Interpreting US Foreign Policy I

1
Interpreting US Foreign Policy (I)
2
Why Study US Foreign Policy?

• Security threats to the US
• Global weapon proliferation
• WMD terrorist groups
• WMD rouge states
• Disease of Mass Destruction (DMD)
• SARS
• Avian Influenza
• Threats are real at home
• 1993 World Trade Center bombing
• 2001 Terrorist attacks
• Security threats affect daily lives of Americans
• Enhanced security check at airport
• Potential impact on civil liberties

3
Why Study US Foreign Policy?

• Economic Interdependence
• Increasing share of GDP from foreign trade
• gt 10 in 1960
• gt 25 in 2006
• Intl division of labor US employment
• Outsourcing production
• Dependence on foreign consumer goods
• Foreign currency exchange rates
• Trade deficits undervalued foreign currency
• Foreign investment
• FDI (foreign direct investment) growth
• Growth rate employment

4
Why Study US Foreign Policy?

• US Global Society
• Foreign domestic politics impact USA
• Foreign environmental mismanagement
• Chinas desertification sand storm
• Foreign wildlife mismanagement
• Chinas wildlife survival crisis SARS
• Foreign farm animal welfare crisis
• Threat of global spread of avian influenza
• Poverty immigration issue
• Border security relations with Mexico

5
Why Study US Foreign Policy?

• Ethnic diversity of American society
• Foreign born Americans their ethnic culture
• Little Italy, Little Havana, China Town
• Foreign culture impact mainstream life
• Foreign cuisine impacts American eating habit
• Foreign arts cultural products infiltrate
  American society
• Jackie Chen Chinese martial arts
• Pokemon cards, hello kitty American youth
• Understanding foreign culture understanding own
  culture

6
Why Study US Foreign Policy?

• US Preeminence in World Politics
• Only superpower
• Enormous political influence
• American democracy serves to inspire
• Superior military capability
• Global presence and global reach
• Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Japan, South Korea, Germany, Cuba,
• Extensive diplomatic engagement
• North Korea, Iran weapons proliferation issue
• Israel-Palestine conflict
• Economic might
• China rising on ferocious American appetite for
  Chinese goods

7
Why Study US Foreign Policy?

• US Preeminence in World Politics
• Only superpower
• Economic might
• China rising on ferocious American appetite for
  Chinese goods
• American tourists enrich Caribbean other
  destinations
• Popularity of American products overseas
• American cigarettes, cars, McDonalds, KFC,
  Coca-cola
• American citizens foreign policy
• Informed citizens exert influence via
• Elections
• Lobbying, protest, demonstrations,

8
Why Study US Foreign Policy?

• US Moral Obligations
• Human tragedies remain around the world
• Human rights violation
• Murder as a policy tool in the Balkans
• Genocide mass starvation
• Informed citizens help US respond to global
  humanitarian crisis

9
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• Objectives of US Foreign Policy
• Foreign policies are made in the name of national
  interest
• Four core goals/elements of national interest
  (the 4 Ps framework)
• Power
• Peace
• Prosperity
• Principles
• A particular policy can be seen to pursue one,
  several or all of the Ps.

10
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• Power as the objective
• A most basic goal since power
• Is key to a strong defense and credible
  deterrence
• Enhances influence over other actors
• Advances own interest and aggressiveness.
• Realists perception
• International politics is a struggle for power.
• Competition and conflicts are constant
• Cooperation among states is limited
• The world is a self-help system it is jungle
• States pursue power enlargement for survival.

