The Pros And Cons Of American Foreign Policy

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.

Early American foreign policy consisted of the Monroe Doctrine, the Good Neighbor Policy, and the Open Door Policy. On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe wrote a policy regarding Europe called the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe

There were two sides called the Central Powers and the Allied Powers. Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire were on the Central Powers (World War I). They fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, and the United States (World War I). World War I had very intense fighting which included trench warfare where soldiers dug trenches miles and miles long and had to stay down in them for very long periods of time. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers were victorious, over 16 million soldiers and civilians were killed (World War I). The United States tried to stay neutral in the early stages of the War, however, it became more difficult when Germany started sinking U.S. ships which included passenger boats. In 1915, Germany declared the water surrounding the British Isles to be a war zone (World War I). At a conference in 1919 called the Paris Peace Conference, leaders from the Allied Powers and leaders from the Central Powers met and signed the Treaty of Versailles on June 28 which ended World War I. World War I had a major effect on the world. Germany and France sent more than 80% of the male population between the ages of 15 to 49 into war (World War I). A total of 9 million soldiers were killed and more than 21 million more were wounded (World War I). World War I also allowed women to enter into the workforce to cover the jobs of

However, there were some very close calls regarding nuclear weapons and the spreading of communism. The Cold War lasted from about 1947 until 1991 and during that time there were two additional wars fought; the Korean War and Vietnam War. The Korean started on June 25, 1950 when 75,000 North Korean soldiers crossed the 38th parallel which separated North and South Korea (Korean War). By July, American troops joined the war and the main purpose for this was to stop the spread of communism. The Korean War finally came to an end in 1953 and about 5 million troops and civilians lost their lives (Korean War). Overall, the war didn’t achieve much besides that communism did not spread to South Korea and to this day, North Korea and South Korea are still divided. The Vietnam War was another war that was fought in the time period during the Cold War. This war started on November 1, 1955 and lasted until April 30, 1975 with a total of 5 million casualties including American troops, Vietnamese soldiers, and Vietnamese citizens. In 1973, President Nixon ordered for the removal of all troops in Vietnam but many people did not agree with this back in America (Vietnam War). The war finally came to an end in 1975 when communist country North Vietnam seized control of South Vietnam and the country became unified as the socialist Republic of Vietnam