Foreign policy- when a country discusses negotiations with other nations, in hopes of achieving a goal or maintaining national interests (Dictionary.com). Over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, The United States of America has worked its way up to becoming a global superpower. Being the decider of wars and having the largest economy in the world, the immense power of the US has served as the pinnacle of the western world, believing in its mission, as noted by former president Woodrow Wilson, “ to make the world safe for democracy.” Our country has been able to do this for years using the foreign policy, which has given us some allies and many, many enemies along the way, mainly those that are communist nations led by a military dictatorship. This has brought us into some conflicts in places such as the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Southeast Asia, where most corrupt leaders and terrorists are, who are against the principles of giving the power to the people. But our continuous intervention in other countries has increased more tension and has not helped our weakening economy, and some are questioning whether the US should keep its role as the “global police” (Messerli). Many say we should relinquish this role, but if not us, then who? Sure, there are countries such as Russia, Great Britain, France, Germany, China, and Japan, or organizations such as the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but they are not powerful enough to have the same influence that the US has (Messerli). In my opinion, I believed that the proposed League of Nations by President Wilson after World War I would have worked, if the US did not decline to enter and went into its state of isolationism for several years. The ...
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...e out there that believe that the US should remain as the global police. They think that possible replacements are not powerful enough to take over the role that the US currently plays (Messerli). Organizations, such as the United Nations, can’t be an be an effective global policeman because countries don’t offer enough help or aid needed for military action (Reed). This claim has been supported with its inability to stop the genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda (Boot). Though The UN should not be a reliable replacement, the US can no longer afford nor have sole responsibility to take this role. Like I proposed in the introduction, a new version of the League of Nations should be formed, three of the major organizations influence will stretch across the world, and America’s role in foreign policy will be lessened.
Another reason why some people believe
Steven Hook and John Spanier's 2012 book titled “American foreign policy since WWII" serves as one of the most important texts that can be used in understanding the underlying complexities on American foreign policies. Like the first readings that are analyzed in class (American Diplomacy by George Kennan and Surprise, Security, and the American Experience by John Lewis Gaddis), this text also brings history into a more understandable context. Aside from being informative and concise in its historical approach, Hook and Spanier also critiques the several flaws and perspectives that occurred in the American foreign policy history since World War II.
According to Kissinger, Wilson had dreamed of a “Community of Power” that would collectively provide international security. This community would come to be known as the “League of Nations.” Thanks in great part to Wilson’s grand vision, global cooperation is now being achieved through organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). International organizations like the UN and NATO have deep Wilsonian roots. Since 2004, NATO has added nine Baltic states to the organization (making a total of 28 members), which has arguably strengthened security cooperation efforts in that region. It is apparent Wilson’s dream of a “Community of Power” has persevered, due to the continued U.S. practice of promoting democracy as an instrument of conflict
Over the course of the history of the United States, specific foreign policies have affected the methods in which the U.S. involves itself around the globe. Specifically, certain policies have affected U.S. involvement in Latin America.
For almost 100 years since it's birth, U.S. foreign policy was based on expanding westward, protecting U.S. interests, and limiting foreign influence in the Americas. However after the development of a huge industrial economy, U.S. started to focus on the rest of the world. This happened because it needed worldwide markets for it's agricultural and industrial surpluses, as well as raw materials for manufacturing. However it was also fueled by a feeling of imperialism that few Americans had before 1890s.
LEADERSHIP AND FOREIGN POLICY: Contrasting between the liberalist and realist views, discuss the role of a leader in influencing foreign policy.
The League of Nations was an Intergovernmental Organisation which persisted from 1919 up until 1946 where it was formally replaced with the United Nations towards the end of the Second World War. Many consider the League as one of the International Systems greatest failures due to it being widely regarded as an ‘ineffective instrument to tackle aggressors’ (Catterall, 1999, p. 52) and its inherent failure to prevent international conflict. However,
What is Foreign Policy? Foreign Policy is a nations’ attitude, actions (ie economic sanctions, peacekeeping, military activity) as well as our dealings with other countries (ie trade, immigration, aid, defence) and anything that is directed towards preserving and furthering certain national interests. Foreign Policy seeks to maintain national security, promote economic and trade interests, expand regional and global links, and promote the nation as a good global citizen.
To understand the power struggle relating to foreign policymaking, it is crucial to understand what foreign policy entails. The Foreign Policy Agenda of the U.S. Department of State declares the goals of foreign policy as "to build and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people and the international community." While this definition is quite vague, the actual tools of foreign policy include Diplomacy, foreign aid, and military force.
In conclusion, this extensive review of American foreign policy is just very broad. This topic is his shortened summary of a broad topic in a narrative arrangement, if they contributed anything to the historical understanding of this book. Ambrose and Brinkley made the topic very fascinating and easier to comprehend than a plain textbook. By writing Rise to Globalism and narrating stories without including unnecessary truths and statistics. Thanks to this book, I gained a more thorough understanding of the struggles in the Middle East after Vietnam and a new perception on where American presently stands in the world.
American foreign policy determines how America interacts with other nations. Some positives of American foreign policy are that it has helped fuel economic growth around the world and has resulted in the trade of many customs and traditions between the U.S. and other nations. Some negatives of American foreign policy are that it could lead to discrimination against a certain country if the U.S. doesn’t trade as much with them. Also, alliances could form which causes more money to be spent protecting both nations.
Fifty-eight years after the signing of the Charter, the world has changed dramatically. Its universal character and comprehensiveness make the United Nations a unique and indispensable forum for governments to work together to address global issues. At the same time, there remains a large gap between aspiration and real accomplishment. There have been many successes and many failures. The United Nations is a bureaucracy that struggles – understandably – in its attempt to bring together 191 countries. It must come at no surprise, therefore, that a consensus cannot always be reached with so many different competing voices.
“The process of globalization and the increasing role of non-state actors in global governance are undermining the role of the state as the principal actor in global policymaking.”
look at the viewpoint of an average college student whose knowledge of world affairs is
The process of reforming the United Nations (UN) has been a highly debatable issue among the international community. Since the initial signing of the UN Charter in 1945, the world has changed dramatically as the UN is trying to regulate a forum that assesses and deals with global issues while also struggling to unite all 193 member states of the UN when some states have been seen to have conflicting ideas and personal agendas (Teng, 2003, pp. 2-3). This essay is targeted to highlight what I feel are the most pressing arguments for UN reform amongst the international community. This will be done by highlighting the problems and ongoing issues surrounding the lack of representation and P5 power of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), arguing that the UNSC is out of date and controlled egotistically. This essay will also highlight the humanitarian aspect of the UN and the role it plays in meeting and solving complex global problems. This will be done by showing reform propositions in the aforementioned councils in the UN in hopes of showing how reform will be achieved.
Foreign policy could be explained to be a set of ambitions that seek to prescribe how a nation will relate at an international level with other nations of the world and to an extent with non state actors in pursuit of its national economic, political, social and cultural interest.3