3. The Nature of Foreign Policy
• Foreign policy: programs and policies that
determine America’s relations with other nations
and foreign entities.
• American foreign policy arenas:
– Diplomacy
– Military and security policy
– International human rights policy
– Economic policy
5. Goals of Foreign Policy
• Three main goals of U.S. foreign policy:
– Security
– Economic prosperity
– Creation of a better world
6. Goals of Foreign Policy
• Security
– Traditionally concerned with dangers posed by
hostile foreign nations
• Military and regime threats at home and abroad
– Today, threats posed by nonstate actors
• Organized groups that are not nation-states
• Such groups attempt to play a role in the international
system via rogue means.
7. Goals of Foreign Policy
• Isolationism: desire to avoid involvement in the
affairs of other nations
• Most of nineteenth century, isolationism was
dominant U.S. foreign policy
• Much easier in era when United States not yet a
military or economic world power
• Technology (aircraft, communications, banking)
era also made isolationism viable.
8. Goals of Foreign Policy
• World War II ended isolationism.
• Isolation was replaced with deterrence.
• Deterrence: develop and maintain military strength
as means of discouraging attack
– So strong that no enemy dares engage
• Point of military buildup is so that weapons are never
actually used
– Stockpiling weapons for invasion is NOT a deterrence
strategy.
9. Goals of Foreign Policy
• Preventive war (preemption): policy of striking
first when a nation fears that a foreign foe is
planning hostile action
• Appeasement: effort to forestall war by giving in
to the demands of a hostile power
10. Goals of Foreign Policy
• The Cold War (1940s–1990s)
– After World War II, the U.S. and USSR became the world’s
two superpowers.
– Each was capable of destroying the world many times over
with their nuclear arsenals.
– Never fought one another directly (a “hot war”)
– Competed for the allegiances of other countries
• Nations all over the globe allied themselves with the
United States or USSR (democracy v. communism)
11. Goals of Foreign Policy
• Deterrence assumes certainty and rationality.
– Works for countries (except rogue states) but not for
nonstate actors
• USSR and U.S. both feared global nuclear war;
neither would directly attack the other.
• Terrorist groups not fearful of losing life among their
own group members/followers
12. Goals of Foreign Policy
• U.S. international economic policies promote
prosperity by:
– Expanding domestic employment
• Ex.: Toyota factories in six U.S. states
– Maintaining access to foreign natural resources at
favorable costs
– Promoting foreign investment in the United States
– Lowering prices that citizens pay for goods and
services
13. Goals of Foreign Policy
• World trade
– World Trade Organization (WTO): promotes free trade
and provides a dispute mechanism for members
– North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA):
eliminated tariffs on imports between America,
Canada, and Mexico
14. Goals of Foreign Policy
• International humanitarian policies
– International environmental policies
– International human rights policies
– International peacekeeping
• These policies can range in priority depending
on the other security and trade issues
associated with a given nation.
16. Goals of Foreign Policy
• The United States has been on the forefront of
human rights issues.
– U.S. constitutional protections against discrimination
based on race, gender, political beliefs, and religion
• Other nations often look to America to take
leadership on human rights issues, even if only
in public statements.
• Economic interest can take priority though.
17. Goals of Foreign Policy
• Humanitarian efforts include peacekeeping.
– Sending troops to keep other nations from fighting
one another
– Often combined with efforts to protect civilians from
starvation, homelessness, and abuse
– Most frequently joined by other nations in these
efforts
– Humanitarian relief during natural disasters (funds,
military, medical, logistical support)
18. Who Makes American Foreign Policy?
• Presidents dominate foreign policy matters.
– Can directly set foreign policy strategies easily
– Ambassador and military appointments
– Relationships with foreign heads of state
• Congress has a role, but is less influential.
• Courts, interest groups, and public opinion can
play a role, too.
– Highly charged issues like Iraq War
19. Who Makes American Foreign Policy?
• Presidents can be tremendously influential.
– Head of state
– Ability to initiate treaties and agreements
– Place senior officials who oversee bureaucracy
– Have enormous resources available for policy making
– Constitutional authorities uniquely position president
for foreign policy leadership.
