李期铿、梅仁毅、刘友道主编的《冷战时期的美国外交》分六个阶段，介绍了冷战时期的美国外交。各阶段包括：国内外背景资料、本阶段外交综述、本阶段主要议题和事件、本阶段主要原始材料解读、有关本阶段的重要文章解读等内容。

本书可作为学者和学生学术研究的重要参考资料，也可用于英语专业研究生和本科高年级相关课程教材。

李期铿、梅仁毅、刘友道主编的《冷战时期的美国外交》按照时间顺序把冷战时期的美国外交分为六个阶段，每个阶段用关键词总结其特点。各章节包括：国内外背景资料、本阶段外交综述、本阶段主要议题和事件、本阶段主要原始材料解读、有关本阶段的重要文章解读等。

《冷战时期的美国外交》的特色是编写与著述结合、中文和英文结合。本书编者所选资料是冷战时期美国外交的经典文献，资料的内容不会因为时间的推移而失去参考价值；编者选择的每篇文献几乎都有删节。《冷战时期的美国外交》以英语原始文件、文章为主，编者的臣的之一是培养读者的独立思辨能力。《冷战时期的美国外交》可作为学者和学生学术研究的重要参考资料，也可用于英语专业研究生和本科高年级相关课程教材。

Chapter I The Shaping of the Cold War: U.S. Foreign Policy during the Truman Administration

 1.1 Background Introduction

 1.2 A Narration of Overall Foreign Policy

 1.3 Major Issues and Events

1.3.1 Succession of Harry S. Truman as the 33rd American President (1945)

1.3.2 Potsdam Conference (1945)

1.3.3 The Explosion of Atomic Bombs in Japan (1945)

1.3.4 The Founding of the United Nations (1945)

1.3.5 Churchill's "Iron Curtain" Speech (1946)

1.3.6 Truman Doctrine (March 12, 1947)

1.3.7 Marshall Speech (June 5, 1947)

1.3.8 National Security Act of 1947 (1947)

1.3.9 Korean War (1950)

1.3.10 Berlin Blockade (1948-1949)

1.3.11 NATO (1949)

 1.4 Major Primary Sources: Documents

1.4.1 Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech (March 5, 1946)

1.4.2 Statement by the President (August 6, 1945)

1.4.3 Truman's Address to a Joint Session of Congress (March 12, 1947)

1.4.4 The Source of Soviet Conduct (July, 1947)

1.4.5 Address Given by George Marshall at Harvard University (June 5, 1947)

1.4.6 NSC-68: United States Objectives and Programs for National Security (April 14, 1950)

 1.5 Important Essays

1.5.1 Marshall Plan Commemorative Section: The Marshall Plan Reconsidered:A Complex of Motives

1.5.2 Containment: 40 Years Later: Containment Then and Now

1.5.3 The Tragedy of Cold War History

1.5.4 Origins of the Cold War: New Evidence

Chapter II New Look: U.S. Foreign Policy during the Eisenhower Administration

 2.1 Background Introduction

 2.2 A Narration of Overall Foreign Policy

 2.3 Major Issues and Events

2.3.1 Ending Korean War (1953)

2.3.2 The First Taiwan Strait Crisis (1954-1955)

2.3.3 Forming of SEATO (1954)

2.3.4 Warsaw Pact (1955)

2.3.5 Geneva Summit (1955)

2.3.6 Suez Crisis (1956)

2.3.7 Eisenhower Doctrine (1957)

2.3.8 The Launch of Sputnik I (1957)

2.3.9 Lebanon Crisis (1958)

2.3.10 Cuban Revolution (1959)

2.3.11 U-2 Crisis (1960)

 2.4 Major Primary Sources: Documents

2.4.1 Eisenhower's Inaugural Address (January 20, 1953)

2.4.2 NSC-162/2 (October 30, 1953)

2.4.3 Domino Theory Principle (April 7, 1954)

2.4.4 President Eisenhower's "Open Skies" Proposal (July 21, 1955)

2.4.5 Special Message to Congress on the Situation in the Middle East (January 5, 1957)

2.4.6 State Department Statement and Press Release on U-2 Incident (May, 1960)

2.4.7 Eisenhower's Farewell Address (January 17, 1961)

 2.5 Important Essays

2.5.1 Eisenhower and Castro - US-Cuban Relations during 1958-1960)

2.5.2 Form before Substance: Eisenhower's Commitment to Psychological Warfare and Negotiations with the Enemy

2.5.3 Securing the Middle East: The Eisenhower Doctrine of 1957

2.5.4 The Beauty ofEisenhower's Nuclear Strategy

Chapter III New Adventures: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Age of Kennedy and Johnson

 3.1 Background Introduction

 3.2 A Narration of Overall Foreign Policy

 3.3 Major Issues and Events

3.3.1 John E Kennedy Became President (1961)

3.3.2 Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)

