...US Foreign Policy The question as to whether United States foreign policy should be guided by ideals or self-interest has within it a hidden assumption: that American ideals and American self-interests are somehow at odds. This is not the case. If anything, there is a "unity of opposites" at work. It is in America's self-interest to operate its foreign policy according to its ideals. This claim isn't idealistic, but rather practical. American ideals: free markets with some government regulation, political democracy, an emphasis on individual achievement, freedom of religion and association, etc., are essential to most understandings of human rights. Conflicts in the international arena are no longer between great empires as in the period leading up to World War II, but between the democratic world and anti-democratic forces: the ethnic strife of the Balkans and the current war on terror are based on ideals that explicitly deny any notion of individual human rights. Thomas Friedman once famously noted that "No two countries that both had McDonald's had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald's." (Freidman, p. 30). There is nothing magical about McDonald's. It simply mean that when there is a certain level of free markets and disposable incomes, that conflicts between nations can be handled through diplomacy, not force of arms. A foreign policy that encourages the promulgation of these American ideals can work to limit the number of armed conflicts...
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...U.S. Foreign Policy and Nicaragua 2004 “U.S. FOREIGN POLICY AND NICARAGUA” PAGE: 1 Outline: A) Introduction: U.S. Foreign Policy and Nicaragua. B) General Discussion: 1) Nicaraguan history, 2) The Sandinistas, 3) The Brezhnev Doctrine, 4) The Reagan Doctrine, 5) The Contras and the CIA, 6) Other Political Strategies, 7) Political Ramifications Internationally, 8) Political Ramifications Domestically. C) Conclusion. Foreword: Many times throughout its history, the United States government has been embroiled in disputes over its foreign policy. These conflicts arise sometimes domestically, sometimes internationally and sometimes in both areas. One of the most significant foreign policy problems the U.S. government has ever had, involved its dealings with Nicaragua during the 1980’s. By dissecting the sequence of events which lead upon to the U.S. government using the CIA to train the Contra rebels and the foreign doctrine issued which propagated this unprecedented action on the part of the Reagan Administration,...
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...Throughout the history of the United States, war riddles its short existence. The United States had nineteen eventful years of foreign policy after World War II ended in 1945. It was a time of economic growth and prosperity for the US but involved conflict with the countries from World War II, the Cold War, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. This period had an active foreign policy designed to rescue Europe and Asia from the devastation of World War II and to prevent the expansion of Communism taking place in the Soviet Union and China. Much of the United States’ efforts focused on containment for these nineteen years, which ultimately ended in failure. Another issue that changed foreign policy in the United States was the powerful nuclear weapons...
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...History Unfolding A historian's comments on current events, foreign and domestic. Sunday, November 13, 2005 The Evolution of American Foreign Policy One of the great dramas of the twentieth century involved the redefinition of the United States’ role in the world. The US had isolated itself from European quarrels from 1815 to 1915—although the Northern victory in the civil war had an enormous influence upon the advent of democracy in Britain in 1867, and probably in Germany and France as well. In 1898 the US joined the imperialist scramble after the war with Spain, acquiring the Philippines and proclaiming influence over Cuba and new, special rights in Latin America. But as late as 1915, when the sinking of the Lusitania first threatened to draw the US into war with Germany, the issue remained violently controversial. When President Wilson announced that he would hold the Germans to a “strict accountability” for any further such outrages, his Secretary of State, three-time Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, resigned. Wilson’s stance, he said, would inevitably draw America into the war, and the government should instead simply tell American citizens that henceforth they could travel to Europe at their own risk. Already, however, as Charles A. Beard pointed out during the 1930s, some American politicians—mostly Republicans—had laid out new principles that would give the United States a kind of dominion over the entire globe, based on our...
