Foreign Policy

The Cold War officially ended in 1990 when the Charter of Paris for a New Europe was signed.

A. During the Cold War, rivalries between the U.S. and the Soviet Union shaped global politics for four decades.

B. In the post-Cold War era, the U.S. and Russia have good relations and the issues facing the world have changed.

II. Economic issues now dominate the international scene.

A. Treaties such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have become the battlegrounds of today.

B. Foreign policy issues have become INTERMESTIC, a blend of international and domestic policy issues.

III. Throughout U.S. history, the nation has grappled with its role in the world.

A. For most of the nineteenth century, American policies relied on ISOLATIONISM, or the withdrawal from the political and military battles of Europe.

B. The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 stated that only problems in the Western Hemisphere would be considered worthy of U.S. attention.

C. By the end of the nineteenth century, U.S. policies toward Latin America showed interventionist tendencies.

D. World War I marked the first serious intervention by the United States in European politics and began the process of shifting from a REGIONAL to a GLOBAL approach.

E. World War II ended with the U.S. a definite superpower in the world.

F. After World War II, Americans were asked by their government to give priority to defense spending over domestic spending.

1. THE COLD WAR with the Soviet Union required more resources for defense.

2. CONTAINMENT of communism became the official American course of action.

3. To prevent Soviet expansion, the European economy was made viable by the MARSHALL PLAN.

4. The U.S. became a member of the NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO) and became a major provider of defense resources to Western Europe.

IV. U.S. anti-communist policies suffered a defeat in Vietnam.

A. The U.S. attempted to support an anti-communist government that was corrupt and undemocratic.

B. Americans became disenchanted with the loss of life and the lack of clarity of U.S. policy.

C. The U.S. gradually pulled forces out of Vietnam.

D. The departure of the U.S. and the inherent weakness of the South Vietnam government led to a reunification of Vietnam under the control of North Vietnam.

E. Even during the war, President Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger began to shift American foreign policy into a NIXON DOCTRINE that would limit U.S. involvement abroad.

F. Nixon was also responsible for the policy of DETENTE, or a relaxation of tension with communist nations.

V. Post-Vietnam foreign policy shifted even further under Jimmy Carter.

A. Carter made human rights a major element of his foreign policy.

B. He believed that the Soviet Union was less of a threat to Third World stability than poverty and lack of democracy.

C. He developed the CARTER DOCTRINE, which defined the Persian Gulf region as vital for U.S. interests.

VI. Ronald Reagan took the nation back to a hostile approach to the USSR.

A. Reagan promoted and achieved a huge increase in spending for military programs.

B. He used American military forces in foreign nations such as Libya and Grenada.

C. Under his administration the U.S. reduced its commitments to the United Nations.

D. While the Soviet Union collapsed shortly after Reagan left office, historians have not yet agreed on whether his policies were responsible or whether the internal contradictions of the Soviet system led to its fall.

VII. Foreign policy under Bush and Clinton has been an approach without clear direction.

A. The U.S. showed the world its military might in the Gulf War under Bush.

B. The nation showed its compassionate use of military strength in Somalia under Bush and Clinton.

C. The foreign policy of the future may link domestic and economic issues to foreign policy more than in the past.

VIII. The institutional setting of foreign policymaking has constitutional and administrative aspects.

A. Although the Constitution clearly puts the president in charge of American foreign policy, a number of checks and balances prevents the abuse of this power.

1. The Constitution assigns the president four basic powers.

a. He is the commander in chief of the armed forces.

b. He has power to make treaties.

c. He appoints ambassadors and heads of executive departments.

d. He receives ambassadors from other countries.

2. The Constitution also gives Congress several powers in making foreign policy.

a. Congress has the power to declare war.

b. Congress ratifies all treaties.

c. Congress can pass legislation of international scope.

d. Congress controls spending on all programs, including foreign policy.

3. Presidents have found ingenious ways of circumventing constitutional limitations of foreign policymaking.

a. EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS between heads of states are not subject to senatorial approval.

b. Presidents have escaped congressional supervision over foreign policy expenditures by relying on DISCRETIONARY FUNDS.

c. Money can be shifted from one use to another through the president's TRANSFER AUTHORITY or the REPROGRAMMING of funds.

d. Presidents have involved the United States in undeclared wars during emergency situations.

e. Critics of the WAR POWERS RESOLUTION argue that this legislation allows the president to wage war for up to sixty days without congressional approval.

f. Presidents have relied on SPECIAL ENVOYS, who are not subject to Senate confirmation, to deal with sensitive foreign policy tasks.

