Download Unit 5: Public Policy

Chapter 20
Foreign & Military
Policy
What is Foreign Policy?
• a nation’s external goals and techniques
and strategies used to achieve them
• American foreign policy includes
national security policy, which is policy
designed to protect the independence
and the political and economic integrity
of the United States
Tools of Foreign Policy
• diplomacy – the process by which states carry
on relations with each other (can also mean
settling conflicts among nations through
peaceful means)
• economic aid – assistance to other nations
through grants, loans or credits to buy the
assisting nation’s products
• technical assistance – sending individuals
with expertise in agriculture, engineering or
business to aid other nations
Competing Views of
Foreign Policy
• Moral Idealism – one theory of how
nations act, it views all nations as
willing to cooperate and agree on moral
standards for conduct
• Political Realism – sees each nation
acting principally in its own interest
Current Challenges in
World Politics
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terrorism
the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
nuclear proliferation
terrorism
Regional Conflicts
Powers of the President in
Making Foreign Policy
• Constitutional Powers
– solemnly swears to “preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States”
– is commander in chief of the military
– can make treaties (which are later ratified by the Senate)
– can enter into executive agreements
– can appoints ambassadors
• Informal powers
– has access to information
– is a legislative leader who can influence Congress’s foreign
policy
– can influence public opinion
– can commit the nation morally to a course of action
Other Sources of Foreign
Policy
• Department of State
– supervises relations with other independent
nations and with multinational organizations like
the United Nations
– staffs embassies
– power has declined since World War II
– has “negative constituents,” Americans who
oppose aspects of U.S. foreign policy
• National Security Council
– advises the president on policies relating to
national security
– provides continuity from one presidential
administration to the next
Other Sources of Foreign
Policy (cont.)
• The Intelligence Community – includes
government organizations involved in
information gathering about the capabilities
and intentions of other countries
• Some agencies in the intelligence community
include
• The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
• National Security Agency (NSA)
• Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
• the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Other Sources of Foreign
Policy (cont.)
• The Intelligence Community – includes government
organizations involved in information gathering about
the capabilities and intentions of other countries
• Some agencies in the intelligence community include
• The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
• National Security Agency (NSA)
• Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
• the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Local Government Units
(cont.)
• The Department of Defense –
– designed to bring all military activities under the
jurisdiction of a single agency headed by a civil
secretary of defense
– has seen size of military significantly reduced
– has seen reductions in civilian employees
Major Foreign Policy Themes
• “Negative” foreign
policy during 1700 and
1800’s (isolationism)
– mistrust of Europe
– militarily weak
– shaped by the Monroe
Doctrine
• Spanish –American War
and World War I
– seen as temporary
entanglements
– lasted from 1898- 1918
– followed by a resurgence
of isolationism
• The Era of
Internationalism
– began with bombing of
Pearl Harbor, and U.S.
entry into World War II
– resulted in significant
increases in defense
spending
– emerged from World War
II with a strengthened
economy
– controlled nuclear
weapons
The Cold War:
the ideological, political and economic impasse
that existed between the U.S. and the USSR
following the end of their WWII alliance
• during the Cold War, U.S. foreign policy was
dominated by containment, the idea limiting
Communist power to its (then) existing
countries
• the Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the
superpowers came to direct confrontation
• détente between the U.S. and the Soviet
Union occurred in the late 1960’s and early
1970’s
The Cold War (cont.)
• during the 1980’s the Reagan administration
lobbied for the development of the Strategic
Defense Initiative (SDI or “Star Wars), and
also negotiated significant arms control
treaties
– the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the
developments in Eastern Europe made negotiating
arms control more difficult, as nuclear weapons
are now held by a number of sovereign nations,
rather than one.
What is our foreign policy today???