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American Government and Politics Today

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Title: American Government and Politics Today


1
American Government and Politics Today
  • Chapter 15
  • Foreign Policy

2
Facing the WorldForeign and Defense Policy
  • Foreign policy the techniques and strategies
    used to achieve external goals, as well as the
    goals themselves
  • These techniques include
  • Diplomacy
  • Economic aid
  • Technical assistance
  • Military intervention

3
Facing the World Foreign and Defense Policy
(continued)
  • National security policy
  • Defense policy management of the armed forces
    is a subset
  • Diplomacy
  • Diplomatic strategies
    can be successful only if
    all
    parties are willing to
    negotiate peacefully

4
Morality versus Reality in Foreign Policy
  • Moral idealism
  • Sees nations as normally willing to cooperate and
    agree on moral standards
  • Political realism
  • Supports a strong military and a willingness to
    make deals with dictators
  • American foreign policy is a mixture of both
  • Every president has based his foreign policy on
    both principles, though some have stressed one or
    the other

5
Challenges in World Politics
  • The emergence of terrorism
  • Terrorism and regional strife
  • Terrorist attacks against foreign civilians
  • September 11, 2001
  • London bombings
  • The war on terrorism
  • Military responses
  • A new kind of war
  • President Bush has set out a doctrine of
    preemptive war to deal with terrorism

6
Wars in Iraq
  • The Persian Gulf - the first Gulf War
  • Saddam Husseins annexation of Kuwait in August
    1990 was the most clear-cut case of aggression
    against an independent nation since World War II
  • The Persian Gulf - the Second Gulf War
  • Occupied Iraq
  • Uprisings in spring of 2004
  • The continuing insurgency

7
Ethnic/Religious Groups in Iraq
8
Nuclear Weapons
  • America gained nuclear weapons in 1945, the
    Soviet Union in 1949, Britain in 1952, France in
    1960, and China in 1964
  • Pakistan and India tested nuclear weapons in 1998
  • North Korea tested nukes in 2006
  • It is believed that Iran is pursuing nuclear
    capability
  • The U.S. and the Soviet Union (Cold War)
  • Nuclear proliferation

9
The New Power China
  • Since 1972, the U.S. has had
    a policy of engagement with China
  • Chinese-American trade
    ties
  • Chinese-American tensions

10
Regional Conflicts
  • Cuba
  • Israel and the Palestinians
  • The collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian peace
    process
  • The Israeli-Hezbollah (Lebanon) War
  • AIDS in South Africa
  • African civil wars
  • Rwanda, Angola, Sudan

11
Who Makes Foreign Policy?
  • Constitutional powers of the president
  • War powers
  • Treaties and executive agreements
  • Other constitutional powers
  • Informal techniques of presidential leadership
  • Having broad access to information
  • Influencing funds allocation
  • Swaying public opinion
  • Committing the nation to a moral course of action

12
Other Sources of Foreign Policy Making
  • The Department of State
  • The National Security Council
  • The intelligence community
  • Comprised of more than 40 agencies, with the CIA
    as the key member
  • Covert actions
  • Criticisms of the intelligence community
  • The Department of Defense

13
Congress Balances the Presidency
  • After the War in Vietnam, Congress sought to
    restrain the presidents ability to unilaterally
    commit forces to combat with the War Powers
    Resolution (1973)
  • Still, most presidents have not consulted
    Congress before committing troops, creating a
    situation in which Congress does not dare recall
    them
  • Congress can sometimes take the lead by denying
    requests for military support or new weapons

14
Domestic Sources of Foreign Policy
  • Elite and mass opinion
  • Both presidents and elites try to influence that
    subset of the public that has a strong interest
    in foreign policy, the attentive public
  • The military-industrial complex
    describes the mutually beneficial
    relationship between the armed
    forces and defense contractors

15
Major Foreign Policy Themes
  • The formative years - avoiding entanglements
  • The Monroe Doctrine
  • The Spanish-American War and World War I
  • The era of internationalism
  • The Cold War
  • Containment policy

16
Europe During the Cold War
17
Superpower Relations
  • Conflict during the Cold War was not between the
    U.S. and the U.S.S.R., but rather among smaller,
    client nations
  • The Cuban Missile Crisis
  • A period of détente
  • The Reagan-Bush years
  • The dissolution of the
    Soviet Union

18
Europe After the Fall of the Soviet Union
19
Questions for Critical Thinking
  • How strong militarily was the United States in
    the 1790s? Could the U.S. have been very active
    in world affairs? What was the major goal of U.S.
    policy then?
  • Is it easy for the president and Congress to set
    a course for foreign policy? What kinds of
    measures can the U.S. use to combat terrorism?

20
Questions for Critical Thinking
  • Why will relations with China prove important in
    the years to come?
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