StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

How has America's foreign policy changed - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The United States’ decision to intervene in World War I, one which was strongly opposed by some in Congress, marked a significant departure from earlier foreign policy strategies. The United States had, throughout much of the nineteenth century and right until World War I,…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.1% of users find it useful
How has Americas foreign policy changed
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "How has America's foreign policy changed"

10.02 World War I The United s’ decision to intervene in World War I, one which was strongly opposed by some in Congress, marked a significant departure from earlier foreign policy strategies. The United States had, throughout much of the nineteenth century and right until World War I, adhered to a non-interventionist foreign policy. This meant that the United States did not intervene in the affairs of other nations, even in times of full-scale conflict. Indeed, as historical sources suggest, the United States’ determination not to intervene in the affairs of other nations led to popular descriptions of its foreign affairs policy as an isolationist one.

That is a foreign policy which determinedly aims towards the isolation of a country’s national and international interests from world events. It is, to a large extent, an unrealistic foreign policy insofar as it ignores the extent to which national interests are ultimately intermingled with both international ones and those of other nations. World War I, according to this interpretation, exposed the extent to which the United States’ foreign policy had oversimplified the extent to which national interests, largely economic ones, were predicated on the well-being and stability of other nations, specifically the European ones.

Realization of the aforementioned, therefore, forced the United States, largely out of concern for its own national interests and welfare, to break with its non-interventionist foreign policy and embrace a more interventionist one in which the US engaged in the affairs of other nations for the promotion and protection of its own interests.10.03 VersaillesThe United States refusal to sign the Versailles Treaty was consistent with its pre-World War I foreign policy. Quite simply stated, prior to World War I, the United States had pursued a non interventionist foreign policy and had, upon the outbreak and prolongation of the aforementioned event, only temporarily broken with that policy.

It broke with it in order to restore stability to Europe and, by association, the United States’ economic interests in the continent. As is evident from Wilson’s Fourteen Points, the United States had assumed that following the conclusion of World War I and the subsequent restoration of stability to Europe, it would be able to revert to its earlier foreign policy strategy. Accordingly, the very last thing that it wanted was another European war. The terms of the Versailles Treaty, however, appeared to threaten just that.

Certainly, it should have included limitations on Germany’s arming itself or having a standing army for some time, as was the case with World War II peace agreements, but it should not have included reparation terms as which effectively ensured the economic ruination of Germany. The United States refused, within the context of the stated, to ratify the treaty because it interpreted it as a recipe for continued conflict and not one for peace and the restoration of US-European economic relations and ties.

The United States was opposed to the treaty because it hardly allowed for the stability requisite for reversion to a policy f non-intervention and, following involvement in the Great War, this is precisely what the United States and its citizens wanted. Accordingly, the United States’ refusal to sign the Versailles Treaty did not mark a break with the its customary approach to dealing with other nations but a determination to perverse its pre-World War I strategy for international dealings and a refusal to get involved in a treaty which, from its perspective, was likely to ignite another conflict into which the United States could get dragged.10.04 World War IIWhile the United States’ entry into World War I was indicative of a remarkable break with prior foreign policy, its decision to engage in World War II, was not.

Ever since its involvement in World War I, the United States was never really able to revert to its pre-World War I isolationist foreign policy and, indeed, was gradually being drawn into international affairs, becoming more and more engaged in the pursuit of an anti-imperialist foreign policy. Certainly, upon the outbreak of World War II, the United States initially refused to get involved and, were it not for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States’ entry into the war may have been even further delayed.

The implication here is that the United States exhibited the same reluctance it did towards involvement that it had in relation to the Great War. This is despite the fact that its policy, while hardly interventionist, was definitely not as non-interventionist as it had been. Within the context of the stated, one can say that the United States’ involvement in World War II and the circumstances of its involvement can hardly be interpreted as evidencing a break with earlier foreign policy.The United States’ actions following involvement in World War II and in its immediate aftermath, on the other hand, represent precisely such a break.

The decision to end the war through the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki betray the embrace of a more aggressive and decisive foreign policy. Added to that, the United States’ deep involvement in post-war Europe and Japan and its confrontations with communist USSR over the future of Germany a more ideologically informed foreign policy which is prepared to engage in nation-building for the purposes of universalizing its capitalist/liberal and democratic ideologies. In other words, while the entry into World War II does not evidence a shift in foreign policy, actions during the war and in its immediate aftermath, do.10.05 Nuremberg TrialsThe Nuremberg Military Tribunals, a series of twelve US trials of captured German war criminal suspects, solidified the United States’ status as a vital international player.

It further testified to the United States’ acceptance of its role as a superpower and the associate responsibilities of this status. Support for the United States’ involvement, however, did not stem from the aforementioned as much as it did from the nature of the crimes which were being tried. Quite simply stated, the Nuremberg military Tribunals dealt with crimes of war which had been perpetuated against U.S. troops by German soldiers and against those who had been liberated from German concentration camps.