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...Lusenko Yulia, Eurasian National University after L.N. Gumilyov The US and Iran: foreign policy and economy. Foreign policy Nowadays, there are no formal diplomatic relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, instead of exchanging ambassadors, Iran maintains an interests section at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., while the United States has maintained a corresponding interests section at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. Since December 2011, the United States has also maintained a virtual embassy on-line. Historical background. The United States and Iran (then called Persia) established diplomatic relations in 1883. 1979- revolution against the shah.-The United States broke diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980 after a group of revolutionary Iranian students, angered that the deposed Shah has been allowed to enter the United States, seized the U.S. Embassy Tehran and took 52 Americans hostage The United States has long-standing concerns over Iran’s nuclear program, sponsorship of terrorism, and human rights record. The United States and the international community have imposed comprehensive sanctions against Iran to compel Iran to engage seriously in discussions with the international community and address concerns over its nuclear program and human rights abuses. US sanctions against Iran refer to economic, trade, scientific and military sanctions against Iran. On July 14, 2015, the United States, along with China, France...
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...American foreign policy. Several changes occurred and a new general priority was created in national security. The entire American populace awoke to the fear of an amorphous enemy Al Qaeda, a terrorist group led by Osama Bin Laden which had declared war on the US by taking the battle to the very shores of America. Over 3000 people were killed when on the 11th of September 2001 two hijacked planes were flown into the he World Trade Centre destroying the twin towers, a third struck the pentagon building while the fourth heading for the White House was brought Down by its hostage passengers who courageously laid down their lives for the nation. The attacks were unprecedented considering the fact that The United States had been attacked before by terrorist. In 1993 the World Trade Centre was bombed, in 1988 US embassy bombing took place in Kenya and Tanzania and in and October 2000 the USS Cole Bombing took place in Yemen 1 just to mention a few. The attacks were considered an act of war and as such required decisive action which was clearly spelt out by President George W. Bush in his September 20th joint address to congress that same year. "Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated…And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you...
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...Impact of US Foreign Policy on the Vietnam War The Vietnam War is one of the most talked about wars in history. It began in 1959 and did not end until 1975. These years saw protests, conflicts, casualties, and confusion for the United States, as well as the terms of three presidents: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. When U.S. involvement in the war began under Kennedy, it was originally put out as a plan for the United States to only aid the South Vietnamese, but, after his assassination, Johnson was put in charge. The path that the war took under Johnson was filled with controversy and large numbers of casualties. When Johnson did not run for a second term, Nixon was left in charge to ultimately turn things around. Soon, all of the American troops were removed from Vietnam, and the war slowly began to come to a close. But what was it about Nixon’s foreign policy that was so much more successful than Johnson’s? Was Nixon’s policy more closely related to Kennedy’s successful strategy than Johnson’s was, and, if so, why didn’t Johnson do a better job modeling his policy after Kennedy? These are all questions that political scientists still look at today as a way to solve the many questions that are still being posed about the war. I have looked deeply into these questions, and found answers through researching the history of Vietnam as well as the three presidents. As I read about each event that unfolded, it became clear to me why there were such...
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...Do you agree with the suggestion in Source N that Henry and Wolsey conducted an effective foreign policy in the years 1515-25? There are many different interpretations of the effectiveness of the foreign policy in the years 1515-25. Some sources say that it was successful given England's poor resources and Henry's relatively low income and some criticise it and the way Henry and Wolsey conducted it as they think that Henry's aims and ambitions were often unrealistic. Source N suggests that Wolsey and Henry conducted an effective foreign policy. David Grossell says 'Henry and Wolsey did well to preserve an independent and active role and win glory, honour and prestige...'. It shows us that Wolsey was able to direct an effective foreign policy given the circumstances and England's resources. One example of how effective his policy was the Peace of London in 1518 which was one of his greatest achievements. The treaty bound the twenty foremost states in Europe together in a pact of perpetual peace. Wolsey was seen as an architect of the peace and this made London the centre of international relations and also England was no longer under threat of diplomatic isolation. Source L supports this as it shows the brilliance of Henry's foreign policy at the Field of Cloth of Gold on French territory in 1520. We can see in the painting that many people are gathering there and also in the background you can see the tent that is made out of gold cloth. Henry and Francis met at the Field...