B. American foreign policy is developed and administered by four organizations of the executive branch.

1. The Department of State monitors the overall conduct of foreign affairs.

a. Some presidents have not relied on the State Department for their critical foreign policy decisions.

b. The Department of State is often criticized for lack of initiative and creativity.

c. The Department of State lacks a strong domestic constituency.

2. The Department of Defense was created to provide a modern, civilian, bureaucratic structure for the armed forces.

a. The power of the secretary of defense often depends on the secretary's own vision of the job.

b. Under the secretary of defense are the chiefs of each military force: army, navy, and air force.

3. Since 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has provided government with information about the intentions of foreign powers through two kinds of activities.

a. Overt information is gathered by relatively unconventional means; policymakers, however, often misinterpret it.

b. Covert operations, which rely on questionable methods, raise moral and legal questions for a democracy.

4. The National Security Council (NSC) is a permanent group of advisers who help the president coordinate different aspects of foreign policymaking. Under various presidents, the NSC has encroached on both the powers of the State Department and the CIA. 

5. Other agencies interact to create foreign policy even though they are primarily domestic agencies.

IX. Public opinion on foreign policy can be understood in terms of the Majoritarian and pluralist models of democracy.

A. The proponents of the Majoritarian model of democracy believe that the public is able to judge foreign policy decisions; this, however, does not mean that the public can make foreign policy.

1. The American public is quick to tell policymakers what should be done, but they rarely provide guidance on how to do it.

2. The public's opinions on policy are extremely volatile.

3. Americans are willing to follow foreign policy cues from their leaders.

B. The proponents of the pluralist model of foreign policymaking believe that the countervailing influence of different interest groups produces a more stable foreign policy.

C. The media are a powerful source of influence on the foreign policy perceptions of policymakers and the public.

1. The media may report on areas of the world that provoke public concern about a foreign policy issue.

2. Images that create emotional responses may predominate.

3. The media function as foreign policy agenda setters.

X. The actual process of foreign policymaking involves a complete set of interactions among policymakers.

A. One of the president's most important tasks is to sort out the advice given to him by different branches of government and the public.

B. A president seeking congressional approval for foreign policy is at a considerable advantage over the more fragmented legislature because of his access to personnel and information.

C. The president himself is often the best lobbyist for his own policies.

D. Selecting and monitoring an agency to carry out a foreign policy decision is often the most controversial aspect of policy implementation.

XI. Policymakers use military and economic tools to implement foreign policy, but their views differ significantly on the importance of these tools.

A. Policymakers disagree on what constitutes an adequate defense policy.

1. Defense spending requires a discussion of national priorities.

2. High spending during the Reagan era was followed by a sharp decline after the Cold War.

3. New tasks, such as humanitarian relief or anti-terrorism activities, may become the defense policies of the future.

4. Questions about "who serves" in our military become more heated.

5. Defense cutbacks have caused layoffs and economic dislocations that impact the nation's economy.

B. Some of the most intractable problems the United States faces around the globe are not military but economic and environmental.

1. Today the United States exhibits both military strength and economic weakness.

2. In recent decades there has been a shift in the balance of trade as the United States began to import more than it exported and borrowed heartily from abroad.

a. Some Americans resent the penetration of the U.S. economy by foreign investors and complain of unfair trading practices such as NON-TARIFF BARRIERS (NTB), which outline the exact specifications an imported product must meet.

b. Some analysts worry that American emphasis on free enterprise has put the United States at a disadvantage in competition against countries that have adopted NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL POLICIES (government-sponsored coordinated plans for promoting economic expansion).

3. Many believe it is unjust for the developed world to enjoy great wealth while the THIRD WORLD (less developed states) are deprived.

a. Disparities in wealth between the developed and developing worlds may lead to disorder that threatens the FIRST WORLD states (industrialized democracies). 

b. Third World states have tried to enlist the cooperation of the developed world in a proposal for a NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER (NIEO).

c. The countries of eastern Europe (the SECOND WORLD) have begun to compete with the Third World for development dollars.

4. Economic tools such as sanctions, embargoes, and boycotts may be used to punish states that do not behave as the United States would like.

