American Foreign Policy

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-- Updating a 1987 book of the same title, this edition is an examination of some of the differing, often opposite opinions about various foreign policy issues that the United States is currently facing. The introduction describes how the historical conflict between isolation and interventionism, largely submerged during the Cold War, has again surfaced. The book then looks at several broad questions of policy, devoting sections to goals, relations with allies, intervention in regional conflicts, the merits of foreign aid, and our changing relationship with the countries of the former USSR. The opinions are written by prominent politicians and foreign-policy scholars, and each is illustrated with an editorial cartoon or a chart. Periodical bibliographies appear at the end of each section, and there is an extensive book bibliography. Activities to promote critical-thinking skills also follow each section. Although most of the topics are current, there is nothing about the troubles in the former Yugoslavia. A resource that will be in demand for debaters and report writers. --Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO