Foreign Policy and National Defense
Chapter 17
What is Foreign Policy?
The actions, decisions, and principles that guide
the U.S. government's relationships with other
nations.
- commercial relationship
(NAFTA)
(China)
- diplomatic relationship
(Great Britain)
- military relationship
(South Korea)
Why is Foreign Policy important?
- The world as a "Global village"
- the survival of the United States can be
greatly affected by what happens elsewhere
on the globe.
- War, natural disasters, terrorist attacks,
financial crisis: all have an impact on the
interests of the United States.
Foreign Policy permits:
- conflict resolution (treaties)
- peace (alliances: United Nations)
- national security
- trade & economic cooperation
Introduction to U.S. foreign policy
1. Policy of Isolationism
- a refusal to become involved in foreign
affairs
2. World War II
- caused a major shift in policy
3. Containment (Cold War)
4. Policy of Internationalism
U.S. Foreign Policy Chain of
Command
The President
Congress
Defense Department
State Department
Foreign Policy Agencies
The President
- the president dominates the foreign policy field
- chief diplomat and commander in chief
- bears major responsibility for the making and
conduct of U.S. foreign policy
Congress
- has significant power over foreign and military
affairs
- they have the power to declare war
- Senate must confirm all treaties and
appointments made by the President
State Department
- State Department was created in 1781
What is the State Department?
- The primary duty of the State Department has
always been the security of the nation.
Priorities include:
- protecting American citizens and interest abroad
- negotiating with other nations
- providing humanitarian relief funds
Who makes up the State Department?
- headed by the Secretary of State: Hillary Clinton
- The Secretary of State is usually the President's
# 1 foreign policy advisor and ranks first in
the Cabinet.
Secretary's duties involve:
- making and conducting policy
- managing the department (25,000
employees)
The Foreign Service
-the diplomatic staff that represents the
US in other nations
Ambassadors
- an official appointed to represent a nation in
diplomatic matters.
- appointed by the president
- we have American embassies in 160 nations
Diplomatic Immunity
- they cannot be prosecuted for breaking their
host country's laws
Passports
- a certificate issued by the government to
its citizens who travel abroad.
Other Foreign/Defense Policy
Agencies
In addition to the State and Defense Dept:
-Immigration and Naturalization Service
-Customs Service
- Coast Guard
Central Intelligence Agency
-- created
in 1947
Three major task:
1. coordinate information from all agencies that
deal with foreign affairs and national defense
2. analyze all data collected
3. advise the President of that intelligence
- CIA also conducts worldwide intelligence
operations. (Secret Covert Activities)
- Espionage
United State Information Agency
-propaganda unit of the federal government
Mission: to promote the image of the US and to
sell its policies and our way of life abroad.
- radio and television broadcast
-VOA (voice of America)
- distribute publications, films, academic
exchange programs
NASA
- military importance
- Launch satellites for communication and
intelligence gathering (spying)
United States Arms Control and
Disarmament Agency
- formulates and implements arms
control and disarmament policies that
promote the national security of the
United States and its relations with
other countries.
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties
(START)
- 1991/1993
- Treaty between the US and Russia to reduce
long range nuclear weapons.
- Promised to destroy 2/3 of their ICBMs
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty
-1996: signed by 126 nations
- ends all nuclear weapons test
worldwide
above or below ground, military or
civilian, high or low yield
The Selective Service System
- From 1940-1973 the draft was in effect
- over 15 million men were drafted during this
time
- suspended in 1973, but still on the books
- The draft law places a military obligation on all
males in the US between the ages of 18 1/2
and 26.
-All males must register for service at age 18.
-Supreme Court has upheld the Constitutionality
of the draft.
American Foreign Policy: Past and
Present
• Policy of Isolationism
• “Noninvolvement”
• US policy for the first 150 years
WHY??
• The United States had many problems of our
own.
• Huge continent to settle
The Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine
• President James Monroe (1823)
• Message to Congress
• He warned the nations of Europe and Russia to stay out of
the affairs of North/South America.
• Doctrine designed to protect American interest
Continental Expansion
Manifest Destiny – The expansion of
US boundaries to the Pacific Ocean.
