Task 1 The global context of American foreign policy

Foreign policy looks outward. One reason for disagreement about the foreign policy challenges that facing the US is that observes hold different theoretical perspectives about the fundamental nature of world politics. 3 perspectives are particularly important for understanding the larger debate over what American foreign policy should be and what it can be. Realism It was the dominant intellectual perspective used for studying world politics in the 20 century. It emerged as a powerful perspective in the US after WW1 as the euphoria of victory gave way to distress over Hitlers rise to power and the conflictual tone of world politics. Realist criteria World power politics constantly involves struggle for power that is carried out under conditions that border on anarchy there is little room for embracing universal principles or taking on moral crusades. The founding voice of American Realism was Morgenthau who captured the essence of realism in saying that leaders think and act in terms of interests defined as powers Kissinger who served as national security advisor and secretary of state under President Nixon is its best known contemporary proponent. For realists peace defined as the absence of war is possible only when states (leaders) follow their own narrowly defined national interests. Early realist argues that that human nature is thee central driving force in world politics Later realists focused on ht central role played by the structure of the international system once in place the international system become a force that states cannot control but one that controls states instead. Neoliberalism Neoliberals also view the international system as an anarchy however they rejected the pessimistic conclusion reached by realists that world politics is essentially a conflictual process from which there is no escape. Neoliberalist criteria Neoliberals see world politics as an arena in which all states and non states actor can advance their own interests peacefully without threatening others. This becomes possible when conditions are created that allow the inherent rationality of individuals to come to the forefront. Among the primary factors that promote peaceful intercourse are democracy, respect for international laws, participating in international organizations, restraints on weapons, and free trade. President Woodrow Wilso , who championed the League of Nations after world War 1, is the statesperson most associated with Neoliberalism.

Realism and Neoliberalism differ in their interpretations of the essential features of world politics, but they both share the conviction that these features do exist and that objectives rules for conducting foreign policy can be derived from them. Constructivist criteria Constructivists assert that international politics is not shaped by underlying forces but by our perceptions of them. Ideas and cultural and historical experience give meaning to what we see. Moreover, our ways of looking at the world are capable of changing over time as we interact with others. Free trade is not inherently a force for peace or a cause of war. Which of these it is depends on our personal experience with free trade There are three categories of forces in the international systems that often drive state behavior. Structural constants - Decentralization The international system is decentralized, there is no central political institutions to make laws or see to their enforcement in the international arena, moreover there is no common political culture in which an agreed set of norms governing states behavior can be derived. Decentralization means that there is an Ordered anarchy , in this ordered anarchy enforceable laws and common values may be absent but rules do exist and the give a measure of predictability and certainty to international transactions. Rules indicate the limits of permissible behavior and the directions to follow in settling disputes Rules are less permanent that laws, are more general in nature and tend to be normative statements rather than commands. Different international systems operate according to different rules and therefore place different opportunities and challenges before policymakers depending upon whether they are bipolar, multipolar or unipolar Neutrality for example is generally held to be permissible according the rules of loose bipolarity but impossible under the rules of tight bipolarity Self help System States must rely on themselves to achieve their foreign policy goals. Both great and small power need to avoid excessive dependence on others. Example: During the Regan administration it was proposed to use Israel as a go-between to sell weapons to Iran in hopes of gaining the release of American hostages in Lebanon. Opponents stress the point that the US and Israel national interests were not identical and that in some cases they were in direct conflict. The Self-help principle challenges policymakers to bring goals and power resources into balance. Pursuing more goals than one has the resources to accomplish weaken the vitality of the state and makes it unable t respond effectively to futures challenges Stratified System.