In other words, U.S. involvement in the trials did not simply stem from the seminal role which it had played in the war but because of its direct involvement in the crimes which were being tried.Support from American involvement in the Nuremberg trials was predicated on all of the above stated and was supported as a consequence of the above mentioned considerations. However, popular support for America’s involvement in the Nuremberg Trials was not limited to the stated but also extended to included that which the trials represented.

Quite simply stated, the Nuremberg Trials represented the Allies’ last stand against Nazi Germany and their final effort at dismantling Nazism. Given the role which the United States had played in the defeat of Germany and its undeniable status as a world superpower, it could hardly be isolated from final dealings with Nazi Germany. Added to that, the Nuremberg Trials had implications for both international law and their outcome would have definite effects on international relations. Support for the United States involvement, therefore, stemmed from the understanding that earlier isolationist foreign policy strategies could no longer be pursued, that the United States was a fundamental member of the international community and, as such, both had a responsibility and a right to determine the shape of that community and world order.

Support for the United States’ involvement in the Nuremberg Trials, as noted in the preceding paragraphs, stemmed from several considerations and cannot be pinned down to any single one.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“How has America's foreign policy changed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
How has America's foreign policy changed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1540307-how-has-americas-foreign-policy-changed
(How Has America'S Foreign Policy Changed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
How Has America'S Foreign Policy Changed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1540307-how-has-americas-foreign-policy-changed.
“How Has America'S Foreign Policy Changed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1540307-how-has-americas-foreign-policy-changed.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF How has America's foreign policy changed

Is the U.S. in a position to lecture the rest of the world about moral behavior

Some, in fact many millions may answer nearly any country besides America due to its own human rights and foreign interventions record.... has a large military budget, in part, to provide security for other nations and to act as a deterrent to aggressor nations.... being the most influential country in the world, has the unique ability to persuade other nations to reconsider immoral behaviors.... has a long history of discrimination against non-whites, a circumstance still evident today....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

The Cold War begin out of the ashes of WWII

Therefore, halting the spread and increase of communism became a major foreign policy of USA, this was known as the American containment policy.... The policy became very aggressive and the in turn became America's formal foreign policy of containing the Soviet's, they actually did away with the detente policy that was espoused by America's envoy to Moscow, George Kennan.... The policy was expanded beyond the two nations and it was spread to encompass Europe and every corner of the globe....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Drugs Problem In United States

The 2002 National Drug Control Strategy of the White House Office of National Drug Control policy (ONDCP) estimates the total costs of drug abuse to American society to be approximately $160 billion.... However, according to the White House's Office of Drug Control policy, the total value of all of the drugs sold in the US is as much as $64 billion a year.... The three major components of the United States' national drug control strategy are Stopping Drug Use Before It Starts, Healing america's Drug Users, and Disrupting Drug Markets....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

IT MUST BE WITHIN THE TIME PERIOD COVERED BY YOUR U.S. HISTORY COURSE( FROM 1877 TO THE PRESENT)

This was the beginning of what would later be known as the War on Terror that would last years, cost billions of dollars, American and foreign lives, and cause a shift in america's foreign policy and well the world opinion of the United States.... This topic looks at attacks on the US on September 11 by examining the events of the attack, the actions of the US government after the attack and reviewing the changes brought about by this event on the various issues among them, American foreign policy. On the morning of… mber 11, 2001, two planes rammed into World Trade Centre in New York within 18 minutes of each other with the first one hitting the building at 8....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The FDRs New Deal Response to the Great Depression

government policy today.... According to a report, america's economy only recovered during the third term of Roosevelt's reign when the increased demands of mobilization for World War II restored the country to full employment.... In addition, the program was designed to reinvigorate the crashed economy, so as to restore the confidence of American citizens in their banks and key… One of the initiatives brought by the New Deal was the Banking Act of 1993, which helped stop the panic that had gripped Americas banking system....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Americas Century of Regime Change

hellip; The study begins with the statement that regime change has remained an integral part of the USA foreign policy for over a century.... As shall be revealed in subsequent sections, America always consulted with foreign policy advisors before executing their plan.... Kennedy met with various foreign policy advisor for consultations before going forth to overthrow Diem.... Whoever is in power in the US always poses as consulting from the world foreign policy advisors....
6 Pages (1500 words) Admission/Application Essay

American Foreign Policy

The Obama administration has dealt with many challenges while trying to accomplish one of its promises to improve on the American foreign policy.... The American foreign policy has been criticized for being self centered as it is considered to have emanated from an injured colonial history.... The US foreign policy is made by domestic groups which are not considered very right and also due to the possibility of manipulation from the donors it has called for serious screening of the policy (Hook 2011)....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

The American Character

The framers had harbored the hope that america's pluralistic society would eventually evolve and become a shared social and political… The American Creed: The British Intellectual G.... .... Chesterton is quoted as having noted that America happens to be the only country in the world that While other nations are founded on the basis of a race, or by the power of emperors or kings that accumulated large tracts of land as well the peasants that inhabited these lands, America is found to be different in that it was founded on a shared belief that is embodied in the American Creed....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us