The Asia-Pacific is undergoing substantial geopolitical change.  Accustomed to playing a dominant strategic role in the region during much of the post-war era, the United States is increasingly compelled to search for new and different regional strategies from those it has traditional projected as a 'regional hegemon'.  This course will initially review what approaches and policies have underscored US security doctrinal thinking in an Asia-Pacific context.  It will then assess major factors now affecting US power relativities and how such factors are re-constituting the strategic role in the region.  It will then apply these investigations to selected case studies of US policy interests and behaviour in the contemporary Asian security environment.

Students who successfully complete this course should have:

1. A comprehensive knowledge of the evolution of America’s foreign relations and security polices;
2. A greater understanding of the key drivers of American security policy behaviour in the Asia-Pacific, including the extent and limits of American influence;
3. Deeper insights into regional foreign policy and security challenges from contending American perspectives, including an awareness of the complexities and vagaries of the United States' foreign policy formulation process;
4. A developed capacity to present strong arguments in their written and oral work and to link relevant concepts and theories to actual practice skills (as developed through written assessments, in-class discussions and tutorial-based activities).

1. Tutorial participation     10%                
2. Short Essay                        20%                     
3. Research Essay                 40%
4. Final Examination           30%

35 contact hours per semester

A 2-hour lecture session per week for 12 weeks and a 1-hour tutorial per week for 11 weeks of the  semester 

No prerequisites are required.

A basic interest/knowledge in political science and/or international relations.

Sutter, Robert G. (ed), The United States in Asia (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009).

Wattle

Power-point and recording enabled lecture theatre