Goals Ideology & Foreign Policy
At this point in the course, you have learned to identify the basic components of a foreign policy article, how to best read the article, and how to apply the lessons learned from the article to the formation of your own foreign policy expertise. In the course of this process, you are also learning how to write such foreign policy articles yourself, and will demonstrate your expertise in your own research paper.Another element in analyzing a foreign policy article such as this one is to look at the bio data of the author, as this will help you better understand his/her intentions, level of expertise, and ideological orientation. In this course, for example, we have learned about the difference between a subject matter expert and a policy maker, the difference between detailed analysis and the presentation of the big picture.You have been able to identify this piece as a big picture piece, as it addresses the international system as a whole, rather than a specific country, geographic region, or problem. This is what underlies the questions that you will be answering.1) The author of this piece is Bayless Manning. Unlike some of the authors we have read this semester, he is not famous and a household name.Here are the bio data of Bayless Manning:Bayless Andrew Manning (March 29, 1923 September 18, 2011) was an American lawyer, law professor, writer and expert of corporate law.[1] He served as the dean of Stanford Law School from 1964 to 1971.[2] He left Stanford in 1971 and became the first president of the Council on Foreign Relations.[1][3]Manning worked as the editor of the Yale Law Journal as a law student before graduating from Yale Law School as valedictorian of the class of 1949.[1] He then clerked for Justice Stanley Forman Reed, an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.[2]Manning taught as a professor at Yale University from 1955 to 1964.[1] He simultaneously served as a member of the President’s Advisory Panel on Ethics and Conflicts of Interest in Government beginning in 1960.[1] Manning became the dean of Stanford Law School from 1964 to 1971.[1] In 1971, Cyrus R. Vance and David Rockefeller soon appointed Manning as the first president of the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR).[1][3] Following the end of his tenure at CFR, Manning joined Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a law firm based in New York City.[1]In 2001, Manning was awarded the Certificate of Meritorious Achievement from the United States Office of Government Ethics for the Executive Branch.[1]Manning moved to Boise, Idaho, in the late 1980s.[1] He died at his home in Boise on September 18, 2011, at the age of 88.[2] He was survived by his wife, Alexandra Zekovic, five children, and six grandchildren.[2]Now that you know something about the author, how does this information help you better understand his article?2) As you would expect, this big picture piece concludes with a list of specific foreign policy recommendations. These recommendations are aimed at the highest level of policymaking, most particularly the Chief Executive of the United States, the President. Donald Trump is the current President of the United States.To what extent do you believe that Donald Trump has followed Mannings recommendations? Why? Why not?3) US China policy has become a central concern of American foreign policy and a dominant issue in the current American presidential election. Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both asserted their own positions regarding China.How much does the maelstrom surrounding US China policy reflect the views of Manning as expressed in his essay? Would Manning look more favorably on the Biden or the Trump approach? Why?4) Manning wrote this piece in 1976, an eternity ago in foreign affairs. Much has changed in the international system since that time. In his piece, Manning makes a number of predictions regarding the shape of the 21st Century international system.How accurate were those predictions? Why?5) Manning makes a central assertion regarding what he believes should be the centerpiece of American foreign policy, and uses this to make an assertive prediction regarding the future.Did Mannings assertion regarding the nature of the US, the role the US should play in the world system, and how the US will serve as a future example for the rest of the world pan out as he predicted? Why? Why not?