5. The 1992 Earth Summit indicated a growing international concern with the environment.

a. Decreased bio-diversity is a concern as humans destroy life forms through their abuse of the environment.

b. Global warming is also an international issue.

c. Under George Bush, the U.S. refused to sign the international treaties on biodiversity and global warming because the regulations involved might hurt U.S. economic interests.

6. International politics involves not only economic issues but also questions of human rights. 

a. The U.S. often trades off its concerns for individual rights for its needs to protect trade relations. The granting of MOST FAVORED NATION (MFN) status to China despite human rights violations has continued under Bill Clinton.

b. As one foreign policy observer noted, "Foreign policy is not about human rights, stupid; it's about the economy."  HUMAN RIGHTS AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

Concern for international human rights as a dimension of American foreign policy has moved in and out of the U.S. policy agenda since World War II. In the process, definitions of human rights have ranged from very narrow (concern for freedom and civil liberties) to extremely broad (concern for equality and social, economic, and cultural rights).

I. U.S. foreign policy between World War II and the present varied with presidential eras.

A. Roosevelt (1933-1945)

1. Roosevelt gave little direct attention initially to foreign policy.

a. His welfare-oriented legislation in the 1930s indicated the basic approach which would later be taken.

b. Roosevelt adopted a "good neighbor policy" toward Latin America. 

2. In the 1940s, increasing attention was given to international human rights.

a. A broadly defined ECONOMIC BILL OF RIGHTS (1944) argued that a decent standard of living for all people is required for world peace and that individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence- 

b. Although this policy was U.S.-centered, Roosevelt saw it as applicable to the world at large.

B. Truman/Eisenhower (1945-1961)

1. After World War II, concern for human rights reached its culmination in the drafting and U.S. endorsement of the
United Nation's UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (December 10, 1948). Afterward, there was a downturn in attention to human rights issues.

2. The Cold War period of preoccupation with the USSR brought a domestic backlash to the liberal, internationalistic outlook of the New Deal.

a. International human rights obligations were seen as encroaching upon the sovereignty of the United States and conflicting with the Constitution.

b. There was resistance to the idea, gaining credence elsewhere, that human rights are an international matter, not only a domestic issue.

c. In this mood, the United States did not ratify the 1951 genocide convention.

3. By 1953, the Eisenhower administration had abandoned any effort to increase the promotion of international human rights by the United States, and human rights were at the bottom of the hierarchy of national interests.

a. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles contended that human rights were only relevant to the extent that they could be used to divide the world into the "free world" and the "captive world."

b. The United States was willing to intervene militarily in the affairs of a Third World state if U.S. economic interests were involved or if there was the perception of "communist influence," as in Iran in 1953, Guatemala in 1954, and Lebanon in 1958.

c. The United States, however, was not prepared to intervene in the domestic affairs of a state that engaged in significant human rights violations and also opposed communism.

C. Kennedy/Johnson (1961Ð1969)

1. This was a period of expansive international liberalism typified by the Peace Corps, the Alliance for Progress, official support for self-determination (especially when it was threatened by the Soviet Union), and global involvement in the internal affairs of foreign societies.

a. Americans believed that development would produce stability and democracy.

b. There was a willingness to look at economic rights as important in promoting civil and political rights, especially in Third World countries.

c. President Kennedy believed the United States had a moral responsibility toward other countries (an attitude of NOBLESSE OBLIGE) and that problems of Third World countries were problems of the United States--including human rights violations.

2. Primary focus, however, was still on protecting U.S. economic interests and responding to perceived threats from communism. Examples include:

a. Anti-Castro intervention activities such as the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

b. Intervention in the Dominican Republic in 1965.

c. Escalating involvement in Vietnam.

D. Nixon/Ford (1969-1977)

1. There was a reversal in mood in U.S. foreign policy, resulting in a downturn in support for human rights at the presidential level.

2. Nixon emphasized the legitimacy of territorial sovereignty and of the existing political order.

3. There was little concern with human rights, even in communist countries.

a. Kissinger believed that national interests (which did not include human rights) must shape our international commitments.

b. He scorned introducing human rights concerns into serious diplomacy, feeling that such concerns were "moralistic encumbrances upon the serious business of negotiating stable arrangements of state power. . . ."

c. "This was evident in the United Nations, where the United States, during [Ambassador Daniel] Moynihan's tenure, stridently used human rights as an ideological tool against the Third World in an effort to dilute the anti-apartheid campaign." 

