US Foreign Policy (1765-2022)--History and Analysis

JFK in his 1963 Ich bin ein Berliner speech, renowned for its last four words, he   also included in it’s three minute duration   that we did not have a perfect system ourselves, but we never had to build a wall to keep people from leaving.

Hank Toles and I would like to invite you to join our course which follows the pluses and minuses of US foreign policy from the time of declaring our independence, when we grew from a small, weak, unimportant country into a current global giant, with the world's largest economy and most powerful military. Our book The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy, by Michael Mandelbaum offers a new framework for identifying how this came to pass.

The book is easy to read and has already been deemed a masterpiece by several critics and an essential read by Tom Friedman. It describes and analyzes American foreign policy into 4 distinct periods, each marked by an increase in American power. It started as a weak power (1765-1865) evolved to a great power (1865-1945) further to a superpower (1945-1990) and finally to the world's sole hyperpower (1990-2015).

We will also analyze and discuss current foreign policy under Trump and Biden emphasizing China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, and relations with our allies. Core features of American foreign policy which have remained constant have been the use of economic instruments to conduct foreign policy and a strong motivation for better or worse  toward  exporting democratic policy beyond our borders.

American Comics-Their History and Ours

American comics are both a remarkable reflection and harbinger of happenings in American life.  Comics have conquered America in ways high and low, superficial to profound, from multiplexes to television screens to convention halls, best seller lists, Pulitzer Prize-winning titles and MacArthur fellowship recipients.    In our core book, "American Comics, A History," award-winning author Jeremy Dauber, a Columbia professor, takes us through their incredible history from the Civil War and Cartoonist Thomas Nast, the golden age of newspaper comic strips and the first superhero boom, the moral panic of the Eisenhower era, The Marvel Comics revolution, the underground comix movement of the 60's and 70's, and finally into the twenty first century, with the grim and gritty Dark Knights and Watchmen alongside the brilliant rise of the graphic novel.  Dauber's story shows not only how comics have changed over the decades but how American politics and culture have changed them. This SDG will be a rich chronicle of the last 150 years of American History through the lens of its comic strips, political cartoons, superheroes, graphic novels and more.

The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense

The new biography of Alfred Hitchcock by Edward White takes an innovative approach to understanding his career.  (“Hitchcock was more than a Hollywood titan; he was the definitive modern artist, and his significance reaches far beyond the confines of cinema.”  Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock. Economist Best Book of 2021.

Hitchcock’s work spans silents, classic black and white, color, expressionism, film noir and social realism, thrillers, screwball comedies, horror, Weimar cinema, Hollywood studios and television. This SDG will examine the work and creative process of motion pictures’ master of suspense, reading the new biography Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock.

“A provocative new way of thinking about biography....The radial structure vibrates, like Hitchcock’s best films, with intuition and mystery." New York Times. “The great strength of The Twelve Lives is that a reader comes away from it with a vivid sense of how Hitchcock ignited screen masterpieces with the fires of his inner discord and contradictions." Washington Post.

We will view one Hitchcock film on our own prior to each weekly SDG meeting. These film titles are designated in the SDG schedule. The designated films are viewable on numerous internet and cable platforms, including Amazon Prime, HBO, TCM, Tubi, etc.  All the designated titles can be viewed currently on Amazon Prime. Half are available for free on YouTube.

Reading The Atlantic

The Atlantic Monthly was founded in Boston in 1857 by such luminaries as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Greenleaf Whittier.  James Russel Lowell was the first editor.  No longer published monthly, its name is simply The Atlantic.  Originally, it was a literary and culture publication.  Today, it covers news, politics, culture, technology, health, and more. 

Any issue of The Atlantic is loaded with articles that could be a subject of an SDG. Almost any article would make a fascinating topic for a single week’s discussion.  Admittedly, the magazine has a liberal slant, but tearing that slant apart in a collegial way will make each week's study group more interesting

As I write this, I'm looking at the May,  2022 issue - the Table of Contents includes Ukraine and the End of the Liberal World Order, How Social Media Made America Stupid, Europe's Ex-Royals, Winslow Homer's America, A Global View of World War II, The End of Mom Guilt...and more.

The Atlantic is available by standard subscription and digital subscription, and allows computer access to five free articles a month.

Here’s how we’ll do this: everyone will bring the current issue of The Atlantic to the pre-meeting.  Or, if there's a topic you are interested in from another issue, we can tackle it.  Topics as well as weeks for presentation will be chosen by lottery. The magazine article will be the catalyst for more research and for great discussions.

What Really Caused World War I?

World War I was arguably the most significant event of the 20th century. Among other things, it brought down long-standing empires, recognized new countries which emerged from those empires. facilitated the Communist victory in Russia, motivated Germany to launch World War II, caused millions of deaths of soldiers and civilians, drew the boundaries of countries in the Middle East and made a traumatic, emotional impact on the residents of all of the countries and on their leaders. A good case can be made that World War I re-ordered the globe.

