Foreign policy refers to how a country interacts with other nations to achieve goals like trade and security. The President can make foreign policy by responding to current events or negotiating agreements. Congress also shapes policy through legislation and funding decisions. An important early policy was the Monroe Doctrine, which opposed European colonization in the Americas. Current issues NATO addresses include supporting democracy and countering piracy. The UN works to maintain peace and aid disaster victims. Food aid organizations struggle with ensuring proper nutrition. Foreign policy impacts average citizens through trade relationships and military commitments.

1. Foreign Policy
Kerry Wilt

2. What is Foreign Policy?
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Foreign Policy: the way a country interacts
with one or more other nation in order to
achieve a specific goal.
Examples of national goals include: trading
with certain countries, world peace, and allies
in times of war.

3. How can the President make
foreign policy?
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The President can make foreign policy by responding to
current events. An example of this would be the current
President, Obama making the executive decision as
commander in chief to pull American troops out of the Middle
East. In effect, his foreign policy is anti-war.
Another way that the President can make foreign policy is by
negotiating international agreements. An example of this
would be President Obama negotiating with other countries
regarding whether or not to invade Syria.

4. How can Congress make foreign
policy?
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Two way in which Congress is able to create
foreign policy for the United States is by
legislative pressure, and denying of funds.
An example of when Congress has chosen to
deny funds is when Congress denied funds for
war during the Vietnam War.

5. The Monroe Doctrine
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One of the most important documents shaping US
foreign policy is the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe
Doctrine was created in 1823 by President Monroe.
Many foreign powers, including totalitarian Russia, were
encroaching on the Americas. The Monroe Doctrine
basically stated that America would not allow any
countries to colonize in the Americas anymore. It was
supported by Great Britain. This was a passive
aggressive way of keeping other countries from
colonizing, and was one of the first written foreign
policies. Despite the fact that Monroe really had no way
of stopping the other nations, it showed American foreign
policy against colonization.

6. NATO in foreign policy
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NATO is a democratic organization that supports
peaceful ways to end disputes. NATO stands for
democracy for its members.
An attack against one member of NATO is an attack
against all of them. There are currently 28 members
of NATO. The most recent member to join is Croatia.
NATO and Ukraine are both currently working
together to fight against piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

7. The United Nations
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Created after World War II, the United Nations
is dedicated to maintaining amiable relations
amongst its members, while promoting
international peace and high standards of
living throughout the world.
There are currently 193 members of the UN.
A current event that the UN is dealing with is
helping the victims of typhoon Haiyan.

8. The World Hunger Organization
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The World Hunger Organization is a group of
nations who work together to help put an end
to world hunger. They feed the impoverished
by providing food and food stamps.
A current issue they are facing is obesity in
Texans who are using food stamps. They are
not being filled with the proper nutrients, and
are still hungry.

9. How does foreign policy affect the
average US citizen?
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Oil plays a large role in US foreign policy.
Americans want the precious oils found in
Middle Eastern countries, so if the US were to
stop trading with those countries, our citizens
would be devastated.
Military families are directly affected by US
foreign policy. Whether or not the US is at a
stand off with another country determines
whether or not that family temporarily or
permanently loses a member.

10. References
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http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_104597.htm
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http://www.nato.int/nato-welcome/index.html
http://www.un.org/en/members/growth.shtml
http://www.un.org/news/
http://www.worldhunger.org/