1. Tools of U.S Foreign Policy
  2. Diplomacy
  3. Diplomacy is the conduct of international relations that mostly involve negotiating treaties and other agreements between nations.
  4. Communication between two people when a citizen of one country commits crime in another is an example.
  5. The foreign service officers are the diplomatic and consular staff at U.S embassies abroad.
  6. Officers are employees of department of state and talk to other nations.
  7. Also they discuss many different types of international agreements; economic and trade policies.
  8. Trade and Economic Policies
  9. To have foreign government agree with the United States the U.S foreign policy makers rely on trade policies, economic aid and economic penalties.
  10. A normal trade relations status is the international trade principle which has a very small amount of trade conditions offered to a national trading partner.
  11. They are allowed to punish a nation with this status if they do not show that they are supportive with the U.S goals.
  12. Trade agreements area tool in foreign policy. Some of the U.S agreements is the North American Free Trade Agreement.
  13. Members are of are U.S, Mexico and Canada.
  14. Economy enticements are used to pressure fellow countries to make and enforce policies that the U.S supports.
  15. George W. Bush and eh Pakistani government created operation enduring freedom to help the U.S capture the person behind the 9/11 attacks.
  16. The U.S put sanctions on Pakistan because of its pursuit of nuclear weapons. History of domestic coups and the track record of defaulting on international loans.
  17. After 9/11 (because Pakistan was A focal point on the war on terror) the U.S waived the sanctions.
  18. Any country that does not appeal to the U.S (in terms of policies or behavior) the U.S punishes them,
  19. Sanctions are a form of penalty. They halt economic relations.
  20. When there are high levels of globalism (interconnectedness between anions in contemporary times) a nation where boycotts or sanctions have happened often need help in the format of foreign aid.
  21. Military Option
  22. There was a war that went on between Iraq and Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.
  23. The U.S targeted Taliban between it helped members of al-Qaeda, a radical international Islamic fundamentalist terror organization.
  24. Then the U.S interlogica inquired that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical and biological weapons).
  25. After the military toppled Hussein's regime no WORDs found.
  26. The goal of the U.S is for regime change which is the replace of a country’s government with another government by facilitating the deposing of its leader or the leading political party.

ll. Who Decides? The Creators and Shapers of Foreign Policy

A.The president and the executive branch

1.The executive and legislative branches are the primary foreign policy makers

2. President(role of commander in chief of the U.S armed forces) and executive branch are the dominant role

3.U.S congress has some ability to rein in the foreign policy authority of the president

B.The departments of state and defense

1.The departments take the lead in advising the president about foreign and military policy issues

2.Staff members of the department of state are organized according to topical specialty(trade and environmental policy) and geographic area specialty (middle east, southeast Asia)

3. Ambassadors and career members of the foreign service staff each country desk, help to shape and administer the U.S foreign policy in that country (the official operation of the U.S government in each country that has diplomatic ties to the U.S)

4.The defense department is the cabinet department that oversees all branches of the U.S military

5.The army, navy, marines, air force, and coast guard work independently but are a part of the department of defense

6.Commanding officers of each military branch, chairperson and vice chairperson make up the joint chiefs of staff, important military advisers to the president

C.The National Security Council and the intelligence community

1. National security council advise and assist the president on national security and foreign policy

2.The national security adviser traditionally competed with the secretary of state for influence over foreign policy and over the president

3.State department views the foreign policy in keeping with long term goals

4.NSC focuses more on short term goals

5.Jimmy carter media war

6.Intelligence-key resource of foreign policy making

7.CIA is responsible for collecting, analyzing, evaluating foreign intelligence to the president and senior national policy makers

8.Congress questioning CIA

9.Senate select and house intelligence committees are the watchdogs for intelligence operations

10.9/11

11.DNI-person responsible for coordinating and overseeing all the intelligence agencies within the executive branch

12.Extraordinary rendition- apprehending and individual believed to be a terrorist and transferring the person to another nation

D.Congress

1.Significant constitutional authority in foreign policy making

2.Congress’s power to declare war

3. Modern times, using U.S troops without a formal congressional declaration of war

4.Vietnam war

5. In response, congress created war powers act

6. U.S Senate ratifying treaties, confirming presidential appointees

7.Greatest power, its national legislatures control of the purse strings, congress must authorize for such spending

8. War in Iraq

E.The military-industrial complex

1. Eisenhower warned the public of this in farewell speech

2. U.S armed forces, defense industry and congress having unwarranted influence over foreign policy

3. Goals of military and defense industry intersect

4. 2nd, close personal and professional relationships between the military and their counterparts in defense industry

