Chapter 18: Foreign Policy and Democracy
Chapter Review
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Americans were convinced that the United States should take strong military action against Afghanistan’s Taliban regime. One year later, when President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, most Americans still supported the military action, even though support for the Bush administration was waning. However, by 2008, public opinion had shifted sharply and most Americans wanted an end to fighting in the Middle East and wanted American troops brought home. Since the United States is a “superpower,” American foreign policy has enormous consequences for Americans and all the people of the world. American foreign policy affects global security, the global economy, and the overall global environment.
The Nature of Foreign Policy
I. What is foreign policy and how does it differ from domestic policy?
- Foreign policy refers to the programs and policies that determine America’s relations with other nations and foreign entities.
- Various areas of foreign policy include diplomacy, military and security policy, international human rights policies, and various forms of economic policy.
- Foreign policy differs from domestic policy because of past historical experiences, questions of national interest, and a wariness of foreign commitments.
The Goals of Foreign Policy: Security, Economic Prosperity, International Humanitarian Policies
I. What are the three main goals of U.S. foreign policy?
- Today American security policy is concerned not only with the actions of other nations but with the activities of terrorist groups and other hostile nonstate actors.
- World War I and then World War II ended the go-it-alone policy of the United States, as the Cold War demanded a more significant international presence. Today America has shown a willingness to strike first in order to prevent an enemy attack.
- American economic prosperity is achieved through policies intended to expand employment opportunities in the United States, to maintain access to foreign energy supplies, and to lower the prices Americans pay for goods and services.
- Trade policy is one of the most visible elements of U.S. international economic policy. Several intergovernmental organizations have formed to promote free trade and global prosperity.
- Through international environmental policy, international human rights policy, and international peacekeeping, the United States is trying to make the world a better place for all its inhabitants.
- These important policy goals are often forced to give way if they interfere with the security of economic policy goals.
Who Makes American Foreign Policy
The threat of domestic terrorism shattered the concept that the United States is isolated from the problems of the world. Accordingly, American foreign policy has changed dramatically since September 11, 2001. Since September 11, President Bush has dramatically altered U.S. foreign policy. His new approach includes preemptive use of military force and nation building in Iraq.
I. What institutions make up the foreign policy establishment?
- As in domestic policy, foreign policy making is highly pluralistic with both official and unofficial “makers” and “shapers” of foreign policy.
- The makers of foreign policy include the president, various bureaucratic agencies and departments, and Congress.
- The CIA, the Defense Department, and the newly created director of national intelligence are rivals engaged in power struggles for control of the intelligence community.
- Although both Congress and the president play important roles in shaping foreign policy, the Bush Doctrine illustrates the supremacy of the President in foreign policy making during wartime. President George W. Bush has shifted U.S. policy away from deterrence, arguing that “preemption” is the best means of dealing with adversaries. The Bush Doctrine was used to justify attacking Iraq without direct provocation, on the basis that Iraq could post a threat to the United States in the near future. Given the difficulties we face in Iraq as a result of Bush’s preemptive invasion, there is doubt as to whether the Bush Doctrine makes the world a safer place.
II. What groups help shape foreign policy? Among these players, which are most influential?
- The shapers of foreign policy include interest groups and the media.
- With the exception of the president, the influence of players and shapers varies from case to case.
- It is difficult to determine which of the makers and shapers of foreign policy has the most influence given the highly pluralistic nature of international relations, but the power of the president is greatest in crisis situations.
The Instruments of Modern American Foreign Policy
I. What are the primary tools of modern American foreign policy?
- The primary tools of modern American foreign policy are diplomacy, the United Nations, the international monetary structure, economic aid and sanctions, collective security, military force, and arbitration.
- Diplomacy is the representation of a government to other foreign governments and is achieved primarily through the State Department.
- The United Nations was created in 1945 to use a collective security arrangement to prevent threats to international and national security.
- The international monetary structure attempts to promote economic development through the International Monetary Fund.
- Economic aid is designed to help our allies and sanctions are used to weaken or compel some action from a hostile regime.
- Regional security agreements (e.g., NATO, ANZUS, and SEATO) attempt to address concerns regarding the ineffectiveness of the United Nations in dealing with conflicts over the spread of communism.
- Military force is a major policy tool that is generally seen as a last resort because it is fraught with risk and can have major political implications back home.
- Dispute arbitration allows third parties to settle international disputes and to ensure the flow of international trade.
Foreign Policy and America’s Place in the World
I. What four visions of America’s role in the world has the United States adopted throughout its history?
- The United States has adopted various roles throughout its history: the Napoleonic, the Holy Alliance, the balance of power, and economic expansionist roles.
- The Napoleonic role is based on the philosophy that a nation is not safe until all countries adopt democracy.
- The Holy Alliance role attempts to maintain the status quo by preventing any revolution, including democratic revolutions.
- The balance of power role attempts to play the major powers off against each other, so that no single power or combination of powers feels strong enough to challenge the others.
- The economic expansionist role is based on the premise that economic development is more important than political systems or ideology.
II. Since the end of World War II, how has the role of the United States in world affairs evolved?
- The United States adopted a Napoleonic role during and after World War II in an attempt to make the world safe for democracy and for economic markets.
- During the Cold War, American foreign policy makers adopted a Holy Alliance role to keep allies in power.
- After the Cold War, the United States continued to seek economic stability but has also been willing to take on a more aggressive, Napoleonic role.
- Some argue that President Bush’s policy has shifted toward Napoleonic unilateralism since the September 11 attacks.
- Bush’s decision to lessen our focus on Afghanistan and to invade Iraq preemptively raised doubts throughout the world about U.S. policy.
- Our policies in Iraq illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of Napoleonic unilateralism.
Thinking Critically about America’s Role in the World Today.
- After World War II, the United States was faced with new choices about the role it could play in world affairs.
The Cold War and the Holy Alliance role
- Immediately after the war, the United States adopted a Napoleonic role, enthusiastically supporting the spread of democracy. This quickly shifted to a Holy Alliance role, with “containment” of communism as its goal.
- The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact in 1989 led to a change in the landscape in which American foreign policy was played out with new opportunities but new dangers.
- The post–Cold War world closely resembled the pre-1914 “Balkanistic” global system, which was an unstable system.
The post–Cold War era and global capitalism.
- The old system of “external bipolarity” seems to have been replaced by a new system
of “internal bipolarity.”
The Holy Alliance or the Napoleonic role in the post–Cold War era?
- In general, the United States has maintained a Holy Alliance role, but has also shown signs of reverting to its Napoleonic role.
The War on Terror: From Holy Alliance or Napoleonic unilateralism.
- The Bush administration’s policies in Iraq illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of Napoleonic unilateralism.