U.s. Foreign Policy Approaches - 1424 Words

The United States (U.S.) uses two approaches to their foreign policy. The first approach is realism. This viewpoint stresses that the principal actors, states, will pursue their own interests in an anarchical world. States will try to establish a balance of power that restrains aggressive states from dominating weaker ones. The second approach is idealism. This view stresses that states should transform the system into a new international order where peace can prevail. This approach emphases the spread of democracy across the world and the creation of international institutions. Realism and idealism provides an explanation to how U.S. foreign policy has developed since World War Two (WWII), identifies which influential factors play a role in both foreign policy approaches, and determines which view has best served the pursuit of national interests. The realist and idealist approaches are important in explaining the swinging pendulum path American foreign policy took since WWII. Over the past seventy years, U.S. foreign policy switches between these two approaches. After WWII ended, idealistic U.S. policymakers believed that cooperation between the United States and Soviet Union would transform the world to a more cooperative and peaceful one. This idealistic belief was quickly demolished by the Soviet expansions in Turkey and Greece and the destruction of the hopes of U.S.-Soviet cooperation after WWII. So, U.S. policymakers switched to a realist approach in aShow MoreRelatedThe War On Terror : An Example Of All Three Foreign Policy Tools Is Afghanistan Essay1303 Words   |  6 PagesWar on Terror required utilizing pre-emptive war, regime change, and unilateralism. An example of all three foreign policy tools is Afghanistan. Bush took a hard line approach with the Taliban government of Afghanistan, who had a semi-friendly working relationship with Osama bin Laden’s terrorist group, al Qaeda, by declaring that if the Taliban government did not hand o ver bin Laden, the U.S. would invade Afghanistan. The War on Terror created a renewed moralism that had effectively disappeared inRead MoreForeign Policy Decisions Of The United States888 Words   |  4 PagesReflecting on the foreign policy decisions of the United States of the Post-World War II era, one will find that the U.S. aimed to make pragmatic foreign policy decisions to strengthen its position in world politics. Some of these decisions may have given the U.S. economic advantages or helped spread democracy to the world. However, they were only the byproducts of a pragmatic strategy that aimed at giving the U.S. a larger sphere of influence in geopolitics over the Soviet Union. It is seen in theRead MoreAmerican Foreign Policy Since World War 21395 Words   |  6 PagesBackground to U.S Foreign Policy In their book American Foreign Policy since World War 2, Steven W. Hook, and John Spanier take a historical look at American foreign policy. Since its independence, all through to the start of the 20th century, the United States had a policy of detachment. This was rooted in the believe that Europe, the only other meaningful powerful in the world in the 18th and 19th century, had intrinsic issues related to feudism that kept the continent in a constant state ofRead MoreU.s. Foreign Policy Policies1370 Words   |  6 PagesThe U.S. foreign policy has always been linked to the domestic policy since the U.S. never feared of expanding its national interests over the national boarders. Isolation for the U.S. usually implied slow economic growth and the large number of destructive conflicts within, while impudent foreign policy always guaranteed an abrupt economic growth for the U.S. economy. After the U.S. intervened in the WWI and the WWII, the U.S. economy witnessed a tremendous econo mic growth, nearly elimination ofRead MoreThe Political Affairs Of Latin America925 Words   |  4 Pagesimpacting role in the political affairs of Latin America. Since the dawn of the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, the U.S. has taken a firm and direct stance when dealing with the continent to ensure that its [United States] interests are always upheld. This being said, the U.S. uses formal and informal manipulation and intervention to ensure that Latin American governments are compatible with U.S. interests. This dates back, as previously said, to the time of the Monroe doctrine, when the United-States wantedRead MoreFour approaches to the political economy development of Latin America1734 Words   |  7 PagesThe study of development in Latin America has been approached from a variety of academic disciplines. International Political Economy scholars have provided a number of different approaches for studying, analyzing and understanding the political and institutional constrains that have shaped the development of Latin American countries. They have also incorporated into the analysis variables such as the influence of international organizations and the economic and class history, and its relation withRead MoreAmerica s New Sense Of World Power758 Words   |  4 Pagesacross the waters. There were many approaches that were suggested by previous presidents, all with the same goal: World Dominance. The Big Stick idea was brought to light from President Theodore Roosevelt. The plan reflected many of the same impulses that were motivating domestic reforms that were taking place in America. He wanted to expand that reform to Cuba. He wanted to send a message that reflected to nations America s new sense of world power. With this policy Presidents could exercise powerRead MoreA Critical Analysis of the Key National Security Issues Faced in the Post-Vietnam War Period566 Words   |  3 Pagessignificant changes that occurred after that historical event, that forever changed the policy conceptualization and implementation of national and foreign-related issues. The administration of Richard Nixon was greatly affected by the Vietnam War. Due to the fact that the US failed to win the war in a smooth way, Nixon tried to assess the things that went wrong in the national security and foreign policies of his predecessors like Kennedy and Johnson. Henry Kissinger (National Security AdvisorRead MoreCold War and U1205 Words   |  5 PagesThe Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy: The Truman Doctrine Mark Newsome Strayer University Politics 300 Dr. Sussie Okoro 16 March 2014 The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy: The Truman Doctrine Harry S. Truman was President of the United States from 1945-1953. President Truman presidency was marked throughout by important foreign policy initiatives. Central to almost everything Truman undertook in his foreign policy was the desire to prevent the expansion of influence of the Soviet Union. At the endRead MoreThe Iranian Hostage Crisis Of 19791667 Words   |  7 Pageslinger today. Iran’s revolution of 1979 resulted in a regime change that saw U.S.-supported Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi toppled by the formerly-exiled Ayotollah Khomeini, who promptly instated a strongly anti-Western regime that established itself as ideologically in direct opposition to many Western values. This anti-Western, and particularly anti-American sentiment was common amongst many Iranians due to their resentment of U.S. support for Shah Pahlavi and his oppressive and unsatisfactory regime.