OConnor

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OConnor Sabato, Chapter 14 Foreign Military
Policy

• Presentation 14.1Introduction the Roots of
  Foreign Military Policy

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9/11 Artwork
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Key Topics

• Introduction
• The roots of foreign military policy

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Introduction

• The 9/11/01 attacks as a transformative event in
  U.S. history
• The initial steps in the War on Terrorism

What rationale did the 9/11 attackers have for
their actions?
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1i. Introduction cont.Governmental Actions in
the Wake of 9/11

• Creation of the Office of Homeland Security
• Forging of an anti-terrorist coalition
• Congressional authorization of 40 billion
  Emergency Response fund

Picture courtesy www.startribune.com.
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1ii. Introduction cont.Retribution

• Congressional resolution authorizing the
  presidential use of military force against the
  perpetrators of 9/11
• The diplomatic challenge to Afghanistan turn
  over al-Qaeda or else!
• The overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan

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1a. The Evolution of American Foreign Military
Policy

• The evolution of the U.S. from a weak, marginal
  nation to the worlds superpower
• The U.S. as a predominant economic superpower
  (GDP twice as large as Japan)
• Americas soft power the influence of culture

Many non-Americans resent the intrusion of
American culture fast food, blue jeans,
provocative dress, and rap music into their
cultures. What do you think?
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1ai. The Evolution of American Foreign Policy

• Washingtons Farewell Address
• Beware entangling alliances
• The roots of American Isolationism

Picture courtesy Encarta.
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1aii. What is Isolationism?

• Literally, a national policy of actively
  participating in international affairs
• Commitment to separating friendship from
  interests (American should not have permanent
  friends, only permanent interests)
• However, Americas isolationism was never absolute

The U.S. foreign policy stance during the period
1788-1941 could more accurately be characterized
as nonaligned unilateralism.
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1b. From Unilateralism to Multilateralism

• Unilateralism acting without consulting others
• Multilateralism a commitment to cooperate
  consult other nations
• Between World Wars I and II the United States
  basic foreign policy philosophy shifted from
  unilateralism to multilateralism in emphasis

The United Nations is an international
organization created to guarantee security
promote global economic social well-being.
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1c. American Moralism

• Many Americans express faith in American
  exceptionalism
• The the first modern democracy, U.S. citizens
  historically have believed that their nation
  adheres to higher moral standards than other
  countries
• A rich American tradition of avoiding military
  adventures

Want to learn more about exceptionalism? Ask me!
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1d. American Pragmatism

• The texts somewhat misleading characterization
  of pragmatism
• Authors pragmatism as taking advantage of a
  situation for national gain
• Instructor pragmatism as a nonideological
  obsession with what works

Picture at right courtesy of http//www-gap.dcs.st
-and.ac.uk.
Want to know more about pragmatism? Ask me!
C.S. Peirce (1839-1914). Father of American
Pragmatism.
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1e. The Rise of the U.S. to Superpower

• The Civil War and the beginnings of a potent
  military establishment
• Late 19th century industrialization the
  Spanish-American War (1899)
• Americas role in WWI Making the World Safe for
  Democracy
• WWII and the rise of The American Century (e.g.
  Henry Luce)

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2. The Roots of Current U.S. Foreign and Military
Policy

• The aftermath of WWII the rise of the Cold War
• Winston Churchill's famed Iron Curtain speech
• George F. Kennans articulation of the strategy
  of containment in 1947

George F. Kennan (1904-) is considered to be the
architect of containment
Picture courtesy www.multied.com.
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2i. The Cold War and the Strategy of Containment

• Containment the commitment of the U.S. between
  1947-1989 to prevent the expansion of communism
• The Truman Doctrine announced in 1948, and
  committed the U.S. to resist communist take-over
  in Greece and Turkey
• Led to U.S. military involvement in Korea, and
  the loss of 54,000 casualties

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2ii. Why Did the Cold War Stay Cold?

