US Foreign PolicyAn Overview

Two Categories Historically, US Foreign Policy falls under two broad categories, each “vision” competing with the other:

1.America as a Promised Land

a. No entangling alliances

b. The Monroe Doctrine

c. Manifest Destiny

d. American Exceptionalism

2. America as a Promised Land or, in the 20th and 21st centuries, as a Crusader State

a. Progressive imperialism

b. Liberal internationalism

c. containment

d. Global meliorism

American Exceptionalism

With the formation of The United States came high hopes and expectations. John Edwards called America a “city on a hill” or a model for other nations to follow. America, in short, leads by example.

America is an “empire for liberty”

Thomas Jefferson

“She (America) is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.”

John Quincy Adams

No Entangling Alliances (Unilateralism) The Founders wanted to keep America from entering into alliances with other countries.

Example: After WWI – a war begun because of entangling alliances, Americans wanted little to do with international affairs, and became isolationist…

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

By the second decade of the 19th century, The United States had beat Great Britain not in one, but two wars (American Revolution and the War of 1812). Simply, Americans had had enough of foreign powers attempting to establish colonies in the New World (America was, after all, a colony of Great Britain).

Naturally, Americans wanted to keep European (read foreign) powers out of the New World…

…and the Monroe Policy was born, named after President James Monroe.

Expansionism

Also known as “manifest destiny,” during the early 19th century, The United States sought to expand its borders.

Example: The Louisiana Purchase and expanding west.

Progressive Imperialism

In the late 19th century, The United States, to protect its national interests, sought to expand its influence and control outside of its borders, a policy known as progressive imperialism.

This policy was “brainchild” of President Theodore Roosevelt, who saw expansion south a way not only to protect US interests, but also to extend western civilization “to ancient and different civilizations.”

Example: Panama Canal

Liberal Internationalism

While not popular at the time (see earlier notes on isolationism), President Woodrow Wilson wanted to The United States Government to adopt the policy of liberal internationalism – to enter into associations with other nations if the goal of the association is the spread of national self-determination and peace. The first rendition, The League of Nations, failed. The second, The United Nations, continues today with questionable strength.

Alliances In the years following WWII, The United States entered into a number of alliances, mainly designed to check the international spread of communism.

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (western Europe and The United States)

ANZUS: Australia, New Zealand, US

SEATO: South-East Asian Treaty Organization (SE Asian countries and US)

To name a few…

Mutual Security These organizations all function on the notion of collective security: an attack on one of the member nations is seen as an attack on all of the member nations.

Containment

Stalin: No cooperation between capitalists and communists can exist.

Churchill: An “iron curtain” will fall closing communist nations from capitalist nations.

Truman: Doctrine of 1947 made containment of the spread of communism the #1 priority of US foreign policy.

US fought Korean War of 1949-50 and Vietnam War of 1965-1975 at least partially as a result.

Global Meliorism

To ameliorate means to make better, and The United States in the last few decades of the 20th century often intervened to make a bad situation better.

In the aftermath of WWII, President Truman spearheaded the Marshall Plan that gave $13 billion dollars of aid to European nations to rebuild after the war. Germany becomes an economic power and a key player in the war against communism.

President Clinton pledged $$$ and America’s military might in the ethnic conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo.

And…Americans pledged millions in private money in relief for the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami.

The “Four Worlds”

1st world: modern, industrialized, technologically- and economically-advanced countries.

2nd world: industrialized nations that lack either technological or economic advancement. 2nd world nations existed behind the “Iron Curtain,” or in other words, under Soviet Union Control. The inability of communism to create a viable economy and to trade (technology) with the West has left these nations behind…the European Economic Community (EEC) will not admit these nations until their economies progress.

Example: Romania

3rd world: non-industrialized nations. Many of these nations are equatorial. Example: New Guinea.

4th world: nations that exist within other nations, that have population yet lack sovereignty.