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...What the Government should do in regard to China policy following the 2013 Federal Election 30 July 2013 at 22:44 Some Australian commentators claim that Australia is at a cross roads, and that it is unprecedented that its largest trading partner is not its closest ally.[1] In fact, its major ally and largest trading partner are engaged in a Cold War power struggle. They go on to say that solving this ‘unprecedented’ situation is Australia’s greatest foreign policy conundrum for at least the next decade.[2] However, Australia’s situation is not unique, neither in the region nor in its own history. By considering the recent positions of the major political parties this essay will examine Australian and Chinese foreign policy in relation to the importance of the Australian-Chinese relationship and whether we need to choose between China and America. Lastly, I shall recommend strategies for the Australian government to implement regarding its China policy. The overarching foreign policy aim for both the ALP and Coalition is serving Australia’s national interest, which can be broadly broken down into four main goals: maintaining the territorial integrity of Australia, including the safety and security of its society and economy; ensuring regional stability and preserving the existing regional balance of power; the sea lanes that make up the arteries of international trade remain open; and responding to new security threats.[3] Included in the last goal are terrorism, international...
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...Do you agree with the suggestion that English foreign policy achieved relative success in the period 1509-1525? A case can be made that that the English foreign policy was a failure because of Wolsey’s mishandlings of the finance. For example in source 1 it states that ‘greatest weakness lay in the realm of finance’. This shows us that Wolsey did not know what he was doing when it came to finance which would have helped English foreign policy. Wolsey mishandling of finance would have led to less to money to help Henry invade France and therefore make on this part of his foreign policy, which was to take over France and to redeem his title as king of France , a failure because he didn’t really take over the whole off France. The whole real parts that henry had taken over of France was Tournai and Therouanne, and these were of little significant to England which supports the idea that the foreign policy was a failure. We can also infer from another source which support the idea that English foreign policy was a failure. In source 3 it says ‘if he fortunate to win it’. This is referring to Henry to taking over France, and we can clearly see that the foreign policy was a failure because only luck could have helped Henry take over France. This all indicates that foreign policy was not a success owing it to Wolsey mishandling of finance which meant that Henry would not have sufficient amount of money to take over the whole of France. Once again in source 1 we can see that Wolsey had...
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...of US Foreign Policy: An Overview Hang Thi Thuy Nguyen1 1 The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia Correspondence: Hang Thi Thuy Nguyen, School of Global, Urban and Social Science, The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia. E-mail: thuyhang032003@gmail.com Received: July 27, 2013 doi:10.5430/wjss.v1n1p20 Accepted: August 12, 2013 Online Published: August 13, 2013 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/wjss.v1n1p20 Abstract This article reviews major theoretical perspectives to US foreign policy as well as on how these theoretical perspectives explain foreign policy decision making and conducting of the US. First, the paper will discuss the process of making foreign policy to sustain US core values and interests which are determined by five major categories of sources (i) the external environment, (ii) the societal environment of the nation, (iii) the governmental setting, (iv) the roles of foreign policymakers, and (v) the individual personalities of foreign policy-making elites (Wittkopf et al 2008, p. 15). Then, the paper will examine the defensive and offensive realism, liberalism, marxism, neoclassical realism, constructivism which can be based on to understand US foreign policy behaviour. It will be concluded that no single theory has the capacity to describe, explain and predict US foreign policy behaviour. A mixture of such theoretical approaches seems to be necessary to obtain a comprehensive picture of US foreign policy...