20. Who Makes American Foreign Policy?
• Major governmental players in foreign policy
– Secretaries of State, Defense, and Treasury
– Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS)
– Director of CIA
– Director of National Security Council (NSC)
• President appoints all of these positions.
– Hence, foreign policy can easily reflect a president’s
agenda (at least more readily than domestic policy).
23. Who Makes American Foreign Policy?
• Constitution: Congress has the power to declare war.
– Has only done so five times: War of 1812, Mexican War
(1846), Spanish American War (1898), WW I (1917), WW II
(1941)
• Congress controls funding for war.
– Rarely refuses to fund military actions the president has
initiated.
– Politically very unpopular to vote against funds associated
with American military troops at war
24. Who Makes American Foreign Policy?
• Interest groups
– Economic interest groups
– National origin groups
• Examples: Jewish Americans with respect to
Israel; Cuban Americans
– Human rights groups
• Media
– Negative media can lead to negative pubic opinion.
26. Who Makes American Foreign Policy?
• In times of foreign crisis:
– The presidency is at its strongest.
• Congress not designed to act quickly
• Media and public look to singular voice, leader on
crisis matters
– The circle of influence is very constrained.
– Foreign actors can limit options open to U.S. policy
makers.
27. Instruments of Modern American Foreign Policy
• Diplomacy: the representation of a government
to other foreign governments
• American civilian jobs with the foreign service
(state department) require extensive skill sets,
and the process is very selective.
• United Nations: comprised of 192 countries,
each of which gets one vote
29. Instruments of Modern American Foreign Policy
• Economic aid
– America provides $30b a year to other countries
– “Carrot” (positive incentive, benefits) to get countries
to take desired actions that U.S. prefers
• Economic sanctions
– “Stick” (negative incentive, penalties) to get countries
to take desired actions that U.S. prefers
– Trade embargoes, bans on investment, bans on
travel, freezing of assets held in banks
30. Instruments of Modern American Foreign Policy
• Bank for reconstruction and development (World
Bank)
– Mechanism for governments to lend money to one
another in ways that private-sector markets could not
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)
– Helps stressed nations borrow short-term funds
31. Instruments of Modern American Foreign Policy
• Collective security
– OAS, NATO, ANZUS, SATO
– An armed attack against any of its members “shall be
considered as an attack against all…”
• Arbitration: resolution of disagreement by a
neutral third party
– “Soft power” as opposed to the military
– Virtually all international contracts have arbitration.
33. Public Opinion Poll
Should the United States engage in trade or offer any
kind of military support to nations with well-documented
human rights abuses that are contrary to democracy?
a)Yes, the U.S. should do business with such nations
if it benefits the United States.
a)No, the U.S. should not trade or offer assistance to
nations that are antidemocratic in any manner.
34. Public Opinion Poll
Should Congress be required to declare war
before the
United States engages in armed conflicts?
a) Yes, there should be formal declarations of war
by Congress that signal the will of the people
and the nation to engage in the conflict.
b) No, formal declarations are not needed and
serve no real purpose.
35. Public Opinion Poll
Which foreign policy tactic would be the most
successful to convince the largest number of
nations to
adopt policies favorable to the United States?
a) Economic benefits and/or sanctions
b) Military threats
c) Diplomacy (dialogue, negotiation)
36. Public Opinion Poll
Should the United States adopt a more isolationist
foreign policy approach as it did a century ago?
a) Yes, America should not intervene or engage
with other nations much, if at all.
b) No, America must be engaged with the rest of
the world and viewed as a major power/player
by other nations.
37. Public Opinion Poll
What is the biggest foreign policy concern to
American
national interests?
a) Terrorist threats
b) Rising economic powers make the American
economy weaker
c) Cyber hacks and attacks that compromise
American state secrets (WikiLeaks)
While foreign policies—such as the ongoing American presence in Afghanistan—are often controversial, some Americans argue that it is important for the nation to put aside partisan differences in dealing with international issues.
Consider having students look up U.S. policy with other nations along these four venues.
Small groups or individual students can find this information readily online and discuss in class.
Comprehensive policy with a given nation will range from very friendly (Great Britain, for example) to hostile (Iran, for example).
In 2009, President Obama hosted a meeting between Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. As the dominant world power today, the United States is involved in issues all over the world.
Countries building up armed forces with the goal of invading another country are not engaged in deterrence.
