Teaching Ideas for Chapter 20:
Foreign and Defense Policymaking
Reconciling covert activities with the principles of open democratic government remains a challenge for public officials. Does your class perceive any conflict between "democracy" and the need for "national security"? What types of limitations would your students place on covert activities? What type of distinction do they draw between activities of democracies and activities of nations like the former Soviet Union when it comes to national security?
The feature You Are the Policymaker: Defending Human Rights challenges students to decide what they would have done after the Chinese army violently crushed the democracy movement by killing hundreds of protesters in Tiananmen Square; this was the beginning of a wave of executions, arrests, and repression. Ask your students to play the role of U.S. president. Their assignment is to decide if the United States should have continued normal relations with China, or if it should have taken some action against China. As a basis for class discussion, have your students read A Question of Ethics and review news reports from May and June of 1989.
Public opinion polls find that Americans today are more likely to perceive threats to their security in economic competition from allies than from military rivalry with potential adversaries. As a library project, challenge your students to contrast the positions of the United States and Japan with regard to both defense expenditures and protective economic policies. Divide the class into several research groups for this project, and have them allocate some division of responsibility among themselves.
Americans are usually more interested in domestic policy than foreign policy. Ask your class to evaluate the consequences of this factor. For example, does this give public officials more discretion in making foreign policy than in making domestic policy?