4. During the Nixon years, the war in Vietnam continued but was restructured to reduce the number of American troops and rely more on bombing raids and on the South Vietnamese army.

a. Nixon escalated the war while talking about "peace with honor."

b. In 1970, he authorized the bombing of Cambodia as a secret tactic.

c. When the bombing of Cambodia become public knowledge, outrage erupted in the United States, particularly on college campuses.

d. Four American college students were killed at Kent State University, Ohio, by National Guardsmen who fired into a crowd of demonstrators.

5. Even as bombing intensified, Nixon was involved in secret talks in Paris that ultimately led to the open peace talks.

a. Nixon left office in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal.

b. It was actually during the presidency of Gerald Ford that South Vietnam collapsed (1975) and marked the beginning of a massive influx of Vietnamese refugees into the United States.

c. Like many other foreign policy operations, Vietnam left the United States with a complex legacy of loss, grief and new immigrants to assimilate.

6. Nixon, like many other presidents, often preferred private diplomacy before public discussion of policy.

a. Private diplomacy led to the surprise opening of diplomatic relations with Communist China in 1971-72.

b. After his death in 1994, his China accomplishments remained among his most noted foreign policy actions.

II. Carter (1977-1981)

A. Human rights was a major personal concern for Carter.

1. Carter referred to human rights in his inaugural address (and in his announcement of candidacy for president).
 
a. This allowed Carter to reassert U.S. leadership abroad without heavy expenditures or an elaborate foreign policy.

b. It was consistent with his world view and his interest in international morality, restoring to the United States its traditional role as "defender of democracy and individual liberty."

c. He believed that the United States should fulfill its commitments as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights documents.

2. Carter restructured the State Department.

a. He created the Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs and the Inter-Agency Group on Human Rights and Foreign Assistance.

b. The group included representatives from:

Treasury
Departments of Agriculture and Commerce
National Security Council
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Agency for International Development
Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank

B. Carter was rather specific in his understanding of human
rights.

1. Human rights were categorized and prioritized in his 1978 speech on the thirtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in a 1977 speech by his secretary of state, Cyrus Vance.

a. PERSONAL SECURITY RIGHTS COME FIRST. Carter stated: "Of all human rights, the most basic is to be free of arbitrary violence [torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, arbitrary arrest or imprisonment, denial of fair trial]--whether that violence comes from governments, from terrorists, from criminals, or from self-appointed messiahs operating under the cover of politics or religion. . . . The first duty of government is to protect its citizens."

(1) Compare this statement to the "original purpose" of government in Chapter 1--to protect life and property.

(2) The difference is that "human rights" limits the GOVERNMENT'S use of arbitrary violence.

(3) Thus, "human rights" really amounts to FREEDOM from government oppression--or what we referred to in Chapter 16 as CIVIL LIBERTIES.

b. CIVIL LIBERTIES and POLITICAL RIGHTS: Freedom of thought, religion, assembly, speech, press, movement, participation in government--these are necessary in order to fulfill the following type of rights.

c. ECONOMIC AND WELFARE RIGHTS: Food, shelter, health care, education, the right to emigrate and reunite families.

(1) Compare securing these rights with government's role in promoting EQUALITY.

(2) These are the rights described in Chapter 16.

2. There was no clear articulation of what specific institutions are to be responsible for implementing these rights, but Carter spoke of greater commitment to the United Nations.

3. Emphasizing the need to be "realistic" and pragmatic, Vance outlined three sets of questions that would serve as broad guidelines to determining U.S. action on, or in response to, human rights violations.

a. The nature of the particular case under consideration.

b. As assessment of the prospects for effective action.

c. A wide-ranging perspective, including concern for U.S. security issues and for the welfare of people in other countries.

4. Vance's deputy security of state, Warren Christopher, said, "Human rights, while a fundamental factor in our foreign policy, cannot always be the decisive factor."

C. Carter's success in implementing human rights was uneven, but he was more successful than any previous president.

1. His administration withheld at least some economic or military assistance to numerous countries, including Brazil, Chile, El Salvador (aid cut in 1980 but restored in 1981), Ethiopia, Guatemala (military aid cut in response to the killing of thousands of Indians), and Paraguay.