3.3.3 Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

3.3.4 Hot Line between the United State and the Soviet Union (1963)

3.3.5 Berlin Crisis of 1961 (1961)

3.3.6 Test Ban Treaty (1963)

3.3.7 Assassination of President Kennedy (1963)

3.3.8 Tonkin Gulf Incident (1964)

3.3.9 Operation Rolling Thunder (1965)

3.3.10 Tet Offensive (1968)

3.3.11 Johnson Announces Decision Not to Seek Re-election (1968)

 3.4 Major Primary Sources: Documents

3.4.1 Kennedy's Inaugural Address (January 20, 1961)

3.4.2 Kennedy's Address on an Alliance for Prog(ess (March 13, 1961)

3.4.3 Kennedy's Address at Independence Hall (July 4, 1962)

3.4.4 Report on the Soviet Arms Buildup in Cuba (October 22, 1962)

3.4.5 The Tonkin Gulf Resolution (August 7, 1964)

3.4.6 Report on the Situation in the Dominican Republic (May 2, 1965)

3.4.7 Johnson's Address to the Nation Announcing Steps to Limit the War in Vietnam and Reporting His Decision Not to Seek Reelection (March 31, 1968)

 3.5 Important Essays

3.5.1 Building Nations under Kennedy

3.5.2 JFK's Strategy of Peace

3.5.3 Nuclear Weapons in Kennedy's Foreign Policy

3.5.4 Robert McNamara's Memoir of U.S. Involvement in Vietnam

Chapter IV Reassessment and Detente: U.S. Foreign Policy during the Nixon and Ford Years

 4.1 Background Introduction

 4.2 A Narration of Overall Foreign Policy

 4.3 Major Issues and Events

4.3.1 Nixon Doctrine (1969)

4.3.2 Vietnam War (1959-1975)

4.3.3 Vietnamization (1969-1973)

4.3.4 Cambodian Incursion (1970)

4.3.5 Yom Kippur War (Arab-Israel War) (1973)

4.3.6 Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I & SALT II) (1967-1972)

4.3.7 Ping Pong Diplomacy (1971)

4.3.8 Nixon's Visit to China (1972)

4.3.9 Shanghai Communique (1972)

4.3.10 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1969-1970)

4.3.11 The Four Power Agreement on Berlin (1971)

 4.4 Major Primary Sources: Documents

4.4.1 U.S. Foreign Policy for the 1970s: Shaping a Durable Peace (May 3, 1973)

4.4.2 Detente with the Soviet Union: The Reality of Competition and the Imperative of Cooperation (October 14, 1974)

4.4.3 Kissinger Transcripts and Related Materials (1973-1977)

4.4.4 Joint US-China Communique (February 27, 1972)

4.4.5 Vietnamization (November 3, 1969)

 4.5 Important Essays

4.5.1 The Nixon Doctrine of Bargains

4.5.2 All the President's Acumen: The Paradox of Nixon's Foreign Policy

4.5.3 Policy and Principle: Reconsidering the Realism of Nixon's Foreign Policy

4.5.4 Review of Kimball, Jeffrey P., Nixon's Vietnam War

Chapter V Idealism Revived and Reviled: U.S. Foreign Policy during the Carter Administration

 5.1 Background Introduction

 5.2 A Narration of Overall Foreign Policy

 5.3 Major Issues and Events

5.3.1 World Order Politics and SALT II (1977-1980)

5.3.2 Human Rights and Multilateralism (1977-1980)

5.3.3 Policy Adjustments toward Third World Countries (1977-1980)

5.3.4 Resuming Diplomatic Relations with China (1979)

5.3.5 Panama Canal Treaties (1977)

5.3.6 The Iranian Hostage Humiliation and Carter Doctrine (1979)

 5.4 Major Primary Sources: Documents

5.4.1 Jimmy Carter's Inaugural Speech (January 20, 1977)

5.4.2 Human Rights and Foreign Policy (May 22, 1977)

5.4.3 President Carter's Remarks on Joint Statement at Camp David Summit(September 17, 1978)

5.4.4 Speech on Afghanistan (January 4, 1980)

5.4.5 Nobel Prize Speech (December 10, 2002)

 5.5 Important Essays

5.5.1 The Past: A Critical Appraisal

5.5.2 Jimmy Carter and the Foreign Policy of Human Rights: The Development of a Post-Cold War Foreign Policy

5.5.3 Continuity and Change in the Foreign Policy Beliefs of Political Leaders: Addressing the Controversy over the Carter Administration

Chapter VI American Resurgence and Jubilance: U.S. Foreign Policy during the Reagan Administration

 6.1 Background Introduction

 6.2 A Narration of Overall Foreign Policy

 6.3 Major Issues and Events

6.3.1 Release of American Embassy Hostages in Iran (1981)

6.3.2 National Security Decision Directive No.32 (1982)

6.3.3 Star Wars Program (1983)

6.3.4 Terrorists' Attack on American Troops in Lebanon (1983)

6.3.5 U.S. Invasion of Grenada (1983)

6.3.6 Nonmilitary Aid for Nicaraguan Contra Rebel Forces (1985)

6.3.7 Soviet-American Summits in Geneva (1985), Iceland (1986), Washington, D.C. (1987) and Moscow (1988)

6.3.8 Retaliatory Air Strike on Libya (1986)

 6.4 Major Primary Sources: Documents

6.4.1 National Security Decision Directive No.32 (May 20, 1982)

6.4.2 Address to the Nation on Defense and National Security (March 23, 1983)

6.4.3 Message to the Congress on Freedom, Regional Security, and Global Peace(March 14, 1986)

6.4.4 Reagan's Remarks on East-West Relations: At the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin(June 12, 1987)

 6.5 Important Essays

6.5.1 Dictatorships & Double Standards

6.5.2 States Angola Sellout - Has Anyone Seen the Reagan Doctrine?

6.5.3 SDI: Making America Secure

6.5.4 Friend or Foe: Why Ronald Reagan Was Not Responsible For Ending the Cold War