In view of the importance of World War I, many have pondered and written about the causes of the War. Many of us will remember being taught in school that the cause was the treaties and “entangling alliances” among the European countries. And, of course, each combatant country blamed its wartime opponents. To make it even more confusing, it is difficult to see what each country was trying to gain by going to war. Each country had sophisticated, experienced foreign ministers. And yet, they took their countries into a disastrous war. Why?

There has been continuing exploration of that issue. Two of the best books on the subject are Barbara Tuchman’s “The Guns of August,” which is excellent in evaluating the principal actors and temper of the times, and Christopher Clark’s “The Sleepwalkers-How Europe Went to War in 1914,” whose title embodies the theme of the book. But the best book I have seen is Sean McMeekin’s “July 1914, Countdown to War,” our core book, which takes the reader on a fascinating account, day by day and sometimes hour by hour, through the critical period of just over one month, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to the opening shots of World War I. It shows clearly what each leader did, or didn’t do, to prevent and/or prepare for war. Based on original source material, it is a narrative of the leaders of each country who saw that a war was coming, but took little constructive action to prevent it and, in essence, led their countries to war to prevent their opponents from attacking first.

After dealing with background history, the assassination and the preliminary skirmishing between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia that followed the assassination, this SDG will take the approach of “July 1914”: We will read and discuss the leaders of each of the major countries (France, Germany, Russia, Britain, Austro-Hungarian Empire) and their actions, inactions and missed opportunities on a day-by-day basis. Was the war inevitable?  Why did so many Europeans think that war would be a good thing for Europe?  The goals here are to assess the attitudes of the aristocrats who ran foreign policy, the extent of the actual conflicts then existing among the countries, how each conceived the national interest of his country, how each dealt with potential allies and potential enemies, how they handled the approaching war and what could have been done differently. The idea is to look into the details, rather than accept summaries; to analyze, rather than accept traditional explanations. Finally, we will ask if the facts we explore hold any lessons for our own time.

In addition to the core book, portions of The Guns of August and The Sleepwalkers will be part of the assigned readings. Also, there is an incredible array of books and articles on every aspect the World War I, including the books specified in this proposal.

Joseph Conrad Shorter Stories

Bertrand Russell characterized Joseph Conrad’s writings as “the boring down into things to get to the very bottom below the apparent facts. ” Indeed, Joseph Conrad’s writings are generally acknowledged as some of the finest examples of English literature. Conrad is mostly known for his novels, such as Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness and Secret Agent. Less known, but equally reflect Conrad’s genius, are his shorter stories. 

Great short stories by the O. Henry prize winners, 2021-22

The O. Henry Prize is the oldest major prize for short fiction in America. These anthologies include the prize winners for the past two years, selected among outstanding writers of fiction around the globe, at all points in their careers. Many are translated from other languages. We will read 2 or 3 stories each week; the reading load will not be high, but the stories will be thoughtful, often provocative, funny, sad, frightening, explicit, unpredictable. They will make for great discussions.  

Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina is widely considered the greatest novel ever written.  Published in 1878, it remains as relevant and fresh.  The writer is the immortal Leo Tolstoy, who at a time of change in Russia, uses unforgettable characters to deal with themes of betrayal, faith, family, marriage, desire and rural vs. city life.  All of this is set amid the background of inimitable Imperial Russian society, the features of which are described, evaluated and part of the story..  Centering on an extramarital affair between Anna and a dashing cavalry officer Count Vronsky that scandalizes St. Petersburg and forces the young lovers who flee to Italy in search of happiness only to have their lives continue to unravel upon return to Russia.  Tolstoy develops complex characters using brilliant descriptions and complex plot twists.

On the Fringe of Europe in the Middle Ages: How Britain Became Britain

This SDG is the story of how Britain became Britain over the course of one thousand years, from approximately 500 A.D. to 1500 A.D.  With the withdrawal of the Romans in the 5th Century the British Isles consisted of a variety of small fiefdoms consisting of several ethnic groups, including the original Britons in the South, the Picts in the Northeast and the Celts in the West.  By 1500 the British Isles looked very much as they do today, with England in the South, Scotland in the North, and Ireland and Wales in the West.  Scotland and Wales would soon join England to form Great Britain.

The first part of the SDG will look at the effects of the Roman withdrawal; the arrival and influence of the Saxons; the formation of the early kingdoms; the beginnings and growth of the Christian Church; the invasions of the Vikings; the consolidation of Anglo-Saxon rule in the South; and then the decline of the Anglo-Saxon monarchies.

The second part of the SDG will begin with the Norman invasion and the effect of Norman control of much of England, Ireland and what is now western France.  We will look at the development of the monarchy, the events leading to the Magna Carta and the beginnings of the English parliament; the establishment and influence of the Church; the organization and structure of society; the economy; English claims to much of France; and the dynastic struggles that, among other things, led to the Wars of the Roses and the rise of the Tudors.