Briefly describe and explain US
foreign policy during the Cold War. What types of problems and approaches for
dealing with them have emerged since the Cold War ended?
Pre WWII- US were isolationist- refusal to
join league of nations
Post WWII- US and USSR only remaining
superpowers in the world
Started
cold war between the two from 1945 to 1990
US
foreign policy mainly this for the next 45 years:
1.
close relationship with allies
2.
efforts to win support of newly
independent poor countries
3.
what weapons systems to develop
All these were
measured against what the other side was going to do
Main aspect of US foreign policy during
cold war
1.
Containment- basis of US
policy- first used when US gave military aid to Greece to prevent a communist
take over
2.
Domino theory- if once country
falls to communism, the next will fall and so on
3.
Bipartisanship- belief that
both US parties must agrees on foreign policy issues- so as to give a unