THE EVOLUTION AND THEO-RETICAL FOUNDATION OF US FOREIGN POLICY

JAECHUN KIM

American Politics and Foreign Policies

Ideological Origins of USFP

• We can conceptualize ideological prototypes of USFP by utilizing two sets of polar concepts

- realism vs. liberalism - isolationism and internationalism…

Realism and Liberalism - 2 major interna-tional relations theory

Michael Doyle – 4 different strands of R and L…

Realist assumption about the natural

state of International Relations

- Natural state (i.e., status) of International

Relations is permanent state of war…

Why?

Because International Relations is Anarchy…

self-help system… In Intl Relations, we are responsi-

ble for our security

Security Dilemma

Arms Race

Temptation to launch preemptive strike (or preventive

wars)

Thucydides, “The growth of power of the Athens and

the fear this caused in Sparta made war inevitable.”

Peloponnesian War

Constant possibility of war!

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Jane

JohnPris-

oner's Dilemma

DC > CC > DD

Liberalist Assumption about the Natural State of International Relations

International Relations is not a permanent state of war!

Even under anarchical conditions, there is a set

of natural laws…

Assumptions about the human nature Even Realism – Human nature is evil! Liberalism – Human nature is not that bad…

Mankind can progress…

Who is the most important actor in IR? Realism – Sate

Liberalism – State, but also non state actors are important

State as “unitary” actor?

Realism – State can be thought of and analyzed as unitary actor

Liberalism – State is made up of individuals and groups that have divergent interests;

State is “functionally similar” unit ? 

Realism - States are functionally similar

units… Their primary function is provision of

“security”!

Liberalism – States are inherently different

units! Democracy and Autocracy are

fundamentally different…!

National Interests  

Realism – It’s not that difficult to define national interests; national interests should be differentiated from interests of individuals and groups; national interests should guide the foreign policy…. ; there is less room for moral consideration in making of foreign policy 

“A wise Prince knows how to do wrong when it

is necessary – ends justify means!” – Marchiavelli  

Liberalism – national interests is a dubious concept;

Primary goal of the state  

Realism – increasing power and security;

Liberalism – increasing power and security is important, but states should guarantee human rights and liberty of people

Most important variable in Intl Relations 

Realism – power (or material forces) Liberalism – Power is important, but some

other variables are also important as well

Future of International Relations  

R– Perpetual peace is impossible…!; “For realists it’s the same damn story over and over again!”

R – Any intl order not based on power (or balance of power) is unstable

Realist advice to foreign policy makers Balance of Power Politics! Realpolitik! Power

Politics! Realpolitik is the best foreign policy guideline!

cf. Liberalism – Perpetual peace is possible!

Liberalist advice to foreign policy making

International Order based on BoP (or material forces) is inherently unstable;

People can establish perpetual peace by

(1) promoting liberal democratic institutions

(2) liberal economic institutions

(3) and international laws and organizations

These are three legs of liberalism!

USFP Tradition and Pattern

* We can trace the evolution of USFP by using Isolationism vs. Internationalism and Liberalism vs. Realism

1776 – the late 19th c.

Strong isolationist tendency and Influence of (Classical) Liberalism

There was a consensus that it was in the best interest of the US to stay away from the Continental affairs

Thomas Paine: “It is the true interest of America to steer clear of European contentions…”

John Adams : “we should separate ourselves, as far as possible and as long as possible, from all European politics and wars.”

George Washington (in farewell speech): “steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world” “by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?”

Don’t participate in BOP (Balance of Power) politics in Europe

Why Isolationism?

Strong anti-statist tradition (strong tradition of classical liberalism) if the US becomes entangled in foreign affairs, national (federal) power would grow at the expense of the states (and people) Strong government will hamper civil liberties… Internationalism would subvert freedom at home!

Size, resources, and geography we can afford to be isolationist!

* The influence of American Exceptionalism revulsion against European BOP politics

We are different from (corrupt) Europeans! We are not playing that dirty game that they are playing!

