Chapter 16:Foreign Policy and Democracy

Foreign Policy and the American Founding

Foreign policy always important to American politics.

Foreign policy - Washington encouraged the United States to remain independent in pursuit of its interests in the world.

“Manifest Destiny” - foreign policy (war and diplomacy) with Native Americans, Canada, and Mexico in its quest to dominate North America.

The early 20th Century posed challenges to American isolationism.

● Monroe Doctrine stated the United

States’ special interest in the

international politics of the Western

Hemisphere.

Increased international commerce

enmeshed America in world affairs.

America’s increased economic

strength also fed an increased

military strength.

The Emergence of a World Power

After World War II and with the beginning of the Cold War –

United States became a world power.

Foreign Service Act of 1946

Creating a full-fledged diplomatic corps, the United States engaged the world:

Entered the United Nations.

Helped create the World Bankand the IMF.

Collective security agreements like NATO.

International Institutions

Economic

– World Bank

Long term loans to

needy countries

– International

Monetary Fund

Short term money to

overcome temporary

trade deficits

Diplomatic

– United Nations

Global Interdependence

Trade Agreements

– General Agreement on

Tariffs and Trade

(GATT)

– North American Free

Trade Agreement

(NAFTA)

– World Trade

Organization (WTO)

Collective Security

– Organization of

American States

(OAS)

First for U.S.

– North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO)

– SEATO

– ANZUS

Who Makes and Shapes Foreign Policy?

Three principle governmental actors or

institutions that make foreign policy:

– President

– Bureaucracy

– Congress

President of the United States

When first elected,

Presidents are more

domestic politicians

As Commander in Chief -

unusual amount of influence

in foreign policy making,

even compared to his

influence in the domestic

realm.

Executive Departments

Several executive departments and agencies advise the president and Congress on creating and implementing foreign policy:

– the Department of State

– the Department of Defense

– the Joint Chiefs of Staff

– the Central Intelligence Agency

– the National Security Council

– the Department of Homeland Security

Intelligence Agencies

Central Intelligence

Agency (CIA)

– 1947 – supervise,

coordinate final

integrator of all

intelligence

National Security

Agency (NSA)

– Breaks codes, electronic

eavesdropping.

National

Reconnaissance Office

– Satellites

Defense Intelligence

Agency

– Military intelligence

FBI

INS

Congress - power to declare

war, role in making policy and

funding programs, and the

Senate’s role in ratifying

treaties

Congress also makes foreign

policy, often competing with

the White House.

Congress Role in Foreign Policy

Congressional Committees

Key Foreign Policy Committees:

Senate

Foreign Relations Committee

Armed Services Committee

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

House

Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committee

Armed Services Committee

Interest groups

Businesses and defense contractors to

ethnic and environmental interest groups

and organized labor

Unofficial role in foreign policy.

Seek to shape American defense,

diplomatic, and trade policies.

Protests at WTO meetings in 1999 and 2001

led by environmental interest groups

Media

The media plays important

role in foreign policy,

informing and shaping public

perceptions of the world

American citizens have

relatively little knowledge of

world politics.

Instruments of Modern American Foreign Policy

The key tools of foreign policy include:

– Diplomacy

– United Nations

– International Monetary Structure

– Economic Aid

– Collective Security

– Military Deterrence

Diplomacy

Department of State and the foreign

service - conducts foreign policy by

maintaining friendly relations with the

governments of other countries.

Such cooperation involves politics and

trade-offs

American presidents frequently have been

suspicious of diplomacy.

United Nations

Established in 1945, the United

Nations has served as a venue for

negotiating international conflicts

and seeking peaceful solutions.

Despite some notable conflicts, the

United States has frequently relied

on the UN to accomplish its foreign-

policy aims.

American foreign-policy aims - achieved through economic solutions.

Institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank stabilize the world economy and facilitate international exchange.

Direct economic aid, Unites States can provide assistance to needy countries and shore up its political position in the world.

International Monetary Structure

Through collective security arrangements and bilateral treaties with individual countries, the United States seeks to cooperate and have a somewhat shared fate with its partner countries.

United States - shares the largest part of the security burden in most of these relationships.

Collective Security

Military Deterrence

America’s high levels of

military spending are

elements of an overall

strategy of military

deterrence whereby the

United States

purportedly seeks

“peace through

strength.”

Terrorism

Post-Cold War Era - problem of

international terrorism.

Global War Against Terrorism

Bush Doctrine

United States policy of preemptive action

against threats to its national security.

Response to terrorist threats around the

globe.

“Axis of Evil”

Patriot Act

Public concern over the Patriot Act

Trade-offs between maintaining a

strong presence in the world, providing

for the national defense, and

maintaining republican liberty are

difficult.