U.S. Foreign Policy
Dušan Fischer
“You can always count on Americans to do the right
thing – after they've tried everything else.”
Winston S. Churchill
Brain Exercise 
How Many Times Did America Declare
a War?
• James Madison (War of 1812)
• James K. Polk (Mexican-American War, 1846)
• William McKinley (Spanish-American War,
1898)
• Woodrow Wilson (World War I, 1917)
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt (World War II,
1941)
Coming Up...
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Origins of the U.S. Foreign Policy
Geography and Focus of the U.S. FP
Government and the U.S. FP
History of the U.S. FP
U.S. Foreign Policy Characteristics
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Continuation
Tied with domestic policy
Emphasis on allies (since 1945)
Strong support on national suffrage (Kosovo)
Supported by a massive military industrial
complex
• Often much less covert and complicated that
people think
U.S. Foreign Policy by Geography
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Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Europe + Australia + South Africa
North and South America
South East Asia (ASEAN)
China & Japan
U.S. Foreign Policy by Focus
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Territorial Stretch (since 1830s)
Business and Trade (since 1880s)
Democracy and Stability (since 1910s)
Fascism and Communism ( since 1930s)
Humanitarian Interventions (since 1980s)
Counterterrorism and Civil Wars (since 1990s)
U.S. Branches and Foreign Policy
Congress
• Ratifies foreign treaties
(Senate)
• Vote on Secretaries of State,
ambassadors, and other
foreign officers (Senate)
• Declares war (U.S.
Constitution)
Presidency
• Execute foreign policy
• Commander-in-Chief
• Nominates Secretary of
State, ambassadors, and
other foreign officers
History of U.S. Foreign Policy
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Isolationism (1774 – 1830)
Regional hegemony (1830 – 1914)
Interventionism (1914 – 1945)
Global hegemony (1945 – 1991)
Interventionism, Part II (1991 – 2009)
Whatever-Obama-is-doing (2009 – present)
ISOLATIONISM
Isolationism
• New birth of freedom
• Frenemies with Europe
• Tired of wars (3 national wars in 90 years)
Sources of Isolationism
“Why quit our own to stand upon foreign
ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny
with that of any part of Europe, entangle our
peace and prosperity in the toils of European
ambition, rivalship, interest, humor of
caprice?”
George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796
Sources of Isolationism
“She [the United States] goes not abroad in
search of monsters to destroy. She is the wellwisher to the freedom and independence of
all. She is the champion and vindicator only
of her own.“
John Q. Adams, Speech on Independence Day,
1821
REGIONAL HEGEMONY
Regional Hegemony
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Protecting U.S. interests Latin America
Monroe Doctrine, 1823
Spanish-American War, 1898
Theodore Roosevelt’s corollary, 1904
Sources of Regional Hegemony
“We owe it (...) to candor and to the amicable
relations existing between the United States
and those powers [Spain, Portugal] to declare
that we should consider any attempt on their
part to extend their system to any portion of
this hemisphere [Western], as dangerous to
our peace and safety.”
Monroe Doctrine, 1823
INTERVENTIONISM
Interventionism
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WW I (entered 1917) and WW II (1941, 1944)
Inter-war period
“Awkward Dominion” (F. Costigliola)
Element of geography
Do not fire until fired upon
Sources of Interventionism
World War I
• Great migration of African-Americans to
Detroit, NYC
• U.S. Presidential elections 1912 & 1916
• U.S. entry in April 6, 1917
• American propaganda – meaning of “being
American“, kids included
• Hamburger became a “Freedom Sandwich“
• The League of Nations failure
World War II
• “Military-Industrial Complex” on the home
front
• The U.S., GB, Soviet Union Triangle
• Project Manhattan
• The Atomic Age
GLOBAL HEGEMONY
Global Hegemony
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Arms race
Bipolar world
Selective interventions
Communism v. Capitalist democracy
Proxy wars (Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan)
Sources of Global Hegemony
“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or
ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden,
meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any
foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, 1961
INTERVENTIONISM, PART II
Interventionism, Part II
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Bush-Clinton adventure in the Horn of Africa
Picky interventions (Somalia yes, Rwanda no)
Eisenhower Doctrine on steroids
Rely on broader coalitions
Engaging Europe
Sources of Interventionism, Part II
b
Sources of Interventionism, Part II
“Our war on terror is well begun, but it is only
begun. This campaign may not be finished on
our watch, yet it must be and it will be waged
on our watch.”
George W. Bush, State of the Union, 2002
OBAMA
Obama‘s Foreign Policy
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Avoiding large invasions
Nation-building at home
Ceased “necessary wars”
Post-Neo-Realistic approach
Strong emphasis on international law
Smaller footprint (special forces, drones)
Obama‘s Foreign Policy
“So what I do think is accurate in describing
my foreign policy is a strong belief that we
don't have military solutions to every
problem in the 21st century.”
Barack Obama, Vox.com, 2015
Future
“There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose
your heart's desire. The other is to gain it.”
G.B. Shaw: Man and Superman, 1905