We have a manifest destiny to assimilate others with our ideals and values…

“The New World had become ‘the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty,’ while in England ‘a corrupt and faith-less court’ abused liberty, and elsewhere in the Old World liberty was simply denied. Americans thus marked out as the keepers of the flickering flame of liberty” (Thomas Paine)

John Q Adams: “The US is a beacon of light on liberty, but even when we assume this re-sponsibility for the world, even in the name of freedom… we’re not going to be an agent of international reform… We will just be their role model.”

• The US is a Shining House on the Hill

But we can’t be interventionist like European powers! This is very different from Liberal interventionism of the 20th century

“Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will [America’s] heart, her benedictions, and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” (John Q. Adams)

American Exceptionalism Get down with the dogs, get

up with fleas!

Americans never felt perfectly comfortable with realism

or realpolitik…

Two identifiable legacies of the long tradi-tion of isolationism

Intermingling of domestic and foreign policy

institutions

Amateurism toward foreign policy making; cf.

1946 Foreign Service Act

Unilateralism – Isolationism means no

diplomacy, no diplomacy means no multilat-

eralism!

Alexander Hamilton - The first American realist?

“…men are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious…conflict was the law of life. States no less than men were bound to collide over those ancient objects of ambition: wealth and glory” “…develop the capabilities necessary to enable the US” to be “ascendant in the system of American affairs . . . and able to dictate the terms of the connection between the old and the new world!”

The US has to engage in protectionist policies if necessary!; The US should play ‘power politics’

Isolationism during this period does not mean that the US was unengaged

The US expanded its sphere of influence

The US also made it sure that the Latin America is in the sphere of American influence.

* Monroe Doctrine of 1823: “We owe it … to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the US and [European] powers to de-clare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.”

Created Liberia in the 1820s. Opened Japan to commercial relations in the 1850s.

Isolationism during this period means that the US did not take active role in shaping the world order!! The US stayed away from E af-fairs…

The USFP at the turn of the 19th century

Isolationism and liberalism under siege

: The rise of imperialism and interventionism

The US got actively involved in the game of imperialism and colonization!

Spanish-American War; The Philippines-American War

A significant number of Americans was op-posed to imperialistic policies

( legacy of liberalism!)

Elites resort to liberalist sentiments to pursue im-

perialistic policies.

William McKinley (before the Philippines-American War):

“I walked the floor of the White House night after night un-

til midnight; and I am not ashamed to tell you… that I went

down on my knees and prayed Almighty God for light and

guidance more than one night. And one night it came to

be…[T]here was nothing left to do but take them all, and

educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize them as our

fellow-men…And them I wend to bed, and…slept

soundly.”

cf. “We must obey our blood, and occupy new markets and

if necessary new lands.” – Sen. Albert Beveridge

Open Door Policy toward China!

Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt

(A first realist president?)

In 1900 election, he defeated William Jen-

nings Bryan (who was campaigning with

anti-imperialist banner).

The first US president to embrace “unam-biguously” the principles of power politics!

“Roosevelt started from the premise that the US was a power like any other, not a singular incarnation of virtue. If its interests collided with those of other countries, American had the obligation to draw on its strengths to prevail… No other president defined America’s world role so completely in terms of na-tional interests, or identified the national interest so comprehensively with the balance of power.” (H. Kissinger)

Roosevelt Corollary (to Monroe Doctrine)

“…the adherence of the US to the Monroe Doctrine may force the US, however reluc-tantly … to the exercise of international pol-icy power.”

WWI,WOODROW WILSON,And Emergence of LIBERAL INTERNATIONALISM

Impact of the WWI on USFP

The US was basically non-factor in the Euro-pean balance of power politics. Wilson had hard time mobilizing domestic support for the war!

But, The US no longer has the luxury of being an onlooker

European BoP does not work!!

Advent of Wilsonianism (Liberal Internationalism; Idealism)

14 points: “Making the world safe for democ-racy…”

The League of Nations and the collective secu-rity system.

We have to organize Intl Relations in fundamen-tally different ways!! The first attempt to put Liberalist Foreign Policy Ideas in practice!!

However, Wilson’s efforts to implement his vi-sion failed during his lifetime.

However, Wilson’s tradition left a strong legacy.

RETURN TO NORMALCY: INTERWAR ISOLATION-ISM

Resurgence of Isolationism In 1920 election, Warren Harding defeated Wil-

son. His foreign policy program called for a re-turn to normalcy.

