MOD 4: GOV 312L: US Foreign Policy - Grand Strategy II Notes

Grand Strategy II

Focuses on three key approaches: Selective Engagement, Liberal Internationalism, and Primacy.

Liberal Internationalism (LI) - Core Idea

Establishing a liberal international order.

Liberal Internationalism (LI) - Methodology

Utilizes both military power and international institutions to achieve a liberal international order.

Liberal Internationalism (LI) - Underlying Logic: Global Threats

American threats abroad are perceived as global in scope.

Liberal Internationalism (LI) - Underlying Logic: Collective Security

Security is best achieved collectively through multilateral organizations and alliances.

Liberal Internationalism (LI) - Underlying Logic: Western Values

Security is optimized in a world founded on Western values, including free markets, democratic regimes, and the protection of human rights.

Liberal Internationalism (LI) - Underlying Logic: American Intervention

American intervention, both military and economic, is applied to establish an American-led liberal international order.

Critique of Liberal Internationalism (LI)

Can be seen as overly expansive and may be perceived as a form of imperialism.

Ideological Foundation of Liberal Internationalism (LI)

Both Democrats and Republicans in the US embrace a classical liberalism emphasizing individual liberty and relatively free markets.

Woodrow Wilson's Key Elements of Liberal Internationalism

Advocated for collective security through the League of Nations, national self-determination, spread of democratic governance, free trade, and open navigation of the sea.

Challenges/Problems of Woodrow Wilson's Liberal Internationalism

Difficulty in establishing effective enforcement mechanisms for collective security and failure to secure necessary domestic support from Congress, leading to the US not joining the League of Nations.

John Ikenberry's Focus in 'The Next Liberal Order'

Discusses the current crisis of liberal internationalism and proposes how the US can maintain the liberal international order and its leadership role.

Ikenberry's Definition of the Liberal International Order

A project aiming to construct an international system that is open, multilateral, and based on Western values of the rule of law, human rights, and liberal democracy.

Spearhead of the Liberal International Order Post-WWII

The United States, relying on a coalition of liberal democracies.

Reasons for the Collapse of the Post-WWII Liberal Order (Ikenberry)

Decline of US patronage (e.g., under Donald Trump), rise of great power competition (e.g., China), and unfulfilled promises of globalization, which failed to adequately accommodate those left behind by free trade.

Ikenberry's Solution: Acknowledge Successes

Appreciate the achievements of the liberal order and recognize that alternative international systems would likely be far worse.

Ikenberry's Solution: Address Shortcomings

Acknowledge the failures of globalization and grant states more flexibility to assist those negatively affected.

Ikenberry's Solution: Return to Original Aim

Reorient towards the original goals of the post-WWII order envisioned by Franklin Roosevelt.

Ikenberry's Solution: Collective Security & Values

Create an environment conducive to collective security and the protection of liberal values.

Ikenberry's Solution: Strengthen Alliances

Renew and strengthen the alliance among liberal democracies.

Primacy - Core Goal

To use unilateral means to establish American hegemony over all potential rivals.

Primacy - Underlying Logic: Global Interests

American interests abroad are global and expansive.

Primacy - Underlying Logic: Unilateral Security

Security is achieved primarily through preponderant American power, often without significant reliance on international partners.

Primacy - Underlying Logic: Military Power

Heavy reliance on military power as the primary instrument of foreign policy.

Critique of Primacy

Carries the risk of leading to overreach and international isolation.

Primacy and the Bush (43) Administration: Willingness to Use Force

Demonstrated a clear willingness to employ military force to advance foreign policy goals, notably in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Primacy and the Bush (43) Administration: Skepticism of Institutions

Exhibited skepticism towards international institutions, exemplified by figures like John Bolton.

Primacy and the Bush (43) Administration: Democracy Promotion

Actively promoting democracy globally, linking national security to removing conditions that inspire hatred by promoting human freedom (2007 State of the Union).

Primacy and the Bush (43) Administration: Military Dominance

Aimed to preserve military dominance over peer competitors, leading to a dramatic post-\text{9/11} military buildup.

Impact of \text{9/11} on Bush (43) Administration Strategy

A critical factor in shifting the administration's grand strategy; prior to \text{9/11}, candidate Bush advocated for a more offshore balancer approach.

Trump Administration's Grand Strategy: 'America First'

The central tenet guiding the administration's foreign policy.

Trump Administration's Grand Strategy: Centrality of Economic Interests

Economic concerns were paramount.

Neomercantilism (Trump Administration)

Emphasis on the importance of domestic industry, protectionist trade policies, strict border controls, and seeking to redistribute wealth from the global system back to the United States.

Trump National Security Strategy (Dec. \text{2017}) Four Goals

Protect the homeland, promote American prosperity, preserve peace by rebuilding the military, and advance American influence abroad, all framed within the defense of national sovereignty.

Restoring American Sovereignty (Trump Administration)

Adopted a state-centric view of international relations and deep skepticism towards multilateral international organizations and agreements.

Trump Administration's Skepticism of Multilateralism Examples

Withdrawal or criticism of Paris Climate Accords, NATO, Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and Iranian nuclear accord.

Trump Administration's Skepticism of Globalization

Expressed deep skepticism about the benefits of globalization, linking immigration and border control measures to reasserting sovereignty and resisting globalization.

Strategic Retrenchment (Trump Administration)

Resistance to new troop deployments abroad, criticism of prior nation-building attempts, and substantial increases to military spending.

Main Principles of Trump Grand Strategy

Neomercantilism and 'America First,' restoring American sovereignty, and strategic retrenchment.

Placement of Trump Grand Strategy in Post-Cold War Debate

Does not align with Liberal Internationalism or Primacy, suggesting a combination of Isolationism and Restraint.

Biden Administration's Grand Strategy: President Biden as a Liberal Internationalist

Assumes global threats necessitate US global interests, recognizes reemergence of great power competition, emphasizes restoring multilateralism, and aims to lead a coalition of democracies.

Biden Administration: Focus of Reemergence of Great Power Competition

Shifts US foreign policy to concentrate on the rise of China and leads the coalition confronting Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Biden Administration: Restoring Multilateralism Actions

Rejoined the Paris Climate Accords, rejoined the World Health Organization (WHO), and reenergized NATO.

Biden Administration: Leading a Coalition of Democracies

Frames the world as a fundamental competition between democracy and autocracy and organized the Summit for Democracy.