2. His administration gave mixed support to the U.N. arms embargo against South Africa.

3. His administration, however, did not cut aid to other nations with human rights violations--South Korea, the Philippines, and Nicaragua under Somoza.

4. The Carter administration also enjoyed cooperation from the Soviet Union on the issue of Jewish immigration in the years before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan:

NUMBER OF JEWS
ALLOWED TO EMIGRATE

1976 14,261
1977 16,736
1978 28,864
1979 51,320
1980 (Soviet invasion of Afghanistan) 21,471
1981 9,447

D. Within the United States, Carter's human rights policy drew criticism from both the right and the left.

1. The left felt that Carter was ultimately supportive of the status quo, and it also felt that the United States was hypocritical, because it supported some states with material used for state terrorist activities.

a. EXAMPLES: the Philippines under Marcos, Iran under the Shah, South Korea, Indonesia, and Morocco. 

b. In fact, at least one statistical study found that "states which engage in government-supported violations of civil liberties and state terror are more likely to receive substantial arms transfers from the United States than states with more favorable records." (Deborah J. Gerner, "Weapons for Repression? U.S. Arms Transfers to the Third World," in Michael Stohl and George Lopez, eds., FOREIGN POLICY AND STATE TERROR, Westwood, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1987.)

2. Critics on the right made these points:

a. The United States cannot and should not interfere in another state's domestic affairs; sovereignty is absolute and morality should not be instilled into international affairs.

b. Even if the United States should "do something" about human rights, it is not clear that we have sufficient influence abroad to accomplish very much, and trying to might do more harm than good.

c. There is a fundamental difference between totalitarianism (communist) and authoritarian (noncommunist) regimes, and the latter are preferred to the former according to our self-interest.

E. Outside the United States, Carter's policy was also viewed differently.

1. Many opposition leaders and other individuals in the Third World reacted positively to Carter's initiatives, and he is still warmly regarded within such circles.

2. Other Third World leaders, however, did not like his attacks on their human rights policies.

a. Argentina refused to participate in the grain embargo against the Soviets in part because of Carter's criticism of its human rights record.

b. The United States risked alienating Israel by addressing the question of Palestinian human rights in Israel and its occupied territories.

c. Several countries (e.g., Uruguay and Brazil) refused to accept U.S. military and economic assistance because of U.S. criticism.

3. Carter commented, "Our country paid a price for its emphasis on human rights. There were leaders of oppressive regimes who deeply resented any comment about their politics, because they had reason to fear the reaction of their own people against them when their oppression was acknowledged by the outside world" 

III. Reagan/Bush (1981-1993)

A. Reagan's basic approach was mostly a reaction to and criticism of the Carter administration.

1. Reagan was attracted by Jeane Kirkpatrick's article "Dictatorships and Double Standards" which was critical of Carter's policies, and appointed her ambassador to the United Nations.

2. Though Carter's focus was on human rights, broadly defined, Reagan stressed "international terrorism" by non-state actors.

3. Reagan distinguished between authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, arguing that the former was less of a problem than the latter.

a. The best way to advance human rights is "by strengthening our resolve and our resources to defend our allies who are threatened by totalitarian aggression or subversion" (Ernest W. Lefever, HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 96th Congress, 1st Session).

b. In general, repressive regimes are acceptable if they are also anticommunist.

4. State sovereignty constitutes an absolute and total barrier to including human rights as a topic of discussion or cause for action in the foreign policy arena. The Reagan administration, however, took a leading role in helping remove Marcos from the Philippines and Duvalier from Haiti. Expediency helped to determine these moves, for the United States had learned from its experience with the Shah not to back dictators to the bitter end.

5. Recent events in Haiti indicate that the Reagan policy was inadequate in creating democratic processes there.

B. Reagan policy in Central America during the 1980s became part of the Iran-Contra Scandal that unfolded in the late 1980s.

1. Under President Reagan and Vice President Bush, American military officers, both active and retired, became advisers and fundraisers for Nicaraguan counter-revolutionaries.

2. These advisers/fundraisers operated in secret and in direct opposition to congressional decisions. In 1982, Congress enacted the Boland Amendment specifically to prohibit any American involvement in Nicaraguan military or civil disputes.

