American foreign policy

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American foreign policy
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Foreign policy

• How we deal with other nations
• Usually handled through the Secretary of State.
  The President has the final say

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How do we implement foreign policy?

• Diplomacy- sending ambassadors and the secretary
  of state to speak with the leaders of other
  nations
• Recalling our ambassadors is a type of a slap in
  the face
• Foreign aide in the form of money, food,
  technology or assistance

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Foreign policy overview

• For the first 150 years we kept to ourselves.
• Thomas Jefferson warned that we should not become
  entangled in alliances
• Monroe doctrine- other European powers stay out
  of the Americas now that the Spanish are gone
• Manifest destiny- God wanted us to have this land
  even though people are already on it
• Back to isolationism until World war I
• World War II and then the cold war

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1783-1812

• United States briefly left isolationism to
  attempt to seize Canada.
• Another view is that U.S. declaring war to stop
  the impressment of U.S. sailors did not violate
  the policy of isolationism.
• Washington D.C. burned by British, Canada
  remains under British control.

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Napoleonic Wars

• U.S. does not participate in the wars following
  the French Revolution
• U.S. does buy the Louisiana purchase from France
  for 15 million

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Monroe Doctrine

• States that the U.S. will not become involved in
  affairs in Europe.
• U.S. expands its zone of influence to include the
  Western Hemisphere.

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Manifest Destiny

• During the 1840s a loud voice in American
  politics began to voice their concern that
  American could strengthen itself strategically by
  expanding sea to shining sea
• In 1845 Oregon territory was secured from the
  British.
• In 1847 President James K. Polk encouraged a war
  between the U.S. and the nation of Mexico.
• Over half of Mexicos territory was taken by the
  United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
  (Nevada, California, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico,
  Arizona.)

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Texas

• Mexico had welcomed southern farmers from the
  United States into their Northern Mexican State
  of Tejas to farm the land.
• Some of them brought their slaves which the
  Mexican government outlawed.
• The New settlers did not want to give up what
  they saw as their property and fought a war of
  secession and ultimately declared independence
  from Mexico in 1836.

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The Spanish American war and Hawaii

• The United States viewed Spain as a challenge to
  the Monroe Doctrine and defeated them in war
  seizing the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico
  to this day. The Philippines and Cuba would later
  become independent.
• Also in 1898 American businessmen and U.S.
  marines overthrew the Queen of Hawaii when it
  became profitable for them to do so.

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World War I

• Pres. Woodrow Wilson had been elected to keep
  America out of the first world war.
• In April of 1917 we joined Britain and France in
  Europe.
• German uboats and unrestricted submarine warfare.
• The Zimmerman note
• To protect U.S. investments overseas.

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War ends

• Pres. Wilson goes to Paris to help negotiate the
  Treaty of Versailles.
• He proposes 14 points of peace to prevent war in
  the future.
• The Senate and the victorious allies in Europe
  reject his proposals.
• Much of the blame for world war I will be placed
  on Germany.

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World War II

• Before the attack on Pearl Harbor the U.S.
  returns to isolationism.
• World War II in Europe is largely the result of
  the end of World War I
• Germany has to pay crippling reparations
• Once Hitler comes to power and begins rebuilding
  the military there is no clear way for enforcing
  this violation of the treaty of Versailles

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• U.S. isolationism ends with the bombing at Pearl
  Harbor.
• May 1945- Nazi Germany falls
• Allies divide Germany (will become Capitalist
  West and Communist East)
• USSR joins in fight against imperial Japan
• Creates a divided Korea at the end of the war

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The cold war

• Containment- keep Communist countries from
  spreading
• Détente- to improve relations with the USSR and
  China policy under Nixon

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Containment The Truman Doctrine

• 1948- Truman honors the claims of the USSR and
  allows Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia,
  Romania, and Yugoslavia to become communist.
• The USSR agrees to stop funding revolution in
  Greece and Turkey.
• 1949- Berlin airlift saves West Berlin

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Korean war

• 1950-1953 North Korea invades South Korea.
• The U.S. supported by the U.N. invades to
  contain communism.
• War ends in stalemate.

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Eisenhower

• 1953- U.S. overthrows democratically elected
  government in Iran and installs Shah.
• 1954- U.S. forces overthrow democratically
  elected government in Guatemala.
• Crisis in the Suez- 1956-57 Egyptian Government
  blocks Suez Canal forcing U.K., France and Israel
  to try and free it.

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JFK

• Bay of pigs- a plan of Eisenhower administration,
  fails.
• Crisis in Berlin U.S. tanks and USSR tanks stare
  each other down. Berlin wall is built in
  response.
• Cuban Missile Crisis- Nuclear war nearly breaks
  out over the placement of missiles in Cuba. U.S.
  and USSR reach compromise
• Kennedy uses Monroe doctrine coupled with
  containment to diffuse crisis.
• In Vietnam, U.S. replaces government

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LBJ

• Expands U.S. role in Vietnam
• U.S. does not intervene in USSR invasion of
  Czechoslovakia.