During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in an arms race, each acquiring nuclear weapons to deter the other from attacking.
Iraq War was a preemptive war.
The two countries were both so powerful that they became scared to fight one another because doing so would result in the mutually assured destruction of both.
Terrorist groups have no territory to invade, leaders to target, or viable negotiable demands.
If your class is up to the task, consider explaining in terms of a two-player game. If one player is not playing, then there is no game.
Students with business majors may be especially well poised to engage in this discussion in terms of their course of study.
Diverse industries can be brought in to underscore this discussion, as well as the relationship between international businesses and governments.
International students may also wish to contribute their point of view about American foreign policy vis-à-vis their home countries.
The concept of free trade is one that students might find very appealing, but if so, why is it so heavily disputed? The reason is that when barriers to trade are lessened, people in uncompetitive industries lose jobs. Higher tariffs make foreign imports unnaturally expensive, allowing uncompetitive domestic industries to remain alive.
An example to that last point is the manner in which the United States addresses human rights in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. The U.S. frequently discusses human rights abuses toward women in Afghanistan policy discourse. While Saudi Arabia has well-documented abuses and restrictions upon women, American policy minimizes those practices in policy discussion.
Many Americans believe that protecting human rights around the world should be a goal of U.S. foreign policy. These protesters called for U.S. government action to stop human rights abuses by China in Tibet. However, humanitarian goals in foreign policy sometimes conflict with other political and economic goals.
Countries that trade with one another and that have free markets tend to be more peaceful and cooperative with each other.
The democratic peace theory can be brought into the discussion here.
A point you might want to make is that U.S. citizens, private companies, and nonprofit organizations also fund truly massive humanitarian relief efforts in places all over the world, including dangerous zones (whether due to military conflict, natural elements, or recent disasters).
Large-scale cooperation occurs across organizations and governments; for example, the government might secure airports and repave roads or rebuild bridges so that private relief efforts can operate.
Consider asking students to think of ways that presidents directly interact/influence foreign affairs.
Consider examples highlighting how Congress is involved in foreign affairs.
The Constitution vests more foreign policy authority in presidents by virtue of appointment power, commander in chief role, and head of state duties.
Look up individuals currently in these positions and their most recent predecessors. What foreign policy experience did each bring to their positions?
The textbook mentions the turf battles between CIA and the Department of Defense.
Discuss why Congress does not resolve this once and for all. The answer, of course, is that the congressional committees are also engaged in these turf wars.
Military leaders may play a role in making foreign policy, as they often advise Congress and the president. In 2012, U.S. Marine general John Allen—the chief U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan—testified before the House Armed Services Committee.
TABLE 14.1 Principal Foreign Policy Provisions of the Constitution
The textbook does not go into why Congress has made so few declarations of war, but you will have already taught about the War Powers Act.
You might want to ask the students if it makes a difference in any meaningful way if Congress declares war or not.
Members of Amnesty International asked the U.S. government to take action to end the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan. Interest groups such as Amnesty International may influence foreign policy by lobbying the government directly and by raising public awareness of certain issues.
You might want to ask why the power of the presidency is at its strongest in times of crisis.
Aside from the fact that Congress simply is not designed to move quickly, it is a relatively open institution and hard to deal with secret information for very long before it is leaked.
You might want to mention that to become a Foreign Service Officer (FSO), otherwise known as a career diplomat, one must pass a grueling set of exams, encompassing world knowledge, role playing, and multiple interviews. FSOs are highly sought-after positions. America is very careful about who it sends to work in official capacities around the world.
As with all branches of government (including Defense), the secretary of state is an appointee and is not normally selected from the career ranks, although they do normally have prominent experience in foreign affairs.
The United Nations is sometimes an important instrument of American foreign policy. In trying to build international support for the U.S. case against Iraq, President Bush went before the General Assembly and urged the United Nations to compel Iraq to disarm. Two months later, the UN Security Council gave its qualified support to Bush’s position.
Students can discuss various scenarios they are familiar with involving carrots and sticks; the book provides some examples as well.
Arbitration is a key power/function of the WTO.
FIGURE 14.1 Military Spending, 2011
SOURCE: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, www.sipri.org (accessed 8/6/12).