3. The secrecy of the operations became the subject of intense scrutiny by a congressional investigating committee and several of the people involved were found guilty of lying to Congress and other misdemeanors.

4. President Reagan, both during his time in office and in his retirement, continued to insist that he had no personal knowledge of the secret and illegal operations.

5. In his autobiography, Oliver North, a defendant in the Iran-Contra case, claimed that then-President Reagan did indeed know of his covert operations.

C. One of the most debatable aspects of Reagan-Bush foreign policy was the impact of Reagan's arms buildup on the fall of the Soviet Union.

1. Some argue that the U.S. arms buildup of the 1980s forced the USSR to compete, thus straining its economy.

2. This line of thought suggests that it was primarily the Cold War struggle for military predominance that forced the changes that led to the dismantling of the Soviet Union.

3. A contrasting view suggests that the internal problems in the Soviet economy and its own military-industrial complex were more important factors in its collapse.

4. This view stresses the undemocratic nature of Soviet politics and the inevitability of a breakdown and a push for democracy.

5. While the debate over the role of Reagan's foreign policy impacts continues, the U.S. must evolve a foreign policy appropriate to the post Cold War world.

IV. Clinton (1993-)

A. Bill Clinton's foreign policy has been labeled indecisive by most political observers of both the left and right.

B. He campaigned on several human rights themes.

1. However, in office he reneged on promises regarding trade relations with China.

2. He also struggled with policy regarding Haiti and the thousands of refugees that tried to enter the United States by boat.

C. Clinton's basic approach appears more like Jimmy Carter's: a human rights emphasis. Yet Clinton is very concerned about economic relations and about avoiding another Vietnam.

D. Clinton's challenge will remain the challenge of U.S. foreign policy for the foreseeable future.

1. The U.S. is the major power in the world, both militarily and economically.

2. Many of the world's nations are underdeveloped and have large impoverished populations.

3. Many nations have weapons that could threaten world security.

4. Increasing economic competition requires a new approach to foreign policy.

5. The relationship between individual nations is evolving as nations form economic blocs, such as NAFTA (Canada, Mexico and the United States) and the EEC (European Common Market).

6. The world is probably safer in some ways than it was during the Cold War, yet still dangerous in terms of isolated groups, individuals or nations with nuclear weapons.

7. The role of the United States is changing yet still bears resemblance to its past role as the "world's policeman."

8. From Clinton onward, all American presidents will have to decide where, when and how and especially WHY to use American military might in a world without a communist threat.

THE NEED FOR A NEW FOREIGN POLICY

At the conclusion of World War II, the United States found itself in a position where it dominated the world in both a military and an economic sense. Since that time, the United States has pursued a foreign policy reasonably consistent with its position as a superpower. However, the period when the political structure of the world was dominated by only two countries, the United States and the USSR, is coming to a close. There is a growing need for a reorientation of U.S. foreign policy toward recognizing that reality.

I. Before 1960, the United States enjoyed overwhelming economic and military power in relation to the rest of the world. During the 1960s and after, the situation began to change.

A. In the military realm, the Soviet Union achieved at least parity in the area of nuclear arms and also increased its naval and air lift capabilities. The United States lost its military superiority.

B. America's economic advantage over the rest of the world began to decline. New centers of industrial power emerged in Japan and western Europe. During the 1980s, a trade surplus was replaced by a deficit. There is growing concern that the United States is losing its ability to compete economically with Europe, Japan, and the other Pacific Rim countries.

C. America's ability and resolve to utilize military power in the Third World received a serious setback in the Vietnam War. The
growing problems of terrorism, drugs, and guerrilla wars are not conducive to military solutions.

D. American military and political commitments have, if anything, increased. Carter, Reagan, and Bush have all increased the scope of U.S. commitments in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Central America.

E. The net result is that America's position as a global superpower may no longer be sustainable.

II. The perception of this decline in American military and economic power was one of the factors that helped Ronald Reagan come to power in 1980. The Reagan administration entered office on a platform of restoring America's position as a military power and generally reasserting American influence and global prestige.

A. The Reagan administration used rhetoric and public relations to emphasize that American resolve had returned. The Reagan administration also promised to undertake more active measures to check perceived Soviet gains worldwide.

