U.S. National Security

June 7: National Security As International Relations Theory and As Ideology

Work in your small groups to fill out the chart.

“One World, Rival Theories”

“Policymakers and public commentators invoke elements of all these theories when articulating solutions to global security dilemmas.”

–Bush: Those “who call themselves ‘realists’ … have lost contact with a fundamental reality” that “America is always more secure when freedom is on the march.” –“...Condoleezza Rice... explains that the new Bush doctrine is an amalgam of pragmatic realism and Wilsonian liberal theory.”–John Kerry: “‘Our foreign policy has achieved greatness,’ he said, ‘only when it has combined realism and idealism.’”

“One World, Rival Theories”

• “Theories of international relations claim to explain the way international politics works, but each of the currently prevailing theories falls well short of that goal.”

• “One of the principal contributions that international relations theory can make is not predicting the future but providing the vocabulary and conceptual framework to ask hard questions of those who think that changing the world is easy.”

Personal Views on National Security Affairs

Answer the following questions as best you can. No answer is wrong.

1.The basic mission of policy makers should be to

A. Adapt to and make the best of the world situation as it is;

B. Change world conditions.

2. The United States should

A. Play a generally activist leadership role in the world;

A. Seek to avoid international involvement whenever possible.

3. The United States should generally

A. Try to build international consensus before acting;

A. Look at its own interests first with less regard to international preferences.

4. Force is useful

A.In a wide range of situations;

B.Only in a narrow range of circumstances.

Key

1. A. Realism/pragmatism

B. Idealism

2. A. Internationalism

B. Isolationism

3. A. Multilateralism

B. Unilateralism

4. A. Hawk

B. Dove

What makes a country secure?

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