- Louisiana Purchase (1803)
- Florida Purchase (1819)
- Texas (1845)
- Mexican War (1848)
- Gadsden Purchase (1853)
- Alaska (1867)
The United States Emerges as a World
Power
• US first emerged as a world power after the Spanish
American War (1898)
With Spain’s defeat the US gained:
• Philippines
• Guam
• Puerto Rico
• Hawaii (1898)
Open Door Policy
• Great Britain, France, Germany, and Japan wanted to
take slices of China’s coast for trade.
US suggest:
• Equal trade access for all nations
• China be independent and sovereign over their own
territory.
• Opened trade to China
By 1900 the United States had become
a major colonial power
• US Territory stretched from Alaska to Latin America to the
Pacific Ocean.
Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt Corollary
• Under President Theodore Roosevelt, the US began to
police parts of Latin America.
Marines were sent into:
• Nicaragua
• Haiti
• Cuba
Panama (1903)
• Panama revolts and becomes independent from
Columbia
• The United States gains the right to build the Panama
Canal
• (1917) Virgin Islands purchased
Panama Canal
World War One
(1914-1918)
World War I
• Germany’s submarine attacks against US ships brings
the US out of isolation.
• US enters WWI to “make the world safe for
Democracy”
• After WWI = US returns to isolation
League of Nations
• Conceived by President
Woodrow Wilson
• A place for nations to
discuss their problems
rather than going to war
• The U.S. refused to join so
the League fell apart
President Franklin Roosevelt
Good Neighbor Policy
• President Franklin Roosevelt
(1930’s)
• Latin America resented our power
and expansion into their land
• Policy was an attempt to win
friends in South America.
Pearl Harbor
- December 7, 1941
- surprise attack on US fleet in Hawaii
- Japanese planes damage or destroy 19 ships, kill
over 2,400 people
- “A day that will live in infamy”
- directly brings the US into WWII
World War II
• Pearl Harbor brought the US out of isolation
• The war helped the US to become the world’s
strongest military power
• Led to a shift from isolationism to internationalism
Peace through Collective Security
• US took the lead and helped create the
United Nations in 1945
Purpose of UN
• To keep peace and international order
• Prevent future wars through open
discussions between nations
The United Nations
- The United Nations
officially came into
existence on October 24,
1945.
- Designed to be
an international
organization that ensures
world peace.
• Collective Security – system in which participating
nations would take action to meet any threat or attack
on a member nation.
• Became the corner stone of US foreign policy
The Soviet Union: Rise and Fall
-After WWII, the USSR emerged
as a superpower
- Stalin increased the Soviet
sphere of influence across
Europe
Soviet Foreign Policy
- Stalin asserted control over Eastern Europe
- Khrushchev set up the Warsaw Pact in 1955
West Germany
- controlled by US, Britain, France
- democratic government
- allowed to rebuild
East Germany
- controlled by the Soviet Union
- industries dismantled, prevented from
rebuilding
- communist government put in place
- German capital of Berlin was in this sector of
Germany
The Berlin Airlift
• Soviets blockade Berlin from
1948 -1949
• Massive US airlifts keep the
city and citizens alive.
The Berlin Wall
- At 2 a.m. on Aug. 13, 1961, a low, barbed-wire
barrier was strung between East and West Berlin. It
effectively divided the city in half.
- East Germans were very poor and many were moving
to West Germany.
- The Soviets built a wall to prevent East Germans from
slipping into the West.
- This project almost launched the world into a
nuclear conflict
Successes in the Soviet Union
- government poured money into weapons and
science
- launched the first satellite into orbit in 1957
(Sputnik)
- also put the first man into space
- low rent, cheap bread free health care, day care for
children, low unemployment
Developing countries
- the USSR sought to win friends in developing nations
- they offered these nations economic and military
support (Cuba and other nations in Latin America)
- this policy eventually led to armed conflict
Truman Doctrine (1947)
• Message to Congress
• “The policy of the United
States to support free
peoples resisting outside
pressures.”
• Plan for dealing with the
Soviet Union
Containment
• Idea of containing communism within its
own boundaries as a way to reduce its
influence.
• US policy from 1947 – 1980’s
• “Domino Theory”
Deterrence
• The policy of making America and its allies so
militarily strong that it would deter
(discourage, prevent) any attack.
