United States Role In Foreign Policy

When it comes to the United States role in foreign policy it is easy to identify the constraints that other countries put on ourselves. However, acknowledging that we may be the problem, may be the first step to becoming more effective in the global scene. The first problem we create for ourselves deals with Americans attitude toward the army. And the second is our desire to use war as a means to reshape the world. Keeping this in mind we are able to create a foreign policy that is informed on our weaknesses; this policy looks like selective engagement. Due to the strong disconnect between American society and the military we have a skewed view of our military involvement in foreign affairs. As a whole Americans often find themselves wrapped up in a catchy slogans and a patriotic call to serve. For example, when President Bush cried for “Boots on the Ground” thousands of Americans answered the call. Only to have the American public pleading for pull back years later. This brings me to my point, the perspective of

By investing resources in every foreign dispute we then make it our obligation to fix the problem the American way. However, the issue with this approach is that not every country wants to be remade in the American image. And when we try there is major retaliation. For example, our involvement in Vietnam was largely frowned upon by NATO countries. The result of our efforts to bring democracy to a region already skeptical of western countries turned out to fuel the Viet Cong’s efforts, resulting in a loss for the United States. The problem with assuming every country wants to be like the U.S. is that we don’t take the time to actually understand what they really want. If we put the countries interest above ours there would be less apprehension towards American involvement. Thus making our efforts more effective as far as actually providing