American Foreign Relations: A New Diplomatic History

Week 13 Assignment

“Global War on Terror” (Chapter 15). In American Foreign Relations: A New Diplomatic History, by Walter L. Hixon, 424-461. New York: Routledge, 2016. [Required Book]

Q1: Carefully read the section “Costs and Consequences of the Iraq War” (pp. 437-441). Briefly discuss at least 3 “costs” or “consequences” that you find most significant.

“The Taliban, Explained.” Vox Atlas. Produced by Sam Ellis and Rajaa Elidrissi. Uploaded to YouTube, November 10, 2021. [Canvas]

Q2: What do you learn in the opening of the video? Here, we first hear from Sweeta Nori (a female Afghan teacher and activist), Nagieb Khaja (a male Afghan journalist), and the video narrator. (00:01-01:30)?

Q3: Why did Soviet military forces enter Afghanistan in 1979? Who/what groups resisted Soviet forces? What was the outcome after 10 years? (01:30-04:00)

Q4: What do we learn about the origins of the Taliban? For example, where was the Taliban founded, and why? What do they emphasize? What were their sources of funding and recruitment? What did they do upon taking control of a city or region? (04:00-08:00)

Q5: Why did the United States invade Afghanistan? What did the United States and its allies attempt to do in Afghanistan? What accounts for our failure to achieve our objectives? (08:00-11:28)

Q6: What has happened since 2009? What accounts for the resurgence of the Taliban? Is there anything the United States and the international community can do now to influence conditions in Afghanistan? (11:28-13:55)

White, Brian. “Diplomacy.” In The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations, Third Edition, edited by John Baylis and Steve Smith, 387-403. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. [Canvas]

Q7: What are the essential elements of “traditional diplomacy”? What was new about the “new diplomacy”?

Q8: What was distinctive about “cold war diplomacy”? What is “development diplomacy”?

Q9: What factors contribute to the successful use of diplomacy?

Q10: What are the characteristics of multilateral diplomacy in a global system of world politics in terms of actors, processes, and issues?

Q11: To what extent do states and the state system remain the main vehicles for diplomatic activity in a globalized world?