DEFENSE AND FOREIGN POLICY IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Defense policy involves strategic decisions about the use of military force in national security.
Foreign policy encompasses all military, diplomatic, economic, and security exchanges that take place with other nations.
National defense and foreign policy change dramatically depending on American interests and the nature of the enemy.
- The Monroe Doctrine was a warning to European powers that attempts to extend their systems into the Western Hemisphere would be considered a threat to U.S. peace and safety.
- In the late nineteenth century, America sought to achieve economic expansion.
- The Open Door Policy declared support for equal access for foreign traders in China.
- The Roosevelt Corollary asserted the U.S. right to intervene in its neighbors' domestic affairs if they were unable to maintain order and national sovereignty on their own.
- The Truman Doctrine guided the U.S. policy of containment by declaring U.S. intentions to support free people who resisted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures.
- Mutually Assured Destruction was a Cold War principle that presumed neither superpower would launch an attack if such an act would lead to its own destruction.
- A period of détente in U.S.-Soviet relations ended with the Reagan Administration's arms buildup, which eventually was a factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union.
At the end of the Cold War, terrorism and the War on Terror took center stage in American national security policy and resulted in the reorganization of the bureaucracy and changes in intelligence gathering and military policy.
The Bush Doctrine calls for preemptive use of force to prevent hostile acts even if the U.S. is uncertain about their time and place.
DEFENDING OUR INTERESTS IN A CONSTANTLY CHANGING WORLD
The most important national security goal of any nation is maintaining security in the face of threats.
A nation's national interests are comprised of its military, economic, and ideological concerns about security.
Foreign policy is guided by the notion that each nation is limited in the pursuit of its interests only by the strength of its resources and the countervailing power of other nations.
- Foreign policy realism is the belief that national interests can be assured through a strong defense that will act as a deterrent.
- Foreign policy liberalists believe that national interests are secured by building alliances that make conflict more costly.
- Foreign policy idealism emphasizes the promotion of the American values of democracy, freedom, and cultural diversity in the belief that other nations will want to emulate our success in order to gain our support.
- Neoconservatism is a hybrid of the other theories and seeks the dual goals of enhancing military might and spreading support for democratic values around the globe.
In reviewing foreign policy options, leaders often use complex mathematical tools like game theory.
MAKING NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY
National security links diplomatic, economic, and military operations into a framework in which to achieve a nation's objectives.
The president and Congress share the constitutional authority for conducting such policies.
The executive branch is in charge of the day-to-day operations of national security policy and relies on numerous agencies to provide guidance.
- The National Security Council is made up of the president, vice president, the secretaries of state, defense, and treasury, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA director, and the president's National Security Advisor.
- The Department of State is the chief diplomatic arm of the U.S. government.
- The Department of Defense is responsible for maintaining U.S. troops' combat readiness.
- The Office of the Director of Intelligence oversees and coordinates intelligence gathering from sixteen intelligence agencies.
Congress can play a key role in foreign and defense policy in a variety of ways.
- A principal congressional foreign policy function is to provide funding for various programs.
Foreign policy is limited by public opinion in so much as policies must attract popular support in order for them to succeed.
TOOLS OF FOREIGN POLICY
There are a variety of ways that nations can influence the actions of others.
Military power is powerful resource that is both an offensive weapon and a potent deterrent.
Diplomacy is the peaceful use of incentives and deterrents to build alliances and support in order to avoid warfare.
The United States uses loans and grants in the form of military aid, economic assistance, humanitarian assistance, and assistance to multinational organizations in order influence the policies of other nations.
The U.S. works with many international organizations in order to share information and resources, influence world opinion, and develop solutions to world problems.
CONFRONTING THE FUTURE
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States remained the only superpower in what became a unipolar world.
Threats to U.S. and world stability include terrorism, nuclear weapons, and regional conflicts.
The roots of terrorism include extremist ideology, feelings of powerlessness, and lack of economic opportunity.
Because terrorism is a tactic, nations find it difficult to defend against.
Despite various nuclear treaties, there are eight nations that have nuclear weapons, including some that are located in some of the world's most volatile regions.
One of the biggest threats is the prospect of a non-nation-state actors gaining access to nuclear material.
Globalization ties nations together so that upheavals in one region are liable to have impacts elsewhere.
- In the Middle East, a solution to the establishment of a permanent Palestinian state could likely ease tensions but neither side has been able to bring negotiations to a conclusion.
- Africa is plagued by its lack of economic and modernization progress and the persistence of ethnic and tribal conflicts.
China's commercial growth has enabled it to flex its military and economic muscle, including the use of its financial clout to finance U.S. debt.
