15: Foreign Policy

What is Foreign Policy?

  • Foreign policy – programs and policies that determine country’s relations with other nations
    • War, peace, economic relations

Why Should You Care about Foreign Policy?

Armed Conflict
  • Rise of global terrorism → US tried to strengthen NATO
    • If one nation is attacked, others will help defend
  • American foreign policy affects life of Americans, other nations, history and legacy
The Economy
  • Low prices and variety of goods from increased international trade
    • Expensive domestic jobs done cheaply in other countries (ex. China)
  • Unemployment in US in areas that compete with China
    • Trump started “trade war” on China with high tariffs, China did the same on US
The Electoral System
  • Foreign powers affect democracy
    • ie. Russia tried to affect election by paying for political ads on FB
    • US tried to do the same in diff foreign elections
Health and Environment
  • Food production needs stable climates
    • Nations need to work together → Paris Agreement on Climate Change
    • Agreement: work together to keep temp increase below 2C

Ideals vs Interests

  • Foreign policy issues need strategies on how to engage with foreign gov
    • Some say by using America’s ideals
    • Idealists – foreign policy behavior should be driven by American ideals (ex. liberty, democracy)
    • Others by prioritizing interest of US citizens
    • Realists – stresses competition and conflict (nations work for own interest), empower economic and military strength
  • US goes back and forth with the two views
    • US used protectionism – tariffs, etc to protect its domestic economy, angered Britain

Decision makers

Going to War

  • og US made up of small states → easy to be bullied by big major European powers
    • If each state had own foreign policy, would work against each other
    • Solution: foreign policy is responsibility of nat gov
    • States forbidden to engage in foreign policy
  • Article I Sec 8 – Congress has power to declare war, raise and support armies and navy
  • Article II sec 2 – pres is commander in chief, can prosecute war
Congress vs. President
  • Official 5 wars: war of 1812, Mexican War, Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII
  • War Powers Resolution – tries to stop pres from engaging in military conflicts without Congressional ok
  • Pres can still engage in military conflicts bc…
    • Resolution actually strengthened role of pres in war-making
    • Bc law states pres can do whatever for 60 days before getting ok (most conflicts end within 60 days)
    • “Rally-around-the-flag” effect – public backs pres in foreign crises
    • Ppl trust pres over Congress in times of crisis bc of timing → in deadlocked Congress bc of dems and repubs, pres can move easily
The Bureaucracy
  • Department of State – diplomacy, keeping relations with other countries
    • Head: Secretary of State – pres’ official foreign policy advisor
    • Ambassadors – manages major US embassies abroad, tells host nation US views
  • Department of Defense – in Pentagon, makes decisions abt war and peace
    • Head: Secretary of Defense – civilian, pres chief adviser on defense stuff
    • Pres is also civilian = civilian control over military
    • Military leadership represented in Joint Chiefs of Staff – group of leaders of military branches
  • Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – gathering and analyzing info on political and military activities of other nations
    • Made after US didn’t have enough info before Pearl Harbor
    • Power for covert operations
  • National Security Council (NSC) – advises pres on nat security
    • Unit in White House that watches ppl involved in security policy and report back to pres abt effect of pres’ foreign policy
    • Limited control over ongoing policy operations from no budget authority over other departments
    • Instead, has more access to pres → bigger influence
Interest Groups
  • Don’t have much influence on war and peace
    • 2 groups that might express opinion to gov
  • \   
    1. Interest groups that strongly identify with a particular country
    • Ex. Castro regime in Cuba, Israel-Palestine dispute
  • \   
    1. US companies
    • Democratic peace theory – companies would lobby against war bc trade and econ becomes limited
    • Or making stronger military → needs lots of money and help of companies to make military hardware

Signing Treaties

  • Pres negotiates treaty, senate agrees by ⅔ vote
    • Getting supermajority is difficult
    • Pres negotiates exec agreements instead
  • Exec agreements – legal contracts with foreign countries that need only pres signature
    • Similar to treaty but only needs 50% +1 vote in both houses of Congress
  • 90+% of int agreements today are exec agreements, not treaties
    • Ex. NAFTA: made with simple majority of House and Senate
  • Interest groups – more involed in treaties with foreign gov
    • Two types of influential groups
    • Ideals: ex. Enviro issues, human rights
    • Economy: ex. Tobacco industry stops heavy tobacco restrictions

