AP Government

Unit 4 – Defense & Foreign policy

Instruments of foreign policy

• Military: oldest toolRelatively rarely used because of

significant consequences:• International scrutiny• High financial cost• High cost in lives

Instruments of foreign policy

• Diplomatic: quietest toolNational leaders use occasional summitsIn continuous use by ambassadorsVery regimented & formal

• Diplomatic immunity• Persona non grata – diplomat expelled for any

reason – recalled to home country

Instruments of foreign policy

• Economic: becoming most powerful toolConsulatesSanctions – “carrot & stick” motivation

• Incentives convince others to choose what you want them to choose

• Trade regulations, tariffs, embargoes

International trade

• Balance of tradeExports – Imports US has largest trade deficit in the world

• US residents buy more foreign goods than we sell to foreign countries

• Trade deficit shrinks when US economy drops

International organizations

• United Nations• Group of Eight• World Trade Organization• North American Free Trade Agreement• European Union• North Atlantic Treaty Organization• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

United Nations (1945)

• Security Council – legislative group5 permanent members (“Big 5”)

• US, UK, France, Russia, China• Any of the 5 can veto any resolution

10 nonpermanent members elected regionally to 2-year terms

Security Council vetoes

Group of Eight

• Annual summit meeting of 8 major economic powersUS, UK, France, GermanyItaly, Japan, Canada, Russia

General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade (GATT)

• Series of meetings 1949-1993 to reduce trade barriers among willing nations

• Established Most Favored Nation statusAny trade concessions a country makes

with one member apply to all members

World Trade Organization (1995)

• Formed after GATT 1993Membership had increased significantly

after fall of Communist Bloc

• Permanent org oversees internatl trade• Ensures countries follow agreements

North American Free Trade Agreement

• Signed in 1992, went into effect in 1994

• Dropped most trade barriers among Canada, US & Mexico

European Union

• Political semi-unification of EuropeNations still sovereign within bordersFree travel within EU

• More an economic unionCommon currency (€)Little to no trade restrictionsCommon destiny (bailouts if necessary)

EU economy vs. rest of world

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

• Formed in 1949• Mutual defense treaty

All signatory nations vow to help defend if any is invaded by external nation

• Original goal (Lord Ismay, 1st Sec Gen):“To keep the Russians out, the Americans

in, and the Germans down”

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

• Warsaw Pact was the Soviet response to NATO – Eastern Europe

• Several old Warsaw Pact nations have joined since fall of Communist Bloc

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

• Cartel of 12 major oil producer countriesLimits production to keep prices inflated

Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE

Algeria, Angola, Libya, Nigeria

Ecuador, Venezuela

Other international actors

• Multinational corporations• Nongovernmental organizations

International Red CrossInternational Olympic CommitteeFIFAMédecins Sans Frontières

US Foreign policymakers

• President• Secretary of State & ambassadors• National Security Council• Congress

History of US Foreign Policy

• IsolationismWashington’s Farewell Address – plea for

neutrality / no permanent alliancesMonroe Doctrine – stay out of European

affairs, they stay out of AmericasWorld War I – effective permanent end to

US isolationism

The Cold War

• Red ScareMcCarthyism – 1950s fear of communism

within US gov – Sen. Joseph McCarthyAlger Hiss / Julius & Ethel Rosenberg

The Cold War

• Containment (Domino Theory)Main US foreign policy goal – keep Soviet

and Chinese communism from spreading

• Korean War – 1950-1953 (or 1950-present)• Vietnam War – 1955-1975

The Cold War

• Arms raceBig in military spending – conventional

as well as nuclear weapons

• Mutually Assured DestructionBelief that massive # of nukes would deter

WW3 – end of mankind possible

The Cold War

• Brink of war (1960s)Cuban Missile Crisis

• Détente (1970s)Shift from conflict to cooperationNegotiations between US & USSR

The Cold War

• Reagan rearmament (1980s)Massive increase in defense budgetStrategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”)

• Use of various space weapons to interdict nuclear weapons on flight from USSR to US

USSR defense spending in response• Probably caused collapse of Soviet economy

End of the Cold War

• Bush / Clinton (1990s)USSR collapsed, Germany reunitedRole of US changed – only superpower

War on Terror

• Bush DoctrineUS can preemptively strike nations that

harbor terrorists & WMDs

Nuclear proliferation

• Only a few countries have verified nuclear capability

• 5 perm UN Sec Council nations were only nuclear states for many years

• Fear of “rogue states” causes world pressure against nuclear deployment