BIG Picture Overview of American Foreign Policy: a Crash Course

BIG Picture Overview of American Foreign Policy: A Crash Course

By Rachel Keeney

First of all, it’s important to know that almost all foreign policy decisions seem to be based on two things: economics and fear. When you think about it, most actions we take with other countries (War on Terrorism, Taking action against ISIS, immigration concerns, etc. ) are linked to these two things.

I believe we can break our foreign policy into four different phases. I’ll briefly explain each one:

1. Isolation 1790-1890

When we started out as a nation we went back and forth between pro-British (Washington & Adams) and pro-French policies (Jefferson). But we adopted a policy of isolation from Europe mostly because we wanted to protect our new independence. Another reason for isolation is because we were honestly too preoccupied with growing our own country to care what was happening in Europe. The Monroe Doctrine was basically telling Europe to “stay out of our hemisphere!” Pretty bold talk for a new country like us, who might not be able to back up the threat!

2. Expansion 1890-1910

The reason a new era begins with 1890 is because the frontier was now gone. America desired to continue to grow and add on, but there was nowhere left inside the United States to go. We also desired to further our trade. We began to leave our old isolationist views behind by annexing the Hawaiian Islands, Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Samoan Islands. America was now beginning to be seen as a world power.

3. Vacillation 1910-1940

During this period, America would like to have stayed isolationist, but found it could not. Woodrow Wilson was reelected because “he kept us out of war,” but during his second term America was compelled to join in World War I. Warren Harding was elected to bring a “return to normalcy” (isolationism) but soon even Franklin Roosevelt couldn’t keep his promise to keep the U.S. out of World War II. America wasn’t trying to be a world leader at this time, the role was thrust on America.

4. Obligation 1940 to Present

Since World War II there is no doubt that America is a superpower. As communism grew after the war we saw that isolation is not only difficult, but dangerous. The Cold War with the Soviet Union brought America to a policy of containment: we would stop the spread of communism wherever possible. This led to wars in Korea and Vietnam. The Truman and Reagan doctrines pledged that we would help people threatened by communist takeovers. After the end of the Cold War, the Middle East has been a huge focus of our most recent foreign policy. The terrorist attacks of 9-11 brought another obligation to the forefront: stopping terrorism and the regimes that support it. The End!