Mr. McCormackAmerican GovernmentChapter 17 Essentials Study Guide
“Foreign affairs” refers to all of our interests abroad. “Foreign policy” refers to what our government is trying to do about them. Constitutionally and by tradition, the President bears the major responsibility of making and conducting foreign policy. Evidence of our foreign policy can be seen in our treaties, trade, defense budget, foreign aid, etc.
From the birth of our country until WWII, our government followed a basically isolationist approach to foreign affairs. This means that our presidents tried to avoid getting involved in the affairs of other countries. They realized that America was still a relatively weak nation with more interest in settling North America. Fighting European wars would not benefit us. Since WWII, however, our country has been internationalist. This means that our presidents seek to play an active role in the affairs of other countries.
The State Department, led by the Secretary of State, is the President’s right arm in foreign affairs. The Secretary ranks first among the members of the cabinet in the line of presidential succession. Thomas Jefferson was the first secretary of state and John Kerry is our current one. The department is organized along both functional and geographical lines, and about 6,000 people work in the foreign service. Foreign service officers promote American interests by helping citizens travelling overseas, facilitating cultural and economic ties, gathering intelligence about foreign countries, and cultivating connections to them.
An ambassador is the official representative of one government to another, though we also use the title for special representatives to regions or important organizations (ie the United Nations). The US has established embassies in nearly every country and has also established supplemental consular offices in some countries with whom it has extremely close ties. Embassies are considered sovereign territory of the sponsoring government, but if relations deteriorate the host country can order the embassy closed in protest. Likewise, ambassadors and their families have “diplomatic immunity,” which means that they aren’t subject to the laws of the host nation but can be expelled if they cause offense. The sponsoring country can waive this immunity and permit prosecution, however. Some ambassadorships are highly desired positions but others are treated as rewards for service to a president’s campaign. Because direct communication with WashingtonDC is so easy nowadays the ambassador’s role is not quite as important as it once was.
A passport is a certificate issued by a government to its citizens who travel abroad. A visa is a permit to enter another country. No country is obligated to grant either, but most are granted routinely so long as you don’t have any criminal connections. Travel between certain countries (such as the US and Iran or North Korea) can be forbidden.
The Constitution guarantees that the military will always be under civilian control. The first Secretary of War was Henry Knox and the current Secretary of Defense is Chuck Hagel. The Secretary is the President’s chief aide and advisor in making defense policy and also the operational head of the department. His department headquarters is known as the Pentagon. He is advised by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, composed of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and National Guard Bureau.
The Army is the oldest and largest branch of the military. Its primary competency is winning land-war battles, but surprisingly the Army has more watercraft than the Navy and more flying machines than the Air Force. It consists of the Active Army, Army Reserve, and the Army National Guard. The difference between the National Guard and Reserve is simple. The former has a dual mission to serve the state and federal government when needed. The latter serves only federal missions. Counting all three components, about 1 million soldiers are in the Army.
The Navy is the second oldest branch of the military. Its primary competency is projecting force at sea. It consists of the Active Navy and Naval Reserve. The Coast Guard is not a part of the Navy but can be put under the Navy’s control during war. The Marines are a separate branch of the military but are actually part of the Department of the Navy. They also have a reserve component. The marines traditionally backed-up naval operations in amphibious operations but have been deployed in recent wars muchas the Army has.
The Air Force is the youngest branch, having grown out of the Army Air Corps following WWII. Its primary competency is projecting force in the atmosphere (and outer space). It consists of the Active Air Force, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard. It is our nation’s first-strike force and can hit virtually any target in the world in a very short amount of time.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), working with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, coordinates information-gathering activities, analyzes and evaluates that data, and briefs the President and National Security Council on potential threats. While it does conduct espionage (particularly through electronics), it also gathers a great deal of information through open sources such as newspapers and websites. The CIA is very secretive, so we may not know exactly how much it spends or what it does, but a law does forbid it from conducting certain operations within the US.
The Department of Homeland Security was created after 9/11 to better organize our homeland defense agencies, including the Secret Service, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Coast Guard. It is responsible for border and transportation security, infrastructure protection, emergency preparedness and response, CBRN(chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) defense, and information analysis.
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is tasked with the peaceful exploration of outer space, but it benefits national defense in several ways. Its rocket research helps missile development, for example, and its satellite program helps with communications and espionage.
The Selective Service System exists in case of a major war. Under current legislation, men between the ages of 18 and 25 could be called up for military service in a draft. Realistically, however, the draft was so unpopular during Vietnam (the last draft ended in 1973) that politicians are highly unlikely to support a return to the draft. Quite a few other countries (including Russia, Switzerland, Israel, and South Korea) have mandatory military service, however.
Many important events have occurred in the history of American foreign policy. Understand the significance of each of the following:
Treaty of Paris (1783)Louisiana PurchaseWar of 1812Monroe DoctrineMexican-American War
Alaska PurchaseSpanish-American WarOpen Door PolicyGood Neighbor PolicyPanama Canal
World War IWorld War IICollective SecurityDeterrenceTruman Doctrine
ContainmentBerlin AirliftCuban Missile CrisisKorean WarVietnam War
DétenteCold WarGlobal War on Terror
The US has sent billions of dollars in aid to other countries over the years. Much of this aid is military in nature, but a large portion is economic, educational, medicinal, and humanitarian. For example, the Marshall Plan helped Western Europe to recover economically from the devastation of WWII. This aid helps to stabilize important regions and relieve suffering, but it also benefits the United States since much of what we spend is spent on American food, services, etc.
The US has pursued regional security alliances (based on the idea of collective security) for most of the last sixty years. By far the biggest and most important is NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Although NATO’s original purpose of defending against Soviet aggression has passed, the alliance has found new purposes in managing crises in the Balkans and in Afghanistan. Most of our European partners have significantly scaled back their military capabilities, however, leaving the US to carry most of the military cost of the alliance. The Rio Pact includes almost every country in the western hemisphere. Where regional alliances have not been possible, the US has pursued bilateral defense treaties (ie Korean Pact, Philippines Pact, Japanese Pact). We also have a traditional obligation to protect Israel.
The US took the lead in creating the United Nations (“UN”) after WWII to prevent future wars, promote human rights, and give all of the world’s nations a forum to work out their differences. Its most important components are the General Assembly, where every nation has equal representation, and the Security Council. The Security Council consists of five permanent members (France, Britain, China, Russia, and the United States) and ten non-permanent members elected from different regions to two-year terms. Each of the five permanent members has an absolute veto, which means all five must agree to let any decision move forward. Compared to the Security Council, which can authorize military action and economic sanctions, the General Assembly does not have much power, but its pronouncements carry the moral value. Other important UN organizations include the Economic and Social Council (which coordinates the World Health Organization, International Monetary Fund, and others), the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat (the civil service of the UN). The current Secretary General is Ban Ki-Moon.