American Identity and World Politics
On November 22, join us for a lecture by historian Ivan Kurila to learn and discuss how Americans imagined themselves throughout history, how the rest of the world imagined them, and how that imagination influenced world politics. The event will take place at Common Ground bookstore (Baghramyan 6) at 7pm.
The United States of America is the leading power of our time, and relations with it form a critical part of the foreign policy of any modern country, be they an ally, a rival of the United States, or a country determining its place in a rapidly changing world.
That is why understanding the factors that determine American foreign policy is important. Scholars and politicians usually talk about “ideals” and “interests,” but a simple binary framework cannot explain why in one case ideals triumph in foreign policy, and in others interests. The constructivist approach shows how great the inertia of the foreign policy discourse is, which forces American policy-makers to justify any decision by linking it to America’s historical mission in the world.
