World affairs are constantly in flux, so students need to be prepared not just to know what’s happening in the headlines but how to make sense of those events. Hastedt’s American Foreign Policy helps students develop the critical thinking skills needed to participate in debates about foreign relations—today and throughout their lives. Rather than focus on normative questions about what direction the country should take on the world stage, this text is designed to provide the historical and institutional context for the foreign policy process, from the governmental and civil society actors involved to the issues that comprise the conduct and content of American foreign policy.

This thirteenth edition comes at a time when Biden’s presidency is facing some of the most important foreign policy questions in a generation, from the US withdrawal from Afghanistan to what we should do about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These issues have emerged as many of the traditional foundations in American foreign policy have been disrupted during the Trump administration, pleasing some and angering others but almost uniformly raising political tensions at home and abroad. The revision includes up-to-date coverage of the war in Ukraine, the US exit from Afghanistan, health diplomacy and the response to COVID, the resurgence of great power politics, and other features of the Biden administration’s foreign policy.

This fully revised thirteenth edition features:

• Updated coverage on the Biden presidency, including the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, health diplomacy, and the resurgence of great-power politics

• NEW! Learning Objectives to frame the expected student outcomes for each chapter

• Updated On the Agenda (formerly “Dateline”) features that open each chapter to set the stage and tie a current policy issue to the chapter content

• Expanded Critical Thinking Questions at the end of each chapter to engage students in higher-order thinking beyond rote memorization

• An expanded art program, including additional tables to engage diverse learning styles