The Pros And Cons Of American Foreign Policy

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Foreign policy is a nation’s external goals and the techniques and strategies used to achieve them. Foreign policy can be carried out in a few different ways. These methods are diplomacy, economic aid, technical assistance, or military intervention. In the US foreign policy originates with the president and those agency that provide advice on foreign policy matters. Congressional action and national public debate often affect foreign policy formulation. An aspect of foreign policy is national security policy. This is designed primarily to protect the independence and political integrity of the US. It is used in the defense of the United States against actual or potential enemies. American foreign policy is a mixture of moral idealism and political …show more content…

Foreign policy will improve relationships with other nations, as well as increase economic cooperation and development between nations. This includes improved trade between the nations. A downside to this is an increased dependence on another nation due to this increased trade. This causes one nation to rely on another's resources to be able to function.(2) An example of this is Japan being heavily dependent on US oil during WWII to power their military and then losing this source. This forced japan to attack the US bringing them into the war.
Foreign policy was basically nonexistent during the formative years of the US as it was a new nation. This ended when President James Monroe created the Monroe doctrine. The doctrine stated that European nations should not establish new colonies in the western hemisphere, European nations should not intervene in the affairs of independent nations of the western hemisphere, and The US would not interfere in the affairs of European nations. This started the era of the US’s isolationist foreign …show more content…

After World War II had ended the Soviet relations with the west had deteriorated. The Soviet Union wanted a weakened Germany and therefor Germany was split in tow with the east being soviet controlled and the west by the US, France, and Britain. The soviet Union began to help install communist governments in eastern European countries as a buffer against the West. This was known as the Soviet bloc, which in response the US had encouraged rearming of the West. This caused a split between the West and East in Europe known as the Iron Curtain. The Cold War had now