Foreign Policy Dbq

Following the detonation of two atomic bombs over Japan and the closure of World War II, the United States of America and the Soviet Union entered a period of ideological conflict, the Cold War. The United States sought to preserve and protect democracy throughout the world while the Soviet Union established communist satellite states. During the Cold War, the United States government pushed for the expansion of the United States space program in an attempt to demonstrate power and innovation over the Russians, and in doing so, accelerated the process of space exploration and endangered the lives of their astronauts.

The Unites States and Communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics put aside their immense political differences to become allies during World War II. Previous hostility between the Soviet Union and democratic nations, did not stop the communist world power from forming an alliance with the United States and Great Britain. The United States similar to the Soviet Union saw Nazi Germany as a greater threat to national security and world peace than the other’s political ideologies or philosophies; therefore, the most dangerous enemy. Tensions during the alliance were always near, but a common opponent concealed a restricted amount ideology in common. Even with the political differences, the United States, Britain, Soviet Union and additional nations surfaced from World War II victorious in 1945. The alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union disintegrate quickly after the surrender of Japan. The rapid change from allies to enemies was rooted in the Unites States and Soviet Union’s foreign policies towards each other. The Soviets wanted to spread the political and economic system of communism into Eastern Europe, while the United States wanted to protect all countries from the threat of communism. Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, demanded that Eastern European countries enter the Soviet sphere of influence. The United States was resistant to allow Stalin dictate the shape of the postwar world, which began Unites States’ anti-communist foreign policy.

From Independence through WWI, the US tried to refuse to become generally and permanently involved in the affairs of the rest of the world. It started in the early years of this nation when George Washington declared that “our true policy” was “to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.”. After, in 1801, Thomas Jefferson warned the nation against “entangling alliances”. So it was basically in the genetics in this country to isolate itself. Yet this policy did not demand a complete separation from the rest of the world. The US developed ties abroad by exchanging Ambassadors, signing treaties with many nations, et cetera.

The conflict in ideologies between capitalism and communism resulted in one of the greatest conflicts of the twentieth century. The belief that freedom and democracy would die under communist rule caused the United States to start a conflict that would last for decades. The decisions made by the United States in W.W.II caused tensions to rise between the U. S. and the Soviet Union. Fear of Communism in capitalist nations, caused the United states government to use propaganda to raise Cold War anxieties. Furthermore, the American media influenced the attitudes of Americans, making a hatred of communism spread though the nation. Thus, the United States caused the conflict known as the Cold War, through its political policy and propaganda. The political relations going on in Europe during and directly after World War II had an enormous effect on laying the foundation for the Cold War. War time conferences such as Yalta and Terhran harshened the relationship between the communists and the capitalists. At the end of W.W.II American policy towards the Soviets changed drastically. The change in president in 1945 caused relations with Russia to worsen. Furthermore, other political contributions to the Cold War entailed the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. The division of Europe between the west and east drew physical borders which outlined that the war of misinformation that had began. Also treaties of the post war world further separated the two super powers

Two trillion dollars was the amount spent by the United States on the war with the Soviet Union, which never seen the battlefield. Over four decades of US presidencies were committed to containing communism within the Soviet Union, and existing establishments, driving US foreign policy decisions across the globe. Armed forces, government officials, and US presidents, may have been unable to contain communism on their own. In 1947, the first year of the Cold War, President Harry Truman proposed a six-pronged defense strategy which included the National Security Act of 1947, giving birth to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (Roark, et al. 789). The consensus of the Cold War was driven by

The belief in the superiority of the western value system, capitalism, liberal democracy, and its vulnerability to survive as the ultimate way has been shaken, but not completely discarded. We now have a world that is interconnected to nearly all other countries through globalism and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs). As the United States prepares for the upcoming election that decides which presidential candidate will occupy the most popular and arguably the most powerful position in the world, we have to take a step back and look at the past experience of each candidate and their proposed foreign policy stance which will be enacted should they be elected. Any nation that is apart of a globalized market such as The United States must be careful when choosing their next president. More importantly they need a president that is in tune with the current international system and one that focuses on a foreign policy based on realism instead of a foreign policy based on idealism. In the following, I will look at the foreign policies of the current presidential candidates and I will discuss which policies are in tune with the current international system and which ones are out of tune with reality.

As you can imagine the Americans and the Soviets were bound to be against one another, their core beliefs and political systems were predicated on the failure of the latter. The first of these American policies was established soon after Pearl Harbor, when Roosevelt agreed with General Marshall that “international political considerations should defer to military requirements as long as the war lasted” . The second policy, emerging in 1943, was that everything possible must be done to win the confidence of Stalin and his associates . The latter part of the foreign policy was soon dropped because of the growing suspicion of the Soviets at the aforementioned Yalta conference .

