Books on US foreign policy that I recommend. Suggestions for further reading welcomed.
Bigger Picture/ The Historical Setting:
Diplomacy, Henry Kissinger
Henry_Kissinger_and_the_American_Century, Jeremy Suri
The_Imperial_Presidency, Arthur Schlesinger Jr
Journals,_1952-2000, Arthur Schlesinger Jr
The_Cycles_of_American_History, Arthur Schlesinger Jr
The_Best_and_the_Brightest, David Halberstam
The_Fifties, David Halberstam
The_True_Believer, Eric Hoffer
The_Third_World_Security_Predicament, Mohamed Ayoob
The_48_Laws_of_Power, Robert Greene
The_Limits_of_Power:_The_End_of_American_Exceptionalism, Andrew Bacevich
Colossus:_The_Rise_and_Fall_of_the_American_Empire, Niall Ferguson
Game_of_Nations:_The_Ammorality_of_Power_Politics, Miles Copeland
From_the_Shadows, Robert Gates
Eisenhower:_Soldier_and_President, Stephen Ambrose
Nixon_and_Kissinger:_Partners_in_Power, Robert Dallek
An_Unfinished_Life:_John_F._Kennedy,_1917-1963, Robert Dallek
Secrecy_and_Power:_The_Life_of_J._Edgar_Hoover, Richard Powers
A_Bright_Shining_Lie:_John_Paul_Vann_and_America_and_Vietnam, Neil Sheehan
The_Uncertain_Trumpet, Maxwell Taylor
Recent Foreign Policy:
The_Looming_Tower:_Al-Qaeda_and_the_Road_to_9/11, Lawrence Wright
Imperial_Hubris:_Why_the_West_is_Losing_the_War_on_Terror, Michael Scheuer
War_In_A_Time_of_Peace:_Bush,_Clinton,_and_the_Generals, David Halberstam
Accidental_Guerilla: Fighting_Small_Wars_in_the_Midst_of_a_Big_One, David Kilcullen
The_Gamble_General_David_Petraeus_and_the_American_Military_Adventure_in_Iraq,_2006-2008, Tom Ricks
Confronting_Iran:_The_Failure_of_American_Foreign_Policy_and_the_Next_Great_Crisis_in_the_Middle_East, Ali Ansari
If this is specifically for “Foreign Policy” rather than theoretical sources of international relations, I apologize for the off-topic reply.
I would suggest, as perhaps two of the most thorough and seminal accounts:
Theory of International Politics – Kenneth Waltz
Social Theory of International Politics – Alexander Wendt
(also Man, the State, and War – Kenneth Waltz)
They provide an amazing but dense picture of the last several centuries of theoretical debates on human, state, and structural causality; the nature of social versus structural truths, the nature of materialism and idealism, and the nature of behavior and structure. In my opinion, life-changing views of international politics (from different but related theoretical schools.)