B. A massive military buildup was undertaken. The costs of this buildup will be examined later.

C. The Reagan administration utilized military power in a number of instances, including Grenada, Lebanon, and the Persian Gulf, with mixed success. It has also pursued a policy of backing anticommunist guerrillas to counter Soviet or other communist advances. Overall, the renewed emphasis on military solutions has had some success and a number of failures.

D. Overall, the Reagan administration had a bipolar perspective on the global system. This perspective emphasized the role of the two superpowers at the expense of other actors. This perspective, accurate during the 1950s, was far less relevant in the 1990s.
 
III. America's economic advantage has eroded more severely than its military advantage. There is also evidence that the decades of heavy military spending since World War II, particularly the Reagan buildup, have contributed to the decline of the U.S. economic position.

A. Most of the annual budget deficits during the 1980s can be attributed to increased military spending.

B. America has carried a disproportionate share of the military burden involved in defending Europe and Japan. Up until the 1980s, the United States was more than willing to carry the expenses involved.

C. The long-term expenses of the arms race may be an important factor in the decline of American economic power. Military spending has consumed funds that could have been used for education, social services, and research.
 
D. Since the late 1960s, government spending on commercial research and development had fallen 95 percent. By the 1980s, the United States had become the world's largest debtor nation and had the lowest rate of savings in the developed world.

E. Although military spending does have some spin-off benefits, these benefits are outweighed by the diversion of research capabilities away from civilian technology.

IV. The era of GLASNOST (opening) and PERESTROIKA (restructuring) of the Soviet Union ultimately opened up restructuring to the point that the Soviet Union was dismantled.

A. As military expenditures were very costly for the United States, they were also absolutely crippling for the USSR. As the GNP of the USSR was substantially less than that of the United States, military expenditures were proportionately far higher.

B. The Soviet economy experienced more than two decades of economic stagnation. This no doubt contributed to the
collapse of the USSR.

C. Russia and the newly independent nations of the former Soviet Union have weapons that must be demobilized.

D. The United States is currently on good terms with Russia's leaders, but Russia's political stability is in doubt. Future
leaders may not be so cooperative with the United States or any Western nation.

V. In the post-Cold War era, U.S. foreign policy faces a number of challenges.

A. American economic competitiveness must be enhanced, or at least the decline must be checked. Diversion of funds away from the military sector may be necessary to accomplish economic goals.

B. One of the costs of such a policy will be the extent of American military and political commitments abroad. If western Europe and Japan increase their military establishments significantly, American policymaking predominance in these areas will be reduced. The price of eliminating or reducing the American military in other areas such as the Middle East or Central America will mean the loss of influence in these areas.

C. The Persian Gulf War demonstrated the continuing need to maintain a credible military establishment in a world which remains a dangerous place. It also illustrated the benefits of multilateral action when the United States led a coalition of states that would have been unimaginable only a few years before. Today it may be said that the United States is perhaps the world's only superpower. Unless the United States puts its economic house in order and further recognizes the massive political changes that are occurring around the world, however, it is unlikely that such a status can be sustained.

D. The basic challenge facing American foreign policy is adjusting to a world system that is no longer BIPOLAR but MULTIPOLAR. According to many foreign policy analysts, America must adjust its emphasis to one of competing in a world system dominated by a number of powers of which it is only one. American political and military commitments must also reflect that reality. To continue to maintain an untenable position as a superpower may be counter productive.

VI. Four orientations to contemporary foreign policy have been identified by researchers.

A. The HARDLINER believes that the world is dangerous and the U.S. must be militarily strong.

B. The ISOLATIONIST prefers minimal ties to other nations, both military and economic. 

C. The INTERNATIONALIST promotes continuing American leadership in the world along with multilateral discussions and actions as needed.

D. The ACCOMMODATIONIST views the globe as non-threatening and focuses on issues such as inequities between rich and poor, human rights and environmental issues. They tend to promote nonmilitary solutions and multilateral decisions. 

VII. As the U.S. policies continue to be debated, foreign policy will remain vital issues.

A. The ties of various American ethnic groups to other nations will continue to play a role.

1. Jewish Americans will continue to be concerned about the Middle East.

2. Asian Americans will gradually develop a political voice regarding the Asian nations.

3. Central and South Americans, whose numbers are increasing, will join Cuban Americans in demanding a voice on policies relating to their nations of origin.

B. Modern communications and increased international trade and travel will continue to expose Americans to international issues and make those issues more meaningful and urgent.