Durning 1913 and 1916 Woodrow Wilsons domestic and foreign policies weren 't both equally successful but both were successful. AlthoughWilson had primarily been elected to reform national politics and initiate new progressive policies in Washington, he spent the majority of his time as President dealing with foreign policy rather than domestic. Wilson 's predecessors, including McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and Taft, had viewed the United States as an emerging power that needed to extend its influence throughout the world in order to serve national interests. This imperialist policy was justified by the commonly held belief that it was America 's duty as a Christian republic to spread democracy throughout the world. These three Presidents significantly expanded America 's influence abroad with the annexation of colonies throughout the world, such as the Philippines and Cuba.

The foundation of the U.S. National Security Policy is on the Goldwater-Nichols Act. 1947, signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan after the World War II, encouraging a restructure of the military through the National Security Act of 1947. The Department of War and the Department of Navy was unified into the National Military Establishment (NME), then renamed to Department of Defense with the purpose to have Army, Navy and Air Force into a unified structure. President Truman signed the National Security Act Amendment of 1949 in reflection to strategic changes to the Cold War facts. This paper explores the book review, performed by Robert B. McCalla and Melvin A. Goodman, of Richard J. Stoll’s “U.S. National Security Policy and the Soviet

The foreign policy of the United States of America is the process in which it cooperates with foreign nations and sets guidelines of communication for the rest of the world. The foreign policy of the United States is the strategy by which the United States communicates with foreign countries. The U.S. has a powerful influence in this world. The global reach of the United States is backed by a $14.3 trillion dollar economy, roughly a quarter of worldwide GDP, and a protection spending plan of $711 billion, which represents around half of worldwide military spending. The U.S. Secretary of State is the foreign minister and is the authority accused of state-to-state strategy, despite the fact that the president has ultimate power over foreign

In light of the previous United States presidential elections, much emphasis has been placed upon Americas global relationships with other nations through foreign policy. With the sizeable influence that the United States has globally in regards to trade, economics and international treaties, a shift within ideological belief about these aforementioned concepts will greatly change the current stance, and future action of the American government. In theory, when looking into Republican ideologies on trade, tariffs and treaties, a major shift away from their previous historical beliefs are notable. Because of the large differences in foreign policy ideology between the Republican party and Democratic party, if theory is

The goals and norms of American foreign policy can be traced over a number of centuries. Starting in 1776, foreign policy in the United States (US) has gone through a rollercoaster of competing strategies and schools of thought. Two competing strategies of Isolationism and Internationalism have taken their turns headlining the foreign policy principles of various American governments. Importantly, the reasons for the to and fro movement between these two extremes can not be linked to a single source but to a multitude of elements both internal and external shaping American thinking.

The post-war relationship between the United States of America and the Soviet Union became known as the Cold War. “The two nations that emerged with the strongest militaries when World War II ended spent the next 45 years waging multi-layered competitions, first in Europe, then Asia, Africa and Latin America” (Brinkley). The major events of the Cold War consist of the start of the war, the end, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Bay of Pigs invasion, and the Berlin Wall. The Soviets had the idea stuck in their heads that Communism would eventually take over the world (Garthoff). The United States started their policy of containment, which was designed to stop communist ideas from spreading (Brinkley). Both sides believed that war was unavoidable. Not just any war was unavoidable, nuclear war was. Both sides also understood that a nuclear war would ruin humanity. “The fundamental underlying cause of the Cold War was the reinforcing belief in both the Soviet Union and the United States that confrontation was unavoidable, imposed by history” (Brinkley). Good or bad, the Cold War altered the United States militarily, culturally, economically, and politically, shaping us into who we are today.

The United States foreign or defense policy rests on the US relations with other actors outside the US. This is unlike the other areas of government policy that greatly deal with internal issues. As described by Patterson (2013) “the cornerstone of foreign policy is the national interest” (p. 435). The policy that defines the way in which the US interacts with foreign nations. It defines what is best for the nations with respect to protecting its ways and its physical security. It even sets standards of interaction and dealings for its nationals, both citizens and organizations with foreign nations.

During World War II the greatest military powers at the time, the United States and the Soviet Union, had strong tensions between one another. The Cold War permanently shaped the United States military system. During World War II, as tensions raised between the United States and the Soviet Union, the advancement of technology increased dramatically, which eventually led to the Nuclear Arms Race. As a result of this, many different branches of military merged together and created the Department of Defense. The NSC-68 determined that the United States and the Soviet Union were the two remaining superpowers giving the idea that the United States had watch over the Soviets. The US’s “Containment” policy was created to try and stop Soviet Expansion to weaker parts of the World.