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Nixon

• Elected on promise of secret plan to end the
  war
• The plan was to expand the war into Cambodia and
  Laos.
• Effective but unpopular
• 1973 U.S. overthrows democratically elected
  Chilean government
• 1973 OPEC restricts flow of oil to U.S. due to
  U.S. support for Israel.

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Detente

• Nixons presidency is the start of improved
  relations with the USSR and China.
• In 1972, Nixon goes to China and agrees to
  recognize their government.

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Ford

• Bans political assassinations by U.S.
• Does not intervene in Cambodian genocide.

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Carter

• Peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.
• U.S. backed government in Iran is overthrown by
  Iranian people.

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Reagan

• Increased dialogue with USSR but also use of
  stern language.
• Reagan calls USSR Evil Empire.
• Spends billions on star wars anti missile program

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Military action by Reagan

• Invasion of Grenada
• Bombing of Libya
• Iran-Contra affair- U.S. forbidden by Congress to
  supply anti-communist rebels in Latin America.
• U.S. continues to do so with money made from arms
  deals to Iran.
• Iran helps U.S. with hostages in Lebanon

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1989

• Event

• cause

1. Poland solidarity movement calls for Polish
   General strike
2. Berlin Wall falls
3. Romanian Revolution
4. Peaceful revolutions in Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
   and Bulgaria.

• 1. USSR doesnt invade possibly due to Papal
  objections.
• 2. DDR not prepared for crisis, USSR doesnt
  invade.
• 3. Seeing that the USSR has done nothing,
  Romanians feel confident.

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Collapse of USSR

• Spending so much on military that infrastructure
  is neglected.
• Costly war in Afghanistan.
• Non-Russian ethnic groups seek independence
  (Lithuanians, Uzbeks, Ukrainians etc)
• 1985 new leadership implements new reforms.

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Reforms of pre-collapse Soviet Union

• Glasnost

• Perestroika

• Free Speech
• Free Press
• Economic reforms such as private investment.
  (McDonald's in Moscow.)

• Supreme Soviet (Their legislature) shrunk from
  1,500 members to under 1,000
• Allow parties other than the Communist Party to
  run for office.

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August 1991-December 1991

• A group of party officials wishing to go back to
  the old days before glasnost and perestroika
  attempt a coup.
• The people of the USSR not wanting to give up
  their freedom, prevent them.
• The USSR dissolves in late 1991.

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1991-2001

• Al Qaeda founded in 1988 begins attacks against
  U.S. interests around the world.
• They are upset with U.S. support of Israel and
  autocratic governments in the middle east.

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The Bush Doctrine

• After 9/11 and the start of the war on terror
  foreign policy changed with regard to terrorism.
• The policy is now strike anywhere in the world
  before you can be struck.

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Foreign policy during the Obama Administration

• A move to end combat operations in Iraq and
  Afghanistan.
• Increase in the use of drone warfare.
• Increase in use of kill list.
• Saw the death of Osama bin Laden
• A shift of focus to Pacific rim countries
• Participation in negotiations and the use of
  diplomacy.
• Has faced a major dilemma concerning the role of
  democracy during the Arab spring

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Arab spring revolutions

• Upon taking office the President gave a speech
  encouraging a new way forward in the Middle
  east and offered to extend a hand to those
  seeking freedom.
• As democratic popular revolution spread across
  North Africa and the middle east the
  administration was faced with a dilemma support
  freedom or continue to support friendly
  dictatorships.

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The Arab Spring Successful

• Revolution we helped

• Revolution we helped suppress.

• Syria
• Libya- U.S. intervened on behalf of Libyan
  rebels.
• Iran

• Egypt
• Jordan
• Saudi Arabia
• Qatar
• Bahrain
• Kuwait
• Iraq
• Mali
• Lebanon
• Yemen
• Tunisia

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Iran

• The U.S. is opposed to Iran building a nuclear
  bomb.
• We have led the way in imposing sanctions on
  Iran.
• In 2012 a series of war games and simulations
  concluded that war was likely if Israel attacked
  Iran and that Iran had the ability to temporarily
  cut off the vital strait of Hormuz.

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Russia

• Russia has accused the United States of
  undermining its authority through promoting
  pro-democracy movements
• Russia is also critical of the U.S. relationship
  with Georgia as well as the installation of
  anti-ballistic missile batteries being set up in
  Poland and the Czech Republic.
• Russia objects to an expansion of NATO

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Drone warfare

• Use of drone warfare has increased dramatically
  between the Bush and Obama administrations.
• The benefit of drones is they prevent pilots from
  being killed or wounded.
• The downside is that for all the technology they
  have a civilian to enemy kill ratio of 49
  civilians for every 1 enemy killed.
• American citizens have been killed by drones
  prompting some to question the legality of the
  program.

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Environmental foreign policy

• Several major reports have been authored by
  government research to plan for climate change,
  refugees and conflict over resources.
• One interesting development is that the Arctic
  ocean is now open for ships.
• The keystone XL pipeline is now a major domestic
  and foreign policy issue for the President and
  state department.
• In 2012 at a summit in Doha, Qatar the
  administration agreed not to try and prevent
  climate change but to work to adapt to it.