Chapter 18
FOREIGN POLICY AND
NATIONAL DEFENSE
U.S. Senate Defeats Nuclear Test
Ban Treaty
 October
1999 U.S. Senate refuses to ratify
treaty signed by President Clinton.
 Defeat of the treaty came as a shock to both
allies and enemies.
Why Was the Treaty Defeated?
Opponents claimed the treaty was flawed,
diminishing U.S. sovereignty and threatening the
usefulness of our nuclear arsenal.
 President Clinton and the Senate Democrats made
tactical mistakes, such as not including
Republicans in the original treaty negotiations.
 Republicans may have wanted to embarrass
President Clinton and damage his historical
legacy.
 The treaty may have been the victim of America’s
ambivalence in its role in the post-Cold War
world.

Foreign Policy And Democracy: A
Contradiction in Terms?

Foreign policy — especially policy concerning
wars or crises — has traditionally been different
from domestic policy.
– Presidents and others at the governmental level of
analysis have often played a much more important part
than they do domestically.
– They have had an unusual degree of autonomy in
foreign policy.
– The ordinary political factors have often been set aside
in favor of considerations of the national interest.
– Foreign policy is influenced by structural factors.
The Limited Role of Public Opinion in
Foreign Affairs.
Complexity and remoteness of international
matters
 Unpredictability of other countries’ actions
 The need for speed, unity, and secrecy
 Government policy can sometimes shape public
opinion rather than be shaped by it.
 The American public plays a larger role in the
making of foreign policy than is often apparent,
and its influence appears to be increasing.

The United States As a Superpower:
Structure and History
 U.S.
economic and military power
– Economic power
– Military power
– Other countries’ armed forces
 The
superpower status of the United States
is a crucial structural fact for understanding
international relations and American foreign
policy.
The Growth of U.S. Power
 Aftermath
of World War II (1945)
 The United States achieved dominance of
the world economy in the following two
decades.
 U.S. foreign policy became entangled in
Cold War rivalry with the Soviet Union.
The Cold War with the Soviet
Union
 Scholars
disagree about the causes of
conflicts between the United States and the
Soviet Union after World War II.
 Beginnings of the Cold War
– Containment
– Truman Doctrine (1947)
– Marshall Plan
– The Federal Republic of Germany was established.
– Various communist-dominated regimes were set up in
Eastern Europe.
– Multilateral military alliances were formed on both
sides.
– Both the United States and the Soviets had nuclear
capability.
The Korean War
 The
first big armed struggle of the Cold War
broke out in Korea.
 It pitted the United States and South Korea,
fighting under terms of a UN resolution,
against North Korea and later China.
 Consequences of the Korean War
 Stalemate
– The Korean War ended in 1953.
– Most of the world divided into two opposing
camps that had fairly fixed boundaries and a
reasonably stable balance of power.
– Both sides attained a sort of nuclear parity.
– Mutually assured destruction (MAD) was
eventually seen as a source of stability and a
basis for arms control agreements.
Vietnam and détente
 The
Vietnam War was a major setback for
American foreign policy.
 The war’s costs in money, casualties, and
social disruption discouraged intervention
abroad for a period of time.
 Nervousness about military involvement in
the 1990s stemmed from memories of the
Vietnam War and its effects.
When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the
Soviet Union in 1985, he made sweeping
proposals for arms control and other agreements
with the United States.
 Gorbachev introduced policies to foster greater
use of the “market” in economic affairs and more
political freedom.

 The
end of the Cold War and the collapse of
the Soviet Union: Independence for Eastern
Europe
– International affairs have been transformed
since 1989 (when the Bush administration took
office).
– Collapse of the Soviet empire
The Structural Bases of American
Superpower Status
 Economic
Power
 Military Power
 Soft Power
Problems of the Post Cold War
World
New security issues in the post cold war era
 The United States faced a completely changed
world in the 1990s, but many questions about
national security and international relations
remained.

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Russia and the former Soviet Union
Eastern Europe
Western Europe
Japan, China, and the Pacific
The developing world
 Economic
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and social dilemmas
International trade
Foreign aid and arms sales
The global environment
The drug trade
Immigration
Who Makes Foreign Policy?

Overview
– The president and the executive branch are the primary
governmental decision makers concerning most foreign
policy issues.
– Congress is often involved in decisions about foreign
trade and aid, military bases and contracts, and other
matters that impact on their constituents’ interests.
– People and institutions in the political sphere affect
what both Congress and the executive branch do.
– Different types of foreign policy are made in very
different ways.
 The
executive branch
– National Security Council (NSC)
– Department of State (located in foggy bottom, a
reclaimed marsh located close to the Potomac
River)
– The Department of Defense (DOD)
– Intelligence agencies
 Congress
– Congress generally plays a less-active role in
foreign policy than in domestic policy.
– The Constitution grants Congress certain
powers relative to foreign policy, but they have
become less important with the transformation
of executive authority.
– Appropriating money for defense and foreign
policy
 Public
opinion and the mass media
– Public opinion has substantial effects on
policymaking.
– The executive branch has considerable leeway;
public opinion seldom demands that particular
actions be taken in setting foreign policy.
– The mass media have tended to convey the
government’s point of view to the public in the
arena of foreign policy.
 Corporations
and interest groups
– There is considerable disagreement over the
role of corporations and interest groups in
establishing American foreign policy.
– U.S. foreign policy is important to American
businesses.
– Certain ethnic groups sometimes influence U.S.
foreign policy.
Foreign and Defense Policy and
Democracy
 Although
democratic control may be
increasing, democratic control over foreign
policy is incomplete.
 The American political system tends to fall
short of the ideals of popular sovereignty
and political equality.
– Although public opinion is often taken into
account, the centralization of decisions in the
executive branch means that popular
participation is limited.
– Secrecy means that the public often does not
know what the government is doing, and
therefore cannot hold it accountable.
– Government control of information means that
the public can sometimes be manipulated.
 Democratic
control of foreign policy
may increase as more and more
Americans become aware of
international affairs, insist on knowing
what their government is doing, and
demand government responsiveness to
the popular will.