Comparing the Foreign Policy of Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton

North Korea, formally known as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a relic of the Cold War and the world’s last remaining totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship. Arguably the most secretive state in the world, North Korea poses a unique set of challenges to the world, especially to its democratic and capitalist neighbor, South Korea, formally known as the Republic of Korea (ROK). As one of the last remnants of the Cold War era, North Korea remains an anomaly of the international system due to its unpredictable nature and disregard for international norms. With the recent bombardment of the South Korean Island of Yeongpyong and the sinking of the warship Cheonan, tensions between the two Koreas are at the lowest point since

After all accusations that North Korea made against the South Korea, the U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has backed South Korea’s call for North Korea “to come forward with the facts about this act of aggression and above all, stop its belligerence and threatening behaviour.” U.S President Barack Obama made a decision according to South Korea concern adopting a newly aggressive military attitude towards its neighbour; he had directed military commanders to work with South Korean troops to make sure readiness and to deter future aggression from North Korea.

politician had served to be a president for the United States of America. Ronald Reagan served

The U.S. helped to divide the Korean peninsula at the end of World War II, and then waged war against North Korea in the 1950s. Although the U.S. signed a peace agreement rather than a peace treaty with North Korea after the war, its policy toward the country changed. Instead of trying to overthrow the North Korea government, the U.S. government adopted a policy of containing communism. During the 1980’s, associations between North Korea and the U.S. start to take on a new diplomatic form. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program had become a pressing international issue

To begin with, If we were to go to war with North Korea they would be very pleased by it because they are not looking for any sort of compromise with the United States. According to the article, “The case for letting North Korea keep its nukes”, it states that from “the thinking here, as far as we can tell from the outside, is that you need to threaten North Korea with a credible

Background: Ever since the presidency of Harry Truman, we have been constantly involved in foreign conflicts due to fear of the spread of communism. As a consequence of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, Korea was divided into two governments. During Mr. Truman’s presidency, the spread of communism was increasing in tension due to the North Korean invasion of South Korea. The United States believed that it was not in its best interests to let Korea fall to communist power. As a result, the U.S. joined the war in efforts to stop the downfall of South Korea. The north koreans received aid from communist China and the war went on until the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. This agreement set up a demilitarized zone

international and domestic issues while juggling personal issues, and the many other responsibilities of The President of the United States. Over the 20 years of reign by these Presidents, 8 years were ran under Democratic rule by Bill Clinton and 12 years were ran under Republican rule by George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush were both Republican, while Bill Clinton referred to himself as a “new age” Democrat. Reagan, Bush and Clinton had many domestic and foreign issues in common, the battling of the Cold War with Russia, economic instability and issues with obtaining oil and gasoline from the Middle Eastern nations. Over this period there was seemingly a tilt in attention from competition with the Soviets to focusing on a positive relationship with countries from the Middle East. Even though each of these President ran on the basis that they were going to be hard on communism and beat out communism in the entire world but at some times it seemed like obtaining gas was more important (Looman 5). Reagan, Bush, and Clinton were Presidents that did their best to ensure the future and fertility of our nation, the only question is who put our country on the best path possible?

While this was largely due to the similarity on their views regarding Russia and China, the two also bonded over topics as disparate as NAFTA and the line item veto to an assassination attempt on H.W. Bush. Despite Carter’s fall-out with his predecessor, Clinton effectively employed Carter. Their relationship had an unchallenging beginning due in large part to the similarity in their upbringings and political affiliations. Despite temporary fallouts, the two collaborate on major foreign policy conflicts in North Korea and Haiti. Both ventures were risky and unstable, yet ultimately successful - all due to Carter. During another risky time, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Clinton was largely aided by Ford. Ford instructed him on the importance

During the 1990’s, the US was involved in two important events, Clinton's impeachment threat and the Persian Gulf War. In 1999, President Bill Clinton was accused of perjury by a grand jury due to his obstruction of justice. Lying under oath, Clinton claimed he did not have relations with unpaid intern Monica Lewinsky. During a four-hour closed testimony, Clinton spoke live via closed circuit to a grand jury in a closed courthouse. Clinton faced many consequences. Eventually, he was acquitted by the U.S. Senate, according to the website: This Day in History, December 19. In addition, from 1990-91, the Persian Gulf War had occurred. Many other countries contributed to the start of this war. Different countries were taking Iraq’s oil supply.

“I mean, you know, this idea that somebody we disagree with on economic or social policy or something we have to turn into some kind of ogre or demon, I think, is a mistake. I mean, it's like telling the American people or half the American people that don't agree with you they're all fools. That's just not true.” Bill Clinton followed this quote up with with his foreign policy ideas. While Bill Clinton’s policy might be viewed as he entered places to late; his presidency was based around domestic and not foreign policy. In doing this he did not change much in terms of foreign policy from Bush. He all did when he thought it would help the economy or when he got forced to.

The United States views North Korea’s nuclear expansion behavior as intolerable. Current U.S. policy aims to weaken North Korea’s nuclear capabilities primarily through isolation, and ultimately to never accept it as a nuclear state. We presently continue to tighten sanctions, condemn the DPRK’s behavior and use traditional deterrence measures in order to denuclearize the state.

allies and interests, resulting in the stationing of U.S. forces in South Korea and Japan. However, it has also been the subject of a policy experiment. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have tried to engage Pyongyang in order to improve relations and end its objectionable behavior. That policy, albeit politically controversial, particularly during the Clinton administration, is probably here to stay, not just because its attraction has been compelling to a cross-section of mainstream Democrats and Republicans, but also because political trends in Northeast Asia, particularly the ongoing rapprochement between North and South Korea, only reinforce the logic of engagement. The key question for the new administration is how it should shape its diplomatic policy towards North Korea to further U.S. interests in a region possibly transitioning away from the cold war confrontation of the past five decades to some unknown status.

Since the end of the Korean War, the United States has enacted policies to isolate and undermine the Kim Dynasty in North Korea. A key development took place in the past several decades where North Korea broke away from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to develop their own nuclear weapons and while lacking launch capabilities, they have been successful in their development. During this process, the United States took active policies to deter the North Koreans in pursuit of their goals. It is easy to assume that the United States took this stance in order to maintain a military edge in the region. But under closer examination, this neo-realist perspective does not explain why the United States pursued this policy. In reality, North Korea

     At the beginning, our response to North Korea’s HEU and plutonium programs was very hostile and involved condemning them. Eventually, we took little baby steps to ease the tension. We also agreed to talk to them, but limited the things we could talk about with them. At the very time all of this chaos is happening, our relationship with the South Korea is reaching an all time low.

North Korea’s nuclear and strategic missile capabilities present grave challenges to regional security. Pyongyang’s propensity to export its weapons also threatens the global non-proliferation regime. Despite economic impoverishment and an inability to feed its people, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea remains heavily armed and ready to fire first. Its recent and continued military provocations demonstrate the potential for resumed conflict on the Korean Peninsula. Policymakers must