5.Economy being influenced

F.The media

1. Media go beyond on monitoring and reporting on foreign policy

2. Plays a role in shaping the country’s foreign policy and in influencing the conduct of their policy

3. News, newspapers in WW1, victory gardens, war bonds

4. WW11 filmmakers

5. Vietnam war, journalists

6. Agenda setting and public awareness

7. Investigations

G.Public Opinion

1.War in Iraq and Vietnam war

2. Public opinion has little impact on foreign policy

3.When its negative, has the effect of constraining the actions of foreign policy makers

4.Public support of foreign policy is valuable if that policy requires a commitment of resources

5.Abuse of prisoners- high level of media coverage

6.When it comes to foreign policy matters, public opinion is rarely the strong force that it can be in setting the domestic policy agenda

7. People tend to be less concerned, less informed, less interested

8.So public just accepts the views of foreign policy

9. Public is small role because most don’t keep up, many Americans are less connected to foreign policy decisions

H.Private Citizens

1.Individuals can be influential in foreign policy making

2.Private citizens can use their power of the purse to influence foreign policy, by rewarding and punishing other countries through their consumption choices

3.The power of the purse

a.What we choose to buy or not buy, can change the course of life and history, RED

4.Micro Lending

a. Because of private citizens, private nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations change conditions in foreign nations

b. Changed international conditions can have an impact of foreign policy

c. Example, micro-lending-loaning poor entrepreneurs small amounts of money that enable them to buy what they need to create a business

5.Individuals as advocates

a. More public impact on foreign policy

b.Various educational exchange programs that arrange for students from one country to visit another

c.In effect, public diplomat- an individual outside government who promotes his or her country’s interests and thus helps to shape international perception of that nation

d. Intermestics- the influence of domestic interests on foreign policy

I. US Foreign Policy in Historical Context

1. American Foreign relations = Isolationism & Intervention

2. Isolationism = a country’s unwillingness to participate in international affairs

3. Interventionism = a country’s willingness to take part in international affairs

A. Constitutional Framework and Early Foreign Policy

1. While making the constitution, the founders wanted to remove the US from international affairs

2. Their reason behind it was to stay out of the wars that have plagued Europe

3. Because of this isolationist movement, they put the power of creating foreign affairs in the hands of the national gov.

- Constitution and Foreign Policy powers

a) Foreign policy was created to be shared between the legislative and executive branch

b) Powers given to the president are -> commander in chief, making treaties, and appointing and receiving ambassadors

c) Congress declares war and raises and supports the army and navy

- Early Isolationism

a) George Washington’s Farewell address in 1796 warned the government in getting involved in other alliances

b) He believed it would drag America into other conflicts

c) Refused to listen to his Sec. of State, Thomas Jefferson, who wanted an alliance with France & his Sec. of Treasury who favored stronger ties with Great Britain

d) His words set up America for the next 200 years

- Erosion of US Isolationism

a) US soon began to trade with all sides of the Napoleonic wars from 1792-1815 for greater wealth

b) France then captured a US ship and forced America into an undeclared naval war in the 1790’s

c) America was seeking neutral trade, but was difficult to find because pirates, warring nations, and allies of warring nations controlled the sea

d) When the US ships were captured and the people were held for ransom, America went into the Barbary Wars from 1801-1805 and 1815 against Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya which were known as the North African Barbary States at the time

e) Sailors also had a rough time entering the seas in the early nineteenth century because the British Navy began the practice of impressment (kidnapping sailors from US ships on the idea that they were traitors of the British Navy). Congress then passed the Embargo Act of 1807, which forced US ships to ask for approval to leave the border, but impressment was still in command. This resulted in an economic decline for losing so many exports.

f) Tension between Great Britain and America escalated until Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent because Britain thought that their military resources would be better used against France

B. Hegemony and National Expansion

1. After the war of 1812 and 1814 and the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, peace settled over America and Europe

2. President James Monroe then declare the Monroe Doctrine stating that the Americas should not be considered subjects of any European colonization

3. Manifest Destiny took place (the idea that the US was going to control North America)

4. US became trade partners with China and Japan

5. Spanish American War occurred to end Spanish abuse in Cuba

6. Theodore Roosevelt then became president and was known for the rough riders, won the bloodiest war called San Juan Hill in Cuba

7. He then announced the Roosevelt Corollary (US has a right to act as an International Police Power in the Western Hemisphere)

8. US began construction on the Panama Canal after their independence from Columbia

C. WW1 and the End of US Isolationism

1. WWI and WWII ended isolationism in the US

2. Balance of Power System = a system of international alliances that would balance out the power. An incident in this system caused WWI.

