Foreign Policy
Chapter 16
What is foreign
policy?
• Foreign Policy is the policy of the United
States designed to achieve American
objectives in its interaction with other
nations.
• Goals of U.S. foreign policy
– National security
– Alliance security
– International stability
– Economic development
National Security
• Earlier that was easy because the U.S. was
relatively isolated by two vast oceans and
bordered by weak neighbors.
• Communication and Transportation technology
“shrank” the world and brought all nations and
peoples closer.
• After WWII, national security was concerned with
the growth of communism and the Cold War.
• Since the late 1990s the focus has been on global
terrorism.
Alliance Security
What is an alliance?
Alliance Security
• Protect the U.S. by protecting allies abroad.
• Alliance – a treaty that unites its participants
in a common cause.
• Military alliance provides for collective
security (mutual defense)
• NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/nato_co
untries.htm
International Stability
• Ending wars and threats of wars through
diplomacy.
• Direct diplomacy – acting as an intermediary
between hostile nations
• United Nations – employ diplomacy as a
solution to problems through this global
organization.
• Why is lasting peace elusive?
James 1: 1-10 What causes fights and quarrels
among you? Don’t they come from your desires that
battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so
you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you
want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have
because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do
not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,
that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that
friendship with the world means enmity against
God?
• Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the
world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think
Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs
for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he
gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
• “God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”[c]
• 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will
come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and
purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve,
mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning
and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the
Lord, and he will lift you up.
Economic Development
• Most economic development comes about
because of private trade and investment.
• The U.S. government also promotes economic
development, trade, business between the
U.S. and other countries.
• The U.S. also gives direct aid to countries
facing war, famine, and natural disasters.
(Marshall Plan – post WWII effort to rebuild
western Europe)
Progress of Policy: Stages in U.S.
Foreign Policy
• Isolation 1790-1890: U.S. tended to stay out
of others’ affairs, expanded westward though
and other exceptions
• Expansion 1890-1910: international trade,
expanded territory, imperialism, intervention
(Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Samoa,
Haiti, Dominican Republic, Mexico, etc.)
Progress of Policy: Stages in U.S.
Foreign Policy
• Vacillation 1910-1940 – Reluctantly got into
WWI, which made the U.S. pull back into
isolation
• Obligation 1940-1991 – WWII, Cold War,
nuclear deterrence, containment
• Transition 1991-present – World policeman,
NAFTA, global “war on terror.”
•How should the U.S.
balance national
security and individual
liberty?
Policy Makers
• The President – center stage
• Executive Office (EOP) – NSC, State
Department (embassies, ambassadors,
consulates)
• Dept of Defense – Military, Pentagon, Joint
Chiefs of Staff
Policy Makers
• Department of Homeland Security – Border &
transportation security, emergency
preparedness and response, WMD
countermeasures, information analysis,
infrastructure protection (FEMA, ICE, Secret
Service, Coast Guard)
• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – gathers
intelligence (info on activities in foreign
countries)
Policy Makers
• Congress – Senate must approve treaties with
a 2/3 vote and may make changes to treaties
the president signs. Congress has the power
to declare war.
• Media – provides world news instantaneously,
information influences the public who
influence the policy makers.
United Nations – hosted by U.S. in
New York City
• Created to maintain world peace and uphold
human rights and is made up of 6 divisions.
1. Secretariat – administrative body
2. General Assembly – representative body
3. Security Council – China, France, UK, Russia, US
& fifteen others who rotate
4. Economic and Social Council – human rights
5. Trusteeship Council – suspended
6. International Court of Justice – judicial body
located at The Hague
• NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is a
military alliance
• EU (European Union) is a confederation of
European nations with a common currency (euro)
• NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) is
an economic treaty between U.S., Canada, &
Mexico supporting free trade.
• WTO (World Trade Organization) breaks down
trade barriers
• IMF (International Monetary Fund) loans money
to nations in financial trouble
What is terrorism?
Defining Terrorism
• BJUP Government Textbook: the use of
unlawful means of war to achieve one’s goals.
• Dictionary.com: the use of violence and
threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for
political purposes.
• What is the difference between
these definitions?
Weapons of Mass Destruction
•
•
•
•
Nuclear weapons
Radiological weapons – dirty bombs
Chemical weapons – mustard gas, sarin
Biological weapons – fatal diseases, organic
toxins
What is
globalization?
Globalization Defined
• the process enabling financial and investment
markets to operate internationally, largely as
a result of deregulation and improved
communications
• the emergence since the 1980s of a single
world market dominated by multinational
companies, leading to a diminishing capacity
for national governments to control their
economies
Is globalization a
good thing or a bad
thing?
Anti-Americanism
• Based on the info on pages 378379 and your own thoughts,
knowledge, and understanding,
why have some people
developed anti-American
feelings?
Fear
“For God has not given us a
spirit of fear, but of power, of
love, and of a sound mind
(self-discipline).” II Timothy 1:7