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Course Description

Summary

This summer and into the fall President Silver served on a CFR Task Force on the future of U.S. relations with India. The group is comprised of people with academic, business, and policy making expertise and is tasked with making a set of policy recommendations regarding United States Government relations with India. This course will explore the components of a U.S. foreign policy approach to India. We will explore, through the lens of drafting a U.S. think tank report, both the processes and criteria for the generation of recommendations for U.S. foreign policy. Who gets a seat at the policy table and why? What gets included in a foreign policy agenda? How are areas of engagement prioritized? How are goals set? Think tanks play an important role in the formation and analysis of U.S. foreign policy. Many employ leaders of past and future United States administrations (e.g. former ambassadors and officials from the White House and U.S. Department of State) and they help to set the agenda for policy in a range of areas. The course will mimic parts of the CFR process. Students are not expected yet to be "experts" on India or any of the components of U.S. foreign policy and U.S. India relations. In fact, no prior knowledge of India is required. Students will research and make the case for the inclusion of and approach to particular issue areas in the report. We will compare our results with the actual CFR report findings and discuss and explore the reasons behind any differences and similarities in emphasis and content.