This textbook provides a valuable introduction to the construction and application of US foreign policy in the modern era, encouraging readers to think about how ideas, institutions and goals have been at work in the foreign policy of recent presidential administrations.

Paying close attention to its domestic roots, this textbook provides a valuable introduction to the construction and application of US foreign policy in the modern era. Accessibly written and including helpful illustrative material, a glossary and guide to further reading, the book is organised around four broad themes:

• the ideologies of US foreign policy
• the institutions of US foreign policy making
• the actors who influence and shape the content of US foreign policy
• the policy goals and ideas which motivate US foreign policy.

Drawing from analyses of the broader history of US foreign policy throughout the post-World War II period, the book encourages readers to think about how these ideas, institutions and goals have been at work in the foreign policy of recent presidential administrations, including those of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.