3. Collective Defense was created to agree to defend one another in case of invasion

4. The assignation of Hungarian heir to the throne cause a terrible domino effect which cause a World War

5. Wilson thought that collective security was the best way to handle this war in peace (nations would agree to oppose any nation that attacked another country)

D. Internationalism and League of Nations

1. At the end of WWI at the Paris Peace Conference, Wilson organized the League of Nations to establish collective security of nations, but it Failed in his congress

2. League of Nations died at the end of WWII

3. American Industry was booming but as soon as Britain began to heal from war, America had competition

4. This caused the Great Depression

5. The Smoot Hawley Tariff was passed to impose a significant tax on imported goods.

6. This then created a drop in international trade when other countries countered Americas Tax

7. People began to question is isolationism was the right way to go

E. WWII: US Foreign Policy at a Crossroads

1. WWI was seen as the “war to end all wars”, but the victors are the one who began WWII

2. Through the act of impoverishing Germany in the Treaty of Versailles, Germany wanted revenge and was led by Hitler

3. US began following isolationist movements until a depressing attack at Pearl Harbor which triggered the US involvement in WWII

4. US ended the war by dropping two atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima

5. Would America still have joined the war effort if they had not found out about the Holocaust

  1. After WWII the U.S. and the Soviet Union emerged as international superpowers
  1. International Trade Agreements and Organizations
  1. The Marshall Plan:
  2. Key economic strategy for the reconstruction of war-ravaged nations in western Europe, in which the U.S. would provide financial aid to its allies and even west Germany.
  3. The plan was successful in helping Germany out of its economic hole by demilitarizing it, thus cutting the cost of an army.
  4. The Marshall Plan benefitted the domestic economy here in America, as the U.S. set itself up to receive payments for reparations from all the countries which it provided aid for a while.
  5. It was also strategic in rallying support for the U.S. as a superpower in competition with the Soviet Union.
  1. The United Nations was also established, it was an international body composed of U.S. allies during WWII (has now grown to 192 countries), their main goal was to prevent future wars by achieving collective security and peace.
  2. Allies in the UN each have the means to veto an action by another country
  3. UN also has a General Assembly in which each country casts a vote
  4. Includes specialized organizations to handle policy changes, such as the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, and the International Court
  5. Although the UN was founded to ensure security, and economic and social development, the existence of the Soviet Union in the UN (with the power to veto) has thwarted efforts by the rest of the allies to prevent Soviet aggression; in this aspect, the UN was a lost cause.
  1. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established in order to directly address Soviet aggression, which the UN fell short of.
  2. The UN consisted of western democracies
  3. NATO is a regional security alliance, which is an alliance existing between ideologically similar nations and a superpower.
  4. “An armed attack against one or more NATO nations...shall be considered an attack against them all.”
  5. The Soviet retaliated by forming the Warsaw Pact with its allies in the east
  6. Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was also established, it was an alliance against the spreading of communism.
  7. The Bretton Woods Agreement established the international monetary fund, which was charged with regulating monetary relationships among nations. The agreement also established a World Bank, which provided funds to nations recovering from WWII and developing nations.
  8. In an effort to prevent the tariff war which devastated US economy during the Great Depression, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was established.
  9. The World Trade Organization was created to negotiate, implement, and enforce international trade agreements, however, this group is moot because bigger economies dominate regardless of WTO efforts.
  1. The Cold War
  2. Refers to the political, ideological, and military conflict which lasted from 1945-1990, in which there was great tension among democratic and communist nations, mainly between their leaders, the US and the Soviets
  3. Stalin, leader of the Soviets, spread communism throughout eastern Europe thus dividing the continent with an “iron curtain”, which refers to the extraordinary iron production of the Soviet Union during that time.
  4. In retaliation, president Harry S. Truman established what was dubbed the Truman Doctrine, which in essence stated that the US was going to intervene in countries who were resisting subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures. This doctrine set the implication that the US would take action to prevent the spread of communism, this effort is referred to as containment.
  1. The Korean War
  2. In the US’s first attempt to contain communism outside of Europe, the US army invaded North Korea. North Korea had been strategizing the reunification of north and South Korea under communism with the support of the Soviets. As the war neared the North Korea-China border, tensions rose and China got involved in the effort against the US. Battles got nowhere and the war ended with an armistice which concluded borders exactly where they’d been prior to the war, it also established a demilitarized zone near the borders.
  3. The Korean War was an example of limited war, in which a combatant country has self imposed limitations on their tactics and strategies in order to avoid nuclear war.
  1. The Cuban Missile Crisis
  2. Kennedy used the practice of brinkmanship when Soviets had ballistic missiles put in Cuba. The practice of brinkmanship involves fooling the enemy by approaching the “brink”, or edge, of war, with no intention on following through with the posed threat. Kennedy used this strategy during the Cuban Missile Crisis by imposing a naval blockade around the island and warned the Soviets to withdraw its missiles “or else.” Kennedy’s threat of taking action, with clearly no intention of following through, made the Soviets back down and the missiles were removed.
  1. The Vietnam War
  2. This war marked the first military failure of the US.
  3. Eisenhower justified going to battle in Vietnam by posing the domino theory. The domino theory stated that as one country falls to communism, the nearing countries fall to communism as well, having this pattern continue striking until the last country falls.