analysis by highlighting domestic political determinants in the foreign policymaking process. It also highlights the connections between the Biden Administration’s definition of a struggle between democracy and autocracy and the state of American democracy following the January 6th insurrection by far-right Trump extremists. U.S. These include the evolution of American attitudes towards NATO, societal and economic factors, and entrenched bureaucratic interests shaping U.S. foreign policy. The book incorporates the contributions of major theoretical works on the domestic political factors that shape foreign policy preferences and behavior to understand the extent to which domestic politics influences the historical evolution of the U.S. role in NATO and American foreign policy toward Europe.

This is one of the first books on U.S. foreign policy and NATO in the international system published in the immediate wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The book assesses the extent to which the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushed both the U.S. and NATO into making necessary changes to contend with a multipolar world structured in terms of Cold War 2.0 great power competition. The North Atlantic space is now a complex and complicated strategic environment. In addition to the persistent confrontation between NATO and Russia over Ukraine, multi-dimensional security challenges emanate from China. In addition, hybrid war operations and competition over advanced technologies are fast becoming disruptive threats as are transnational threats like climate change, pandemics, and migration. Moreover, a Cold War 2.0 system of tension and rivalry is playing out along military, economic, and technological lines with two bounded orders between the U.S. and NATO allies on one side and China and Russia on the other. The consequences will likely force NATO to wrestle with whether the alliance is transatlantic with a global outlook or a global alliance with responsibility for upholding the liberal world order. "This is a timely contribution to deepen our understanding of how Russian and Chinese offensive maneuvers, along with the security risks posed by the current pandemic, climate change, terrorism, migration, and threats posed by hybrid war-fare are shaping NATO’s strategic reorientation. Dolan also recognizes the internal threats to liberal democracies, namely the rise of illiberal political forces, in NATO member states and the challenges they pose to the Euro-Atlantic alliance. The book is clearly organized and includes the author’s recommendations for NATO’s effective path forward." —S. Mohsin Hashim, Professor of Political Science, Muhlenberg College "An extraordinarily timely and germane assessment of the evolution of the transatlantic relationship and the identity and roles of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the European, Eurasian, Greater Middle Eastern, and broader global security architecture in the wake of Russia’s intervention in (and conduct of a war of choice against) Ukraine beginning in February 2022. Most significantly, the book is instructive in situating the historical strains of cooperation and discord between the United States and its European allies within shifting strategic and geopolitical environments that demand balance and in safeguarding often interconnected threats posed by global and regional adversaries, most notably Russia, China, Iran and North Korea on one hand, and transnational challenges such as climate change, cybersecurity, and Islamist extremist driven terrorism on the other. Further, the author is adept in identifying and explaining the links between those threats emphasized in the 2022 NATO Strategic Concept and the daunting challenges in achieving the requisite transatlantic unity to manage them effectively." —Robert J. Pauly, Jr., Professor of International Development, The University of Southern Mississippi

This book argues that critical international and domestic crises, such as the U.S. war in Iraq and the Great Recession, forced President Barack Obama to readjust U.S. foreign policy after over 70 years of American hegemony and defending the global status quo. It examines the range of external pressures and challenges brought on by an increasingly multipolar international system, shifting domestic political forces, and limited foreign policy choices. The book provides an overview of the extent of foreign policy change and continuity in Obama’s foreign policy toward Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East. The book assesses domestic and international pressure points in the wake of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and the Great Recession that shaped and defined Obama’s foreign policy preferences. The war in Iraq and the Great Recession, in addition to rising economic inequality and hyper-partisanship at home, emerging markets in Asia and the rise of China, and Russian resurgence in Europe and the Middle East, would determine and constrain the extent to which Obama was able to lead U.S. foreign policy and the foreign policymaking process. These ultimately contributed to a more scaled-back and limited U.S. role in the world during Obama’s presidency, culminating in the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump who promised to turn the U.S. away from globalization and questioned longstanding U.S. alliances. In the end, the theme of “nation-building here at home” under Obama gave way to “America First” under Trump.

There is a long-standing tradition in Western culture of differentiating between 'just' and 'unjust' wars. 11 September 2001 has stimulated a debate in the West which holds that although people who are opposed to war in principle may disagree that any such distinction can possibly be made, the basic ideas involved seem to present a plausible argument that there are times when war is, at the very least, just and politically necessary. These and other issues are addressed in this study. The consistent theme throughout this book is that significant ethical issues and moral dilemmas have been raised as they pertain to the forceful expression of American power via the Bush Doctrine's assertion of the right to engage in first strikes against states and non-states in the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. This book is intended for those with an interest in political science, history, leadership studies and foreign policy analysis.

There is a long-standing tradition in Western culture of differentiating between 'just' and 'unjust' wars. 11 September 2001 has stimulated a debate in the West which holds that although people who are opposed to war in principle may disagree that any such distinction can possibly be made, the basic ideas involved seem to present a plausible argument that there are times when war is, at the very least, just and politically necessary. These and other issues are addressed in this study. The consistent theme throughout this book is that significant ethical issues and moral dilemmas have been raised as they pertain to the forceful expression of American power via the Bush Doctrine's assertion of the right to engage in first strikes against states and non-states in the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. This book is intended for those with an interest in political science, history, leadership studies and foreign policy analysis.

The health of the American economy is a topic of discussion among undergraduate students in public policy and the American presidency. Policymakers and citizens also are concerned with economic prosperity and the problems associated with unemployment, taxation, health care, trade, and inflation as well as other economic issues. While the study of the economy may be a primary concern for scholars, most people care more about how economic performance and presidential economic policymaking impacts their daily lives. Therefore, the purpose of this book is to provide undergraduates and laypersons with a blueprint of the performance of the economy and the ability of the president to manage economic policy. Little has been published on the specific nexus between the presidency and economic policy. The goal of this updated and streamlined text is to provide students with an examination of the historical and substantive policy issues that shape the relationship between the American presidency and the economy.