Defense and Foreign Policy

The U.S. vs. the Soviet Union

• Conventional conflicts include:– the Korean Conflict– Vietnam– Afghanistan

• Nuclear Arms Race 

• Cuban Missile Crisis

Are we safer since 1991?

• Other "hot spots" include:

– Iraq/Iran– North Korea– Balkans (e.g., Bosnia, Serbia, “ethnic cleansing”)

• Our Challenge

Historical Overview of Foreign Policy

• Isolationism– Monroe Doctrine – 1823

– Manifest Destiny• Louisiana Purchase

• Acquiring Alaska from Russia

• Portions of the Southwestern U.S. from Mexico

Historical Overview of Foreign Policy

• 1914-1940: America emerges as a world leader

• 1945: United Nations created

• 1949: North Atlantic Treaty Organization – NATO vs the Warsaw Pact– Beginning of the Cold War

Historical Overview of Foreign Policy

• Truman Doctrine– U.S. national security requires the U.S. to protect free

countries

• Policy of Containment (Domino Theory)– Provide aid to countries vulnerable to communism– Korea and Vietnam as examples

Historical Overview of Foreign Policy

• 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis

• 1970’s – Détente with the Soviet Union & China

• 1979 – Soviets invade Afghanistan

• 1979 – Iranian fundamentalists take over the U.S. embassy in Tehran

• 1980’s Ronald Reagan’s Foreign Policy– “Peace Through Strength”– Assisting “freedom fighters” in El Salvador, Nicaragua,

Afghanistan

Historical Overview of Foreign Policy

• 1989: Soviets lose influence in Eastern Europe– Fall of the Berlin Wall, Reunification of East and West

Germany

• 1989: Democratization movement in China

• 1991: Fall of the Soviet Union

• 1991: War with Iraq

• 1990’s: Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism

The Making of Foreign and Defense Policy

• President's role– State Department– Defense Department– CIA, NSA, NSC

• Role of Congress– Ratify Treaties– Appointment and Budgetary Powers– Power to Declare War– Congressional Oversight 

The Making of Foreign and Defense Policy

• Diplomatic Tools

– Formal Recognition – Break off diplomatic relations – Foreign aid - including humanitarian aid – Treaties/Executive Agreements– Covert Actions– Trade (e.g., Most Favored Nation Status)