Transcript American foreign policy

American foreign policy
Foreign policy
• How we deal with other nations
• Usually handled through the Secretary of
State. The President has the final say
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
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
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.
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
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.
Manifest Destiny
• During the 1840’s 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 Mexico’s territory was taken by the
United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo (Nevada, California, Utah, Colorado,
New Mexico, Arizona.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
• 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
The cold war
• Containment- keep Communist countries
from spreading
• Détente- to improve relations with the
USSR and China policy under Nixon
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
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.
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.
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
LBJ
• Expands U.S. role in Vietnam
• U.S. does not intervene in USSR invasion
of Czechoslovakia.
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.
Detente
• Nixon’s presidency is the start of improved
relations with the USSR and China.
• In 1972, Nixon goes to China and agrees
to recognize their government.
Ford
• Bans political assassinations by U.S.
• Does not intervene in Cambodian
genocide.
Carter
• Peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.
• U.S. backed government in Iran is
overthrown by Iranian people.
Reagan
• Increased dialogue with USSR but also
use of stern language.
• Reagan calls USSR “Evil Empire.”
• Spends billions on star wars anti missile
program
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
1989
Event
1. Poland solidarity
movement calls for
Polish General strike
2. Berlin Wall falls
3. Romanian Revolution
4. Peaceful revolutions in
Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, and Bulgaria.
cause
• 1. USSR doesn’t invade
possibly due to Papal
objections.
• 2. DDR not prepared for
crisis, USSR doesn’t
invade.
• 3. Seeing that the USSR
has done nothing,
Romanians feel
confident.
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.
Reforms of pre-collapse Soviet
Union
Glasnost
• Free Speech
• Free Press
• Economic reforms such
as private investment.
(McDonald's in Moscow.)
Perestroika
• Supreme Soviet (Their
legislature) shrunk from
1,500 members to under
1,000
• Allow parties other than
the Communist Party to
run for office.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
The Arab Spring Successful= *
Revolution we helped
• Syria
• Libya*- U.S. intervened
on behalf of Libyan
rebels.
• Iran
Revolution we helped
suppress.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Egypt*
Jordan
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
Bahrain
Kuwait
Iraq
Mali
Lebanon
Yemen*
Tunisia*
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.
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
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.
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.