American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century, Second Edition [Paperback]

Bruce W. Jentleson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2003 | ISBN-10: 0393979342 | ISBN-13: 978-0393979343 | Edition: 2

Weaving together theory, history and contemporary debates, this text covers post Cold War geopolitics, globalization, ethnic conflict, democratization and the war on terrorism.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bruce W. Jentleson is director of the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy and professor of public policy and political science at Duke University. He is an award-winning teacher of American foreign policy and international relations. His publications include seven books and numerous articles. He has served on the State Department's policy planning staff, as a foreign policy aide in the U.S. Congress, and as a foreign policy adviser to former vice president Al Gore.

Product Details

• Paperback: 693 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc (Np); 2 edition (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393979342
• ISBN-13: 978-0393979343
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,724,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good new book on US foreign policy !, January 15, 2009

By 

Dr. Metal "e23adams" - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century (Third Edition) (Paperback)

Being a professor in I.R. with classes on US foreign policy I am always on the lookout for any new books on this subjects. I came accross this book last year and have been using it ever since for my classes on the subject.
This new book is very good in outlining the major goals that US foreign policy has followed. The author uses an interesting approach that he called the 4 P's, which stand for Power, Peace, Prosperity & Principle. Accoding to him all of US foreing policy can be analysed using these 4 guidelines. However, the 4 P's are usually never simultaneouly achievable in a single foreign policy decision, and hence, some usually have to be sacrificed or traded off for others. This means that foreign policy usually has to be prioritized, since it is highly unlikely that even a superpower like the USA can usually realize all of the 4 P's in a single decision. Hence, the subtitle of the book is called the Dynamics of Choice... Principle, by the way, stands for morals or morality in foreign policy. This method is clearly a good one, for it gives the students a new solid perspective when it comes to analyzing any of the foreign policy decisions that the USA has taken in the past. The book also provides a lot of examples that are both very relevant and vivid when explaining many things to the students and readers.
It is up to date, and includes new material and debates, so that, if willing, both the students and the professors can engage in debates.
The only negative thing that I found to be really surprising was the fact that this new 3rd edition is actually a lot shorter than my 2nd edition. Why the publishing company did this, is anybodys guess. For my part I'm just glad that I bought the 2nd edition and not the shorter 3rd new edition. If you have the chance I'd urge you to buy the longer 2nd edition.
Along with "American Foreign Policy" by Eugene Wittkopf and Charles Kegley this is the best book that I've found on US foreign policy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic jentleson informs and delights with his writing style, September 28, 2009

By 

Andrew T. Haskell "student" (new york, ny) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

i enjoyed the fact that we can learn foreign policy fundamentals from an expert whose writing style flows like a novelist, instead of the dry old textbook form assigned to so many courses. his son adam id also in possesion of a progressive yet historiacally rooted mind :). great book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Like new!, December 23, 2011

By 

Susan Chon - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century (Fourth Edition) (Paperback)

I was amazed at how great the condition of this book was. It practically looked brand new when I took it out of the box. The pages weren't even marked, which I was happy about. Delivery was earlier than the actual expected arrival date, so I was happy about that. Thanks! :)