Public disillusionment with the US engagement in WWI: Why did we fight European war?

Changing world environment and American hands-off approach

The US Congress passed a series of neutrality acts between 1935 and 1938.

Foreign Policies with Liberalist Flavo

1928 Pact of Paris (Kellog-Briand Pact) - The agreement sought to deal with the problem of war by making it illegal.

They regard it as “the perfect expression of the utopian idealism which dominated Amer-ica’s attempts to compose international con-flicts and banish the threat of war in the in-terwar period…. The Pact of Paris simply de-clared that its signatories renounced war as an instrument of national policy…. It con-tained absolutely no obligation for any nation to do anything under any circumstances.”

WWII, INTERNATIONALISM, RISE OF REALISM, LIBERAL CRUSADE

The effects of WWII

We have no option but to engage in interna-tional affairs!

Liberal Internationalism was back. Now Americans were enthusiastically plunged into the task of shaping the world to Ameri-can preferences. Isolationism is no longer a viable force in the US…

Advent of Liberal International Monetary

and Trade Regimes Established intl trade regime based on GATT

and also created intl monetary regime based

on IMF and World Bank. “If goods do not

cross the border, armies will.”

Not just for commercial interests…

Americans also created United Nations. Cre-

ated NATO and called for collective security.

Advent of Interventionism

Truman Doctrine in 1947:

“The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms… If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world – and we shall surely endanger the welfare of our own nation.” “I believe that it must be the policy of the US to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pres-sures.”

* Importance of Korean War!!

Realism became dominant mode of thinking

Realpolitik We also have to engage in power poli-tics. Morgenthau. E.H. Carr… Henry Kissinger…! These guys are from Europe!!

Establishment of formal diplomatic relationship with the PRC.

Ends justify means: support of dictatorship!

Careful realists didn’t really appreciate Vietnam War.

The Limits of Liberalist Policies during the Cold War

JFK: (Alliance for Progress). “Our Alliance for Progress is an alliance of free governments, and it must work to elim-inate tyranny from a hemisphere in which it has no right-ful place. Therefore let us express our special friendship to the people of Cuba and the Dominican Republic – and the hope they will soon rejoin the society of free men, uniting with us in common effort.”

“There are three possibilities in descending order of preference: a decent democratic regime, a continuation of the Trujillo regime, or a Castro regime. We ought to aim at the first, but we really can’t renounce the second until we are sure that we can avoid the third.”

Jimmy Carter – moralistic foreign policy

Setback of Internationalism and Post-Vietnam syndrome

Erosion of the Cold War Consensus…

Give priority to domestic policies!

Reagan’s Power PoliticsRealism and Strong Interventionism Increase in Defense Budget; Developing

New Weapons e.g., SDI the collapse of Soviet Union?

THE END OF COLD WAR AND CLINTON’S LIBERALISM

Promotion of Democracy

The Democratic Peace theory inspired the Clinton administration's strategy of expanding the zone of democracy…

In his State of the Union Address in 1994, President Clinton noted: “Ultimately, the best strategy to en-sure our security and to build a durable peace is to support the advance of democracy elsewhere. Democracies don't attack each other, they make bet-ter trading partners and partners in diplomacy.”

Promotion of Democracy in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the former Soviet Union is in the interst of the US!…

Promotion of Market Economy

Secretary of State Warren Christopher: “Americans

will be more secure and prosperous if democratic

institutions and market economies take hold”

Multilateralism

Nation Building (State Building) around the

world

Human Rights Intervention

Buchanan’s call for isolationism fell on deaf

ears…

911, REALISM, AND NEOCON

Realism of GWB

- GWB started as a classical realist! Denounced Clinton’s enlargement policy…

- “Enlargement policy had no connection to real-ity… it is an aspiration rather than a strategy.” He was very scornful of state-building efforts.

- Denounced Clinton’s multilateralism… Became increasingly unilateralist…

911 and the advent of Neocon

- Neocons are different from realists! - Bush has become a liberal crusader!?

Neoconservatism here…

Walter Russell Mead, Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World

http://www.futurecasts.com/book%20review%205-7.htm

How useful is Mead’s classification?

Obama’s foreign policy Smart power