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...Public policy is embedded into the day-to-day lives of Canadian citizens. Although some may not be actively aware of the multitude of policies, they do determine every aspect of the Canadian society. There are policies that govern air, water, food, transportation, technology, taxes, health and immigration. But this is not an exclusive list of Canadian public polices. Two domains of public policy are domestic and foreign. Internal rules and regulations that govern within a nations border are known as domestic policies (Gale, 2008). Foreign polices are diametric in that they consist of international relations that take place outside a nation’s border (Elman, XXXX, p. X). When take together on a global scale, they can be described as global public policies. Globalization can be defined by “homogenized culture, a global economy, and a borderless world” (McBride, 2011, p. 10). To fully understand globalization one should consider all aspects such as, social, culture, technology, economic and political. Globalization has mainly impacted foreign policy, but it has also had an effect on domestic policies. Both policies are not only influenced by globalization, there are various other factors that contribute to the formation of public policies. Often times it can prove difficult to separate the effects that impact both forms of public policy because they are intertwined. Need thesis statement – what are you arguing or exploring in this paper. Also, should there be definitions in your intro...
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...Foreign Policy Module Summative Assessment Question 1: Foreign policy must be formulated in accordance with the national interest’. Evaluate this claim which is attributable to realist thinking on foreign policy. * * According to realist thinking on foreign policy, international relations and politics are formulated in accordance with national interest. This presupposes that the key actors in International Relations are sovereign states that behave similarly regardless of their type of government. As well, a state of anarchy is at the fundamental core of this argument and national interests of egoistic states as the main outward presence in international realm. Classic Realism, originally emerged from the European concert of aristocratic diplomacy. By evaluating this claim, this essay will reassert the position and importance of Offensive and Defensive Realism in our contemporary post 9/11 world. These are respectively neoclassical realism and neorealism. Firstly, a detailed account of realism will be produced highlighting the emergence of national interest as the fundamental feature or goal of sovereign states. This is done either through the maintenance of a status quo or aspiration of accumulating influence. It will be concluded that Defensive Realism or neorealism is the principal theoretical sub-school in according this claim any legitimacy. Secondly, a general evaluation of neorealism in post 9/11 world will be provided; and a comparison, and ultimately an...
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... there is one thing we know for sure. We will never forget those 444 days in Iran. Iran hostage crisis, yeah, it surely was a crisis. None of us knew our experience in Iran would be so different than what our government contract asked us to do. Although I have always been loved my country, I had one thing that kept going through in my mind every day when I was held as a hostage: failed foreign policy. We knew each one of us were victim of the U.S. foreign policy; Government knew this incident could happen. They might not have known that there will be a hostage crisis, but it was apparent they knew something was going wrong. Even until these days, I see there was tension between Iran and the U.S. which started from a bad beginning. As a person who felt the diplomatic failure in a physical form such as hostage crisis, I know the Iran hostage crisis is what triggered the U.S. to approach other states with various foreign policies. At least, there has not been any more hostile events like the one we had to go through. The day started as just a normal day of November. The sky was blue and air was crisp. It almost feels like being in home, I thought. It already has been six months since I have been working at the embassy in Tehran. After graduating from college, I decided to work for foreign affairs and applied for a job in foreign policy department. As a new employee at the department, I didn’t have many options to choose from. One of my options was to work in U.S embassy in Tehran...
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...Empowering the Parliamentary Oversight on issues related to Foreign Policy Summary A dire need exists to increase the involvement of Parliamentarians in the realm of Foreign Policy as advisory participants, which had been previously dominated exclusively by the Executive on the pretext of National Sovereignty. Despite the presence of noteworthy members on the Board of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Policy, little progress has been made to advance the real aims of this Committee. Its failure can be attributed to multiple factors ranging from inherent institutional weakness to unavailability of adequate research facilities, leading to a prevalence of greater disinterest among the Board members, marked by low attendance, being witnessed during the meeting sessions of the Committee. Hence, an urgent call of action is required for maximum engagement of Parliamentary role in Foreign Policy formulation. Context The domain of foreign policy holds critical value for a country like Pakistan which is located at the crossroads of Great Powers like Russia & China. In addition, it also provides a route to Central Asian states which are endowed with massive reserves of oil & natural gas, providing significant economic incentives. Being a key ally of US in the on-going ‘War on Terrorism’ also enhances its strategic significance. As stated earlier, the Parliament’s role in the field of Foreign Policy had always been eclipsed by the Executive and the military...
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