Instruments of Foreign Policy

Military Might

  • US has largest, strongest military in world
  • Strong military → deterrant, less attacks
    • Easiler to achieve goals
  • 2 ways of using military
    • Unilateral military action – only US military acts, no help from others
    • Multilateral military action – better for economic and moral reasons
    • Shares costs of military action
    • Morally legitimate when its not just one nation attacking
  • NATO: multilateral security in 1949
    • Defensive treaty: if one is attacked, considered attack on all members

Persuasion

  • Unilateral persuasion – diplomacy for beneficial domesic/international policies
    • Ambasaddors keep good relationships, promote positive image of US, get info on other counties
    • Soft-power tools – int student exchange programs, sending celebrities → send message that US is positive force in int politics
  • Multilateral persuasion – works inside int orgs ie UN
    • UN: 192 members, made up of UN General Assembly and UN Security Council
    • Assembly: little power, but its votes in issues show/shape power of world opinion
    • Council: has power to make policies, made of 15 members with each getting 1 vote and 9/15 majority
      • Any 5 permanent member (UK, US, Russia, China, France) can veto imp proposal

Money

  • Foreign aid – unilateral use of economic resource
    • For developing countries; promoting economic growth, humanitarian aid, military aid, democracy, better infrastructure
  • Foreign aid in exchange for goodwill and cooperation
    • Gives weapons and loans to countries so they’ll buy advanced weapon systems from American firms
    • Ex. foreign aid to Mexico during Mexico Peso Crisis to stop financial crisis from spilling over to US
  • Economic sanctions – stick to whack governments into doing what US wants
    • Trade embargos, investment pans, preventing business
    • Ex. sanctions on russia after it anneced Crimea
  • Multilateral economic resource usage
    • Contributes to World Bank and international Monetary Fund (IMF)
    • World bank – int org to fund infrastructure in poorer countries
    • IMF – promotes variety of funding projects, provides emergency loans in times of financial crisis
  • US hires “contractors” for military purposes
    • Pros: military can focus on military components of the mission, specialized contractors more efficient
    • Cons: when contractors engage in violence, don’t know who’s responsible, what regulations to go by, what to do when mistakes are made

The Development of American Foreign Policy

Changes in US Security Strategy

  • Used to use isolationism – stay out of foreign relations, keep to yourself
    • Wanted to stay out bc used to be weaker than major European powers
  • Failure of isolationism from…
    • Technological progress – planes, ships made oceans less of a barrier
    • Economic interdependence = US can’t ignore foreign events
  • Switched to liberal internationalism – actively engage to shape order in direction of liberalism
    • Supported GB and France in WWI
    • Isolationists against WWI
    • Congress against war against Germany after Nazi invasions started, declared war after Pearl Harbor
  • After WWII – US and capitalist nations vs Sovient Union and communist nations
    • Both sides had nuclear weapons
    • US switched to deterrence strategy – dissaude opponent from taking action by threatening consequences
    • Ex if Soviet Union nukes, US will also nukes
    • Must be willing to follow through on threats for deterrence to be effective
  • Mutually assured destruction – both sides can kill each other
    • = no direct military engagement between Sovient Union and US
    • Showed US’s threats is real by fighting Soviets in Vietnam and Korea
    • Led to Truman Doctrine – American assistance to any nation threatened by Soviet Union and its allies

Changes in US Economic Strategy

  • Trade keeps world peaceful, prosperous
  • BUT also threatens jobs in particular sectors (manufacturing jobs mobing abroad)
    • Want protectionist policies that shield US companies and products against cheaper foreign imported products
  • Foreign economic policy keeps shifting between protectionism and free trade
    • OG US economy based in agriculture thru slave labor, competitive in world market → against protectionist policies
    • Northern manufacturers competed against cheaper and better British products
    • Hamilton argued new industries wouldn’t be started uness initial loss covered by gov aid
  • US kept protectionist policies to shield against British competition → quit when it quit isolationiism
    • Low tariffs in more internationalist times, increased in more isolationist periods
  • After WWII, US liberalized trade bc thought that trade barriers caused start of WWII
    • Still has protectionist tendencies bc of domestic political pressures