This module examines the making of US foreign policy in the post-Cold War period, from the end of the Cold War to the present. It examines the grand historical narratives of American international relations and considers in depth the drivers behind the foreign policies pursued by Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. It considers whether the post-1989 period has constituted a break from previous traditions in US foreign policy or whether there has been an essential continuity through the war on terror and beyond. It does this through an examination of the impact of economics, geopolitics, ideology and security issues on post-1989 strategy in different regions of the world, as well as the impact of a new international environment marked by the demise of bipolarity and the rise of globalisation.