• The Cold Wars essentially ideological character
• The threat of nuclear war after the Soviet
  development of atomic nuclear weapons
• The use of proxy wars to conduct the Cold War

The mushroom-shaped cloud of a nuclear weapon.
Picture courtesy www.photovault.com.
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2a. The Strategy of Containment

• One of the miracles of 20th century American
  foreign policy
• 8 presidential administrations pursued an overall
  strategy of containment
• However, different administrations pursued
  containment in different ways

The architect of containment, George F. Kennan,
argued that the strategy he argued for was
primarily diplomatic rather than military, and
that the Soviet Union was a primarily
conservative power whose internal weaknesses
would lead to its demise. Was he right?
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2ai. Different Shades of Containment
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2aii. Shades of Containment cont.
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2aiii. Shades cont.
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2aiv. The Bush Doctrine?

• George W. Bush and 9/11
• Bushs announced intention to engage in
  preemptive attacks on nations supporting
  terrorism
• Significant departure from the U.S. historical
  commitment to defensive use of military force

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2b. Containment in the Early Mid-1960s

• Kennedy the Cuban Missile Crisis
• The nearest the U.S. Soviet Union came to an
  all-out nuclear war
• Mutual recognition of the near destruction of
  both civilizations

In 1963, the U.S. Soviet Union agreed to a
partial nuclear test ban installed a hot line
between the White House Kremlin.
Kennedy (1917-63) w/ Soviet leader Khrushchev.
Picture courtesy Encarta.
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2bi. Anti-Communism, Containment, Vietnam

• The logic of the domino theory of containment
• By 1964, over 500,000 troops were fighting in
  Vietnam
• Over 57,000 military casualties
• Over 1 million Vietnamese killed

Map courtesy Encarta.
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2c. Détente, Human Rights, Renewed Containment
1969-1981

• Nixons decision to encourage cooperation with
  totalitarian regimes in the Soviet Union China
• The Nixon Doctrine the U.S. would provide arms
  military equipment, but would not do the fighting
  for surrogate nations
• Nixon extracted the U.S. from South Vietnam,
  which was conquered by NVC in 1975

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2ci. Ford Carter

• Ford attempted to continue Nixons policies, but
  was only in office 2 yrs
• Carter came to office determined to pursue a
  foreign policy that emphasized human rights
• The Carter Doctrine declared that the Persian
  Gulf was a vital U.S. interest, and the U.S.
  would fight to protect its interests in the Gulf

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2d. Containment Revisited Renewed 1981-1989

• U.S.-Soviet relations began to sour in the last
  years of the Carter administration
• Soviet invasion of Afghanistan provoked a U.S.
  boycott of Soviet hosted 1980 Olympics
• Reagan openly declared the the Soviet Union the
  Evil Empire
• The Reagan administration advocated the
  deployment of intermediate-range ballistic
  missiles in Europe

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2di. The Reagan Doctrine

• Policy of the Reagan administration that the U.S.
  would provide military assistance to
  anti-communist insurgents fighting
  Soviet-supported regimes
• Intensified the proxy wars between the two
  superpowers
• A series of weak Soviet leaders heightened the
  instability of the Soviet regime

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2dii. The End of the Cold War

• Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985 committed
  to reforming the Soviet system
• Policies of glasnost (openness) perestroika
  (new thinking) envisioned reforms similar to
  FDRs New Deal
• Triggered the (in most cases) peaceful overthrow
  of regimes in East Germany, Poland, Hungary,
  Czechoslovakia

In Romania, the communist regime was forcibly
overthrown and its leader Nicolae Ceausescu and
his wife were tried summarily executed.
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2e. Searching for a New International Order
1989-2001

• George H. W. Bush attempted to establish a new
  grand strategy to replace containment
• Bushs leadership in forging a coalition to expel
  Saddam Hussein from Kuwait
• Tentative steps toward pursuing a human rights
  agenda (e.g. Somalia 1992-93)

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2ei. Clintons Policy of Engagement Enlargement

• Engagement continuation of multilateral policies
• Enlargement attempts to actively promote
  democracy free markets
• The U.S. ratification of NAFTA the creation of a
  free trade zone between Canada, the U.S. Mexico
• Creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to
  facilitate free trade