U.S Foreign Policy

U.S Foreign Policy

Introduction

American foreign policy has fluctuated throughout the existence of the United States, stemming from the influence of exogenous dynamics and significant watersheds felt throughout the international system as well as endogenous changes and influences within the American government. Noteworthy declarations such as the Monroe Doctrine, international conflicts such as the World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War as well as regional conflicts such as the Vietnam War and the Korean War significantly influenced American foreign policy. Currently, the events of September 11, 2001, represent the major exogenous watershed that influenced the foreign policy decision-making of the U.S. government.

Thesis statement

“U.S foreign policy faced many variations with the course of the time striving to ensure the security and sovereignty of the country sometimes overlooking the rights of other nations.”

Discussion

Holsti (1992, 1996) identifies three watersheds that ultimately shaped the relationship between public opinion and American foreign policy: World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. The significance of World War II came as scientific polling of public opinion began, allowing for a much more advanced empirical investigation into the opinions of the American public. The period of World War II and its aftermath produced an intensification of scientific public-opinion polling. During this period, polling organizations attempted to ascertain the opinion of the American public regarding a major concern of U.S. policymakers: Should the United States remain an isolationist from world affairs, or should it become an active player? . In the immediate post-World War II period, policymakers were split on the liberal-realist divide concerning the effectiveness of the American public opinion on foreign policy. However, in the 1960s, policymakers now viewed public opinion as having little to no impact on foreign policy decision making. The Vietnam War provided the third watershed regarding public opinion and American foreign policy. Within this period, the relationship between public opinion and American foreign policy gained a renewed significance as many realists including Lippmann questioned the belief of an imperial presidency and a limited impact of public opinion on foreign policy. Furthermore, more polling organizations with a narrower focus in contrast to the general surveys of Gallup were created and devised their surveys in a simpler yet more extensive and in depth manner (Holster, 1992, 1996).

Policies in George Bush Era

George Bush had the difficult burden of being the first U.S. president in nearly 50 years to get the world the old bipolar international system of the Cold War to a new global context in which the United States had the only great power status. The foreign policy of the Bush team was certainly one of the most "ideological" histories of the United States. It was based on a founding event (September 11) constitutes a clear doctrine (the fight against all forms of terrorism and threats), served by sound bites and simple as "axis of evil". This doctrine was implemented through a very Wilsonian argument, referring to the divine mission of the United States to make the world ...