11
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• Power as the objective
• Realists perception
• Indicators of a realist foreign policy
• Coercive diplomacy
• Big military spending
• alliance against a mutual enemy
• Peace as the objective
• Perception of International institutionalism
• World politics is a cultivable garden
• Cooperation is possible and reduces tensions.
• Diplomacy works better than military means
• International institutions serve to sustain
  cooperation

12
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• Peace as the objective
• Perception of International institutionalism
• Anarchy cannot be eliminated but can be tempered
  or regulated via intl organizations,
  negotiations, treaties.
• Indicators of a peace-oriented policy
• Acting as peace broker
• shuttle diplomacy in the Mideast by Dr.
  Kissinger
• The Camp David accord between Egypt and Israel in
  1978
• The 1995 Dayton accord ending the war in Bosnia
• Diplomacy over military means
• US participation in the six-party talk on North
  Korea

13
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• Prosperity as the objective
• Two schools of thought
• Capitalist free trade economic thinking
• Foreign policy
• serves the general economic interest of the
  nation
• Strives for a favorable balance of trade
• Pursues a strong growth
• Maintains a healthy macro economy
• Reflections in foreign policy
• Granting of most favored nation status
• Support of free trade

14
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• Prosperity as the objective
• Two schools of thought
• Capitalist free trade economic thinking
• Reflections in foreign policy
• Signing intl agreements related to intl trade
• Supporting intl econ organizations, e.g., GATT,
  IMF, WTO
• Theories of imperialism neo-colonialism
• US foreign policy
• Serves the parochial interest of the rich such as
• Multinational corporations and banks
• Continues domination of the less developed
  nations thru economic means

15
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• Principles as the objective
• This goal involves the values, ideals, and
  beliefs that the US has claimed to stand for in
  the world.
• The perception of democratic idealism
• Right should always stand above might as a
  policy choice since America is morally unique and
  exceptional
• Promoting democracy around the world serves the
  interest of promoting peace because democracies
  do not fight among themselves
• Indications of a principle-oriented policy
• Ascendance of human rights as a policy factor
• Sanctions imposed on Communist states

16
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• 4 Ps Interpretation A Case
• American-Iranian Relations (1953-1979)
• See handout 1.
• Interpreting US Iran policy objective
• 1. Pursuit of Power
• Iranian oil needed to sustain American economic
  power
• Alliance with Iran enhanced US power in Cold War
  years
• US support of the Shah ensured American influence
  presence in the Persian Gulf region
• The US was strategically superior in Mideast to
  USSR.

17
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• 4 Ps Interpretation A Case
• American-Iranian Relations (1953-1979)
• See handout 1.
• Interpreting US Iran policy objective
• Pursuit of Peace
• US intervention was necessary to stabilize Iran
  Mideast.
• Intimate relations with US deterred Soviet
  aggression in Iran and Mideast.
• When Mideast was stable, USSR had no reason to
  disrupt peace in that region.
• A stable Mideast served the interest of peace
  between the two major military blocks.

18
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• 4 Ps Interpretation A Case
• American-Iranian Relations (1953-1979)
• See handout 1.
• Interpreting US Iran policy objective
• Pursuit of Prosperity (I)
• US prosperity requires extensive foreign economic
  relations
• Increasing consumption of foreign raw materials
  calls for stable trade relations
• Iranian oil helps fuel sustained growth in the US
• American prosperity benefits the entire society.

19
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• 4 Ps Interpretation A Case
• American-Iranian Relations (1953-1979)
• See handout 1.
• Interpreting US Iran policy objective
• Pursuit of Prosperity (II)
• US-Iranian ties only benefited the rich the
  multinational corporations
• Like ties to other developing nations, US-Iranian
  relations served to sustain inequality between
  North South
• US Iranian policy sharpens the conflicts between
  the rich the poor in the US and in the world.

20
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• 4 Ps Interpretation A Case
• American-Iranian Relations (1953-1979)
• See handout 1.
• Interpreting US Iran policy objective
• Pursuit of Principles
• US Iran policy aimed to fulfill Americas
  commitment to democracy around the world.
• Intimate relations opened Iran to American values
  of democracy, equality and civil liberties.
• US presence in Mideast works best for political
  social change in this conservative region.
• Iran could move from adopting Western lifestyle
  to embracing Western institutions.

21
Interpreting US Foreign Policy

• 4 Ps Interpretation A Case
• Group Project 1 Interpreting US Operation in
  Afghanistan (See handout 2 on my webpage)