Part I. The context of U.S. foreign policy: theory and history. 1. The strategic context: foreign policy strategy and the essence of choice ; 2. The domestic context: foreign policy politics and the process of choice ; 3. The historical context: great debates in American foreign policy, 1789-1945 ; 4. The Cold War context: origins and first stages ; 5. The Cold War context: lessons and legacies -- Part II. American foreign policy in the twenty-first century: choices and challenges. 6. Foreign policy strategy and foreign policy politics in a new era ; 7. Post-Cold War geopolitics: major powers and regions ; 8. The Middle East: a special focus ; 9. Never again or yet again? Genocide and other mass atrocities ; 10. The globalization agenda ; 11. The coming of a democratic century?