The equality of state embedded in the concept of sovereignty is a legal myth. According to the Westphalian concept of sovereignty no legal authority exists above states except that which states voluntarily accept. The reality of international politics is quite different and sovereignty is a matter of degree rather than an absolute condition. States are born unequal; the resources they draw on for their power are distributed unequally across the globe. As such the ability to states to achieve their foreign policy objectives as well as their very choice of objectives varies from states to states. Two areas of disagreement among administrations have been over how great the degree of power inequality exists in the international system and the identity of the power. Example Reagans foreign policy was based on the assumption that the system s is essentially bipolar. The Soviet Union and the US were held to the two central actors in a global power struggle. It was a struggle in which incompatible ideologies were powerful force affecting foreign policy decisions. The Carter, Ford and Nixon administration all saw power distributed more broadly and ideology was seen as less important factor for the operation of the international system. The Nixon and Ford foreign policies stressed the ability to coexist with the Soviet Union ( the policy if dtente ) and alluded to using other powers as counterweights to the USSR( the china card). Cold War Trends. With the changing nature of the system 4 pot war trends are especially notable: a diffusion of power, issue prolifieraation, actor proliferation, and regional diversity. Power the ability to achieve objectives it is viewed as something one possesses a commodity to be acquired, stored and manipulated. But power must also be viewed as a relational concept. What is ultimately at issue is not how much power a state has , but how much power it has in a specific issue compare to those with whom it is dealing. The Post war era has seen a steady diffusion of power. This has created a gap between the ends and means of US foreign policy. It is not so much that the quantity of power of the US has declined. Us dominance in nuclear and conventional weapons remains unchallenged what has changed is the usefulness of certain types of power , the issue being contested , and the ability of other states to exploit points of sensitivity and vulnerability. Example the BRIICS (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) have a strong voice in international economic policy making. Their emergence signifies the shifting of economic power away from the US, Europe and Japan. The causes for the diffusion of power can be founded in the specifics of American foreign policy and in the more universal cycles of hegemonic decline a primary contributing factor to the diffusion of power is the very successes and failures of post war American foreign policy. Example: Economic successes like the reconstruction of Japanese and European economies but these economies are now major rivals of the US and often outperform it. Example: A military failure in recent US history has been Vietnam and it is held by many to have been responsible for destroying the postwar domestic consensus on the purpose of American power. Issue proliferation The issue of proliferation is an evolutionary change in the international system.

There is now no longer a clear cut foreign affairs issue hierarchy. There used to be at the top high politics problems involving questions of national security, territorial integrity and political independence. At the bottom there used to be low politics issues of commerce, energy, and environment. Actor proliferation It is an evolutionary feature of the international system. On the one hand actor proliferation has taken the form of an expansion in the number of states. Consequently there will be many views on a given problem. Quite often these views are based on different starting premises and assumptions from those held by the US. Actor proliferation has also altered in 3 ways the context within which American foreign policy decisions are made. 1. actor proliferation has altered the language used in thinking about foreign policy problems the language of the cold war now competes with the imaginary interdependence for the attention of policymakers 2. Non state actors often serve as potential instruments of foreign policy. There are advantages to using non state actors to advance state objectives. By not being identified as part of a state , their actions may be better received by other actors. 3. The impact that non state actors have on US foreign policy is that they often limit the options open to policymakers. Regional diversity The operation of subsystems within the international system is a point of concern for the US. 3 subsystems are important to the US: 1. The western system, which is made of the advanced industrial states of the US, Canada, Western Europe and Japan, the principal problem in the western system is managing interdependence. At this issue is the distribution of costs and benefits. 2. The north -south subsystem. Instead expectations of sharing and mutual gain, the south perceives exploitation. The fundamental management problem in the north-south system is coping with military and economic dependence. 3. The Cold War East- West system. The fundamental management problem here is one of reintegration. The Cold War divided the East and West into two largely self contained competing military and economic parts. Dominant features - Terrorism to many the most important feature of the contemporary international system is terrorism defined in its most value free and politically neutral sense, terrorism is violence for the purpose of political intimidation to many the most important feature of the contemporary international system is terrorism - Globalization is the term used to frequently characterize the structure of the international economic system today. The problem facing the US is not whether to participate in a globalized economy but how to participate. - American hegemony.

Virtually all observers speak of unchallenged American military hegemony. The international military system is solidly unipolar. Quite often today the US is referred to as an empire. This characterization is controversial. In its most neutral sense, an empire is a state with a wide and supreme domain. The political, economic and military reach of the US fits that criteria, leading some to argue that in studying American foreign policy the most instructive point of reference is past empires. However the term empire also carries very negative connotations. An empire is viewed as a state that imposes its will on others and rules though force and domination. Military occupation and the arbitrary uses of military power typify their foreign policies Example: these are charges that have frequently leveled at American foreign policy with regard to Iraq, where the US forces were greeted not as liberators but as occupiers and with the George W. Bush administrations military doctrine of preemption 4 different types of anti-Americanism exist 1. Liberal anti Americanism it is commonly found in other advanced industrial societies. At its core is the charge tha the US repeatedly fails to live up to its own ideals in conducting its foreign policy 2. A second strain of negative feeing is toward the US is Social anti- Americanism here the complaint is with the US trying to impose its version of democracy and its definition of rights on others while being insensitive to local societal values and norms. 3. There is a Sovereign anti Americanism this version of anti Americanism focuses on the threats the US presents to the sovereignty and to the cultural and political identity of another country. . 4. There is Radical anti Americanism it defines American values as evil and subscribe to the notion that only by destroying them can the world be made safe.