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Us Foreign Policy

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1. Introduction 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. In the sections that follow, a historical path will be traced through American foreign policy starting in 1776 with a watershed period …show more content…

The key to combating communism was the belief in the domino theory, claiming that if one state fell to communism it would have a domino effect on neighbouring states, capitulating them into communism. Though small scale conflicts and ideological flare-ups characterised the Cold War Period, the most famous foreign policy principle was that of détente. Through the leadership of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger détente was based upon mutual respect and the view that both the US and Soviet Union would gain from cooperation and restraint (Kegley et al, 2003: 51). This period was one of the more stable in terms of US foreign policy as it almost singularly focused on defeating the threat of communism and the challenge to its liberal internationalism. Much of the Cold War was based upon ideological differences and power struggle. As the Soviet resolve started to wane under the Gorbachev presidency, the Soviet Union recognised the benefits of the free market economy the US was promoting. During this period heading towards the end of the Cold War the USSR and the US entered into several agreements regarding their nuclear weapons, as well as the control of arms world wide. This would lead to the move toward nuclear disarmament across the rest of the globe. 5. Post-Cold War and 9/11 The post-Cold War period was marked

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