SECTION 1: AMERICA'S TRADITIONS IN FOREIGN POLICY

values

are what a country believes is "good" and worth fighting for.

Politics

are the "authoritative allocation of values" (David Easton) — meaning governments are the ones who decide how these values get distributed/protected.

THE "VALUES BASED APPROACH" — WHY DOES THE AUTHOR PREFER IT?

Foreign policy is best explained by looking at a nation's core values/beliefs (since nations are made of individuals, and individuals act on values). The 3 reasons the author prefers it:

(1.) The U.S. was literally FOUNDED on unique democratic values (unlike Old World monarchies) — so values are baked into the country's identity.

(2.) American values toward the world have SHIFTED over time (Nixon's realism → Clinton's internationalism → Bush Jr.'s unilateralism) — tracking values helps explain these shifts.

(3.) There's a LACK OF CONSENSUS on foreign policy today (seen in the Vietnam and Iraq War divides) — so understanding competing values helps explain the disagreement.

What are the VALUES THAT UNDERPINNED THE FOUNDING OF THE U.S.?

(1.) A Free Society — classless

(2.) Equality Before the Law — equality of opportunity

(3.) Importance of Domestic Values — foreign policy and domestic policy are INTERLINKED

(4.) Dual Emphasis on Isolationism AND Moral Principles — this produced America's TWO TRADITIONS in foreign policy

ISOLATIONISM

stay out of world affairs / European entanglements.

MORAL PRINCIPLES

when the U.S. DOES get involved, it should be guided by ethics/right-and-wrong, not cynical "power politics."

Why did the U.S. pursue isolationism?

Fear that foreign alliances would erode domestic democratic values and drag America into foreign wars.

WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS

Warned against "permanent alliances" and "passionate attachments" to any one nation; said the U.S. should extend COMMERCIAL ties but avoid POLITICAL connections with Europe. → This is the root of isolationism toward Europe.

MONROE DOCTRINE

Said the U.S. would stay out of European wars, but warned Europe to stay out of the Americas (the "Two Spheres" concept — New World vs. Old World). The Americas were "closed" to future European colonization.

CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY (1850)

Agreement between the U.S. and Britain saying NEITHER country would have exclusive control over any future canal across Panama/Central America. Shows the U.S. still cared about the Western Hemisphere even while "isolationist" toward Europe.

NATIONAL ORIGINS ACT OF 1924

Immigration law that restricted immigration from Southern/Eastern Europe and banned ALL immigration from Asia. Driven by fear of communism ("Red Scare") and foreign influence — a form of social isolationism.

SMOOT-HAWLEY TARIFF (1930, sometimes seen written as "1920" in slides)

Law that imposed very high tariffs (taxes) on foreign imports to protect U.S. industry/insulate the economy from the Great Depression — economic isolationism.

What are some arguments against the idea that US foreign policy was isolationist?

"Isolationist" is a myth — the U.S. was actually pursuing its own interests and power all along, just dressed up in isolationist language.

What was the US foreign policy like after WWI? Did it retreat back to isolation?

Mostly YES toward Europe, but NOT toward Latin America. The 1904 Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine actually EXPANDED U.S. intervention in the Western Hemisphere.

MONROE DOCTRINE'S IMPACT DURING THE COLD WAR

The Monroe Doctrine became the excuse for stopping communism "in America's backyard" during the Cold War.

Discuss the relationship between moral values and principles, and US actions.

The U.S. almost always justifies going to war with a MORAL trigger, not just power politics. For example, The U.S. framed entry into WWI around Germany's violation of "freedom of the seas," the sinking of the Lusitania (killing Americans), not just strategic calculation.

THE LOGIC OF "SKEPTICISM OF IN-BETWEEN MEASURES"

Americans don't like "half-wars." Either go big (WWII-style, full public support) or don't go at all — messy, limited wars = domestic backlash.

Discuss WILSON'S 14 POINTS — and its IMPACT ON FOREIGN POLICY.

(1.) Delivered by President Woodrow Wilson to Congress in January 1918.

(2.) Key ideas: no secret treaties, free trade, self-determination for nations, and (Point 14) a "League of Nations" for collective security.

(3.) "WILSONIAN IDEALISM": moral principle should guide U.S. action abroad; liberal democracy should be spread worldwide; balance-of-power politics should be replaced by cooperation; It was a direct CHALLENGE to isolationism.