Download Chapter 17, Section 3: Guide to the Essentials

SECTION
SECTION 43
AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY
OVERVIEW
TEXT SUMMARY
of hostile relations between the United
For its first 150 years, U.S. foreign policy
States and the Soviet Union.
was based on isolationism. In 1823 the
During the cold war, the United States
Monroe Doctrine stated that the United
supported a policy of containment,
States would keep itself out of
T H E BIG I D E A
which said that if communism could be
European affairs as well as that
contained within its existing boundaries,
European nations should stay
Although the
it would collapse under the weight of its
out of the affairs of North and
United States origiinternal weaknesses. As the United States
South America.
nally followed an
withdrew from the Vietnam War, it began
The United States was active
isolationist policy,
a policy of détente—“a relaxation of tenin the Western Hemisphere,
it later became a
sions”—that improved relations with the
however. In the 1800s it began
leader in world
Soviet Union and China.
expanding its territory. By winaffairs.
The end of the cold war began when
ning the Spanish-American War
Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of
in 1898, the United States
the Soviet Union. U.S.-Soviet relations had
gained colonial territories and began to
improved significantly by the time the
emerge as a world power.
Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Since
In the early 1900s, the United States
then, some key events shaping U.S. foreign
began forming more international relapolicy have occurred in the Middle East.
tionships, such as that with China. World
War II brought a final end
GRAPHIC SUMMARY: The Changing
to U.S. isolationism. Most
Course of U.S. Foreign Policy
nations at that point
turned to the principle of
Isolationist
collective security, by
which they agreed to act
together against any
nation that threatened
• Territorial expansion helps establish the
the peace. The United
United States as a world power.
States also took up a policy
• World War II ends isolationism and
of deterrence—building
encourages a policy of collective security.
military strength to dis• The cold war brings about the policies of
courage attack. This policy
deterrence, containment, and finally détente.
began during the cold
war—more than 40 years
World Leader
Certain events and policies have changed
the United States from an isolationist
nation into a leader in world events.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What was the goal of deterrence?
94
CHAPTER 17
Guide to the Essentials
2. Diagram Skills What was the
effect of U.S. territorial expansion?
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