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Mead 2003

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Mead 2003

U.S. Foreign Policy and the American Political Tradition: Conversation with Walter Russell Mead, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; February 25, 2003, by Harry Kreisler

This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

Welcome to a Conversation with History. I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest today is Walter Russell Mead, who is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. book coverHe is a leading interpreter of the history of U.S. foreign policy and America's role in the world. He is winner of the Lionel Gelber Prize for his book Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How it Changed the World.

  1. Background ... influence of father ... impact of civil rights movement ... education ... teachers ... undergraduate at Yale ... love of literature and art... finding an interest in foreign policy
  2. American Foreign Policy Tradition ... importance of history ... hidden history of U.S. foreign policy ... myths surrounding U.S. foreign policy ... dependence on foreign capital in the 19th century
  3. Four Themes in U.S. Foreign Policy ... common threads in historical debates ... Hamiltonian ... Jeffersonian ... Wilsonian ... Jacksonian ... developing the theory in the 1990s ... case study: the 1848 revolutions
  4. Foreign Policy in Democracies ... messy process ... balance of the four themes ... comparative implications ... gravitational pull of the center ... the Bush administration today
  5. Leadership and Public Dialogue ... winning support of the people ... renewed importance of leadership ... need for public dialogue on empire and hegemony ... foreign public opinion ... strengths and weaknesses of the four schools
  6. Advice to Students ... study history ... study the real world ... publications to read ... career opportunities ... cultural norms do change

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