17Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy

• Programs and policies that determine America’s relations with other nations and foreign entities

• The nation’s chief foreign-policy actors are– The president– The Congress– The bureaucracy

• Foreign policy is often thought of as non-partisan

Foreign Policy Goals: Promoting Security• Promoting security is the most important goal of American foreign policy

• Ensuring that food supplies, infrastructure, energy supplies, and the physical security of the population are protected from foreign threats

State and Non-State Actors• Nation-states – Political entities consisting of a people with some common cultural experience (nation) who also share a common political authority (state), recognized by other sovereignties

• Non-state actors – A group other than a nation-state that attempts to play a role in the international system

• Terrorist groups are non-state actors

Isolationism

• The desire to avoid involvement in the affairs of other nations

• The Monroe Doctrine established the Western Hemisphere as a region under the sphere of influence of the United States – an early departure from isolationism

Deterrence and Appeasement• Deterrence – The development of a nation’s military capacity in order to discourage attack

• Appeasement – The idea of giving in to the demands of a hostile power in order to maintain short-term stability

Preemption

• Foreign policy principle that permits a first strike attack in order to prevent an enemy attack

• The Bush Doctrine, formulated after 9/11, argued that the United States had the right to preemptively attack other nations if it was believed they posed an imminent threat

The Cold War

• Ideological struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1940s to 1991

• Unlike “hot wars,” the United States and the Soviet Union never directly engaged each other in military conflict– Berlin– Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)– Vietnam– Latin America

The End of the Cold War

• The Truman Doctrine announced that the major goal of American foreign policy would be to contain the spread of communism

• The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union marked the end of the Cold War and a victory for the policy of containment

Foreign Policy Goals: Economic Prosperity• A second foreign policy goal, after security, is promoting economic prosperity

• Trade Policy – Most-Favored-Nation status / normal trade relations offers reduced tariffs

• North American Free Trade Agreement as an example – 1994 agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada

International Trade Organizations• World Trade Organization (WTO) – An international group promoting free trade that grew out of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) – An international trade organization, in existence from 1947 to 1995, that set many of the rules governing international trade

Foreign Policy Goals: Humanitarian Concerns

• A third goal of foreign policy is humanitarian concerns

• Environmental, human rights, and peace-keeping efforts aimed at improving the lives of individuals in other nations

• Humanitarian concerns frequently take a backseat to American security and economic interests

Clicker Question

Which of the following goals do you believe best describes overall American foreign policy objectives?

A.Humanitarian concernsB.Economic concernsC.Security concernsD.Other

US International Trade in Goods and Services

Who Makes American Foreign Policy? The President• The President of the United States is head of state and commander in chief

• This allows the president to exercise substantial control over American diplomatic and military institutions

• Presidential authority over foreign policy has grown substantially in the post–World War II era

Who Makes American Foreign Policy? The Bureaucracy• Numerous bureaucratic agencies exist to implement American foreign policy– State Department– Department of Defense– Central Intelligence Agency– Joint Chiefs of Staff

• These agencies do not always agree or have the same interests

Principal Foreign Policy Provisions of the Constitution

Who Makes American Foreign Policy? The Congress• Constitutional power to declare war

• Senate (only) ratifies treaties and confirms presidential appointments

• Power of the purse• Power to regulate commerce with foreign nations

• Investigation and oversight

Who Makes American Foreign Policy? Interest Groups• Economic interest groups – Single-issue groups (like the tobacco industry) are most effective

• Ethnic lobbying – Israel Lobby and Irish Lobby as examples

• Human rights– Amnesty International– Christian Coalition

Clicker Question

Which one of the following branches of the US government is explicitly given the power to declare war by the Constitution?

A.The PresidentB.The CongressC.The Department of DefenseD.The Department of State

Crisis and Foreign Policy• Times of crisis tend to concentrate foreign-policy power in the hands of the president

• In general, presidents wield far more power over foreign policy than domestic policy

The Instruments of Modern American Foreign Policy• Diplomacy is a policy tool that attempts to resolve international conflicts through direct discussion and negotiation

• The Department of State is the national government’s chief diplomatic arm

• The Foreign Service Act (1946) created a fully professional diplomatic corps

The United Nations

• Founded in 1945, the UN is a multilateral body created to solve international disputes before they lead to armed conflict

• The five permanent members of the UN Security Council (United States, Russia, France, China, and the UK) exercise the greatest degree of influence

Clicker Question

Which of the following nations is NOT a member of the UN Security Council?

A.IndiaB.United StatesC.FranceD.China

The International Monetary Structure

• The World Bank is a primary funder for long-term capital projects in developing nations

• The International Monetary Fund is a primary source of stabilization funds during crises

Economic Aid and Sanctions• The vast majority of American economic aid is used to further American security or economic interests

• Israel and Egypt are the largest recipients of aid as a lasting effect of the Camp David Peace Treaty

• Sanctions are the economic “stick” of foreign policy

Collective Security

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a multilateral military organization comprised of the United States, Canada, and most of Western Europe

• Though initially created to counter the Soviet Union, since the 1990s NATO has played a central role in a number of regional conflicts around the world

Military Force

• Because of its tremendous cost, military force is seen as a tool of last resort

• Because of the amount of variables involved, military action is seen as inherently risky

Shares of World Military Expenditures – 2010

Arbitration

• An alternative form of dispute resolution relying upon an independent third body to adjudicate between competing claims

• The International Court of Justice plays an important role here

Thinking Critically About Foreign Policy• Realism is a school of foreign policy thought that places national security and economic interests above all other concerns

• Idealism is a school of foreign policy thought that emphasizes the promotion of a nation’s values and ideals