Us foreign policy

Questions for consideration:
Who shapes foreign policy and how?
What are the instruments of modern American foreign policy?
Why does history matter?
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Who Shapes Foreign Policy?
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Who Gets To Do That?
Negotiate a treaty
Approve a treaty
Decide that the treaty is unconstitutional
Refuse to pass an aid bill
Declare war
Send a diplomat
Send aid
Pass an aid bill
Avoid participating in a conference
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Congress and the President
The Influence of Each Branch
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The President: “Coordinator in Chief”
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Congress
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Who is best suited for conducting foreign policy?
The President
One person vs. many
Circumvent the formal process
Can persuade the public better than Congress, by using the bully pulpit, setting the agenda, pressuring Congress to act
Delegated power
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Instruments of Foreign Policy
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Imagine you are in a conflict with friends. What strategies do you use?
Interpersonal Strategies
Talk it over
Find someone to help
Make a deal
Fight
Stop talking to the person
Foreign Policy Strategies
Negotiation
Mediation/Alliances
Treaty
Military Force
Sanctions
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Instruments of Foreign Policy:
Diplomacy: promoting interests by peaceful means
The United Nations:
192 Member states with one vote each
No armed forces
Security Council (15 members; 5 Permanent (China, France, Russian federation, UK, and US))
International Monetary Structure
World Bank: Long term capital for war torn countries
IMF: Short term capital based on the dollar
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Instruments of Foreign Policy
Economic Aid
Humanitarianism, as well as Security
Marshall Plan: rebuilding war torn Europe
Collective Security
NATO, ANZUS, SATO
Military Deterrence
Preemption vs. Deterrence
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Why History Matters
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The Roots of U.S. Foreign Policy
Before WWII
Isolationist
The Cold War era
Containment
Bipolarity (with Soviets)
Vietnam, lessons
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The Roots of U.S. Foreign Policy
George H.W. Bush and a “new world order”
Multilateralism
The Gulf War: Kicking the Vietnam syndrome
War in the Balkans: Multilateralism is not always successful
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Recent U.S. Foreign
and Defense Policy
The war on terrorism
9/11 World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks
U.S. no longer using a multilateral approach
Would not support Kyoto Protocol or International Criminal Court (for war crimes)
DHS created
Afghanistan invasion
Unilateralism
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Recent U.S. Foreign
and Defense Policy
The Iraq War
Preemptive war vs. Preventative war
Rationale for war, suspected weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
Strong international objection to military action
Heavy involvement in Iraq limited U.S. ability to respond on other fronts
Waning public support and the “surge”
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A Challenging World
Expanded terrorist threats
Iraq conflict mobilized and united Islamic extremists
The challenge of the global economy
U.S. oil dependency
Surging Chinese economy
Weakening U.S. dollar
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Obama and Foreign Policy
Afghanistan
Iraq
North Korea
Iran
Arab Spring
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