Nikita Khrushchev
- emerged as the new Soviet
leader in 1956
- began a policy of deStalinization: free political
prisoners, and reduced
censorship
- came up with the idea of leading the
US and USSR to "peaceful
coexistence"
The Korean War
• 1950-1953
• South Korea invaded by
North Korean Communist
forces
• The U.N. votes to help
S.K. repel the invasion
The Korean War
United States/ South Korea
VS
North Korea/China
-Armistice signed in 1953
-No Real Victory
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis
• Oct. 1962
• Soviets ship nuclear weapons capable of hitting
the US to Cuba
• President Kennedy orders a naval blockade of
Cuba
• Weapons are eventually returned to the Soviet
Union
Leonid Brezhnev
- lead the USSR from the mid
1960's - 1982
- locked up dissidents (people
who spoke out against the
government)
- turned back to Stalin type
policies
History of Vietnam:
Foreign Policy
Indochina
- Prior to World War II
Vietnam was known as
Indochina
- Was a French Colony
Move towards Independence
- Vietnamese groups
demanded independence
from France: Group led
by Ho Chi Minh
- U.S. supports French
control over Vietnam
1946 - Vietnam splits in two:
Communist North and
Non-Communist South
1954 - France surrenders at Dein
Bien Phu:
US begins sending money
and military advisors to
support South Vietnam
1959 - Viet Cong created in Vietnam:
Goal: to unite South with the North
1962 – US begins sending troops to Vietnam
(Mostly Special Forces)
1964 - Gulf of Tonkin incident and
resolution
- Report of a North Vietnamese
attack on an American ship in
neutral waters in August 1964
- Congress gives President
Johnson the power to "take all
necessary measures to repel any
armed attack against the forces
of the United States and to
prevent further aggression."
Vietnam
- US involved 1965-1973 (officially)
- public support at home declines
- Nixon withdraws troops in 1973,
declaring South Vietnam was strong
enough to stand on their own.
-1975: North takes over South and
unifies country under Communism
Vietnam
Presidents During Vietnam
US GOVT BUNKER
US and USSR
1970’s – First Nuclear Weapons Treaty
1979 – Soviet’s invade Afghanistan
(The US supports afghan rebels)
1980’s
- New Soviet Leader: Mikhail
Gorbachev
- President Regan and Gorbachev
hold 4 summit conferences
easing tensions and resulting in
nuclear disarmament
- 1989: Soviet Union falls apart
and the Cold War comes to an
end
Collapse of the Soviet Union
1985 - Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power
- sought to end cold war tensions with the US
- pulled Soviet troops out of Afghanistan
- signed arms control treaties with the US
Glasnost - policy of openness
Perestroika - restructuring of the government
- these reforms brought economic chaos: prices
soared and the Soviet "Ruble" became
worthless
1990-1991 : Collapse of USSR
1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall
1991: The Soviet Union Breaks up
- Estonia. Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, East
Germany, Romania, Bulgaria break away
from the USSR
- coup attempts to over throw Gorbachev, he
resigns
- after 74 years, the Soviet Union ceased to
exist
Russia
- had been the largest of
the Soviet nations
- Boris Yeltsin became
President of Russia
- the country was in
disarray
- organized crime flourished
- economically Russia
collapsed, could not pay
its soldiers
Chechnya
- Russian province that
attempted to break away in
1994, turned into a major
armed conflict
Russia Today
2000 - Vladimir Putin is elected President
(former head of the Soviet secret police KGB)
President Clinton
1992-2000
1. Bosnia
2. Somalia
3. Haiti
4. Middle East Peace
5. North Korea
The Bush
Doctrine
- US Foreign Policy (Post 9-11)- 2009
- “ The US will make no distinction between the terrorists
who committed these acts and those who harbor them”
- Invasion of Afghanistan (2001)
- Invasion of Iraq (2003)
The Bush Doctrine
• The Bush Doctrine was a policy of
preemption… that is, we will strike if we think
an enemy has the capability of striking us.
President Obama
• Too early to tell… seems to be more open to
working with world leaders and has sent Sec. Of
State Clinton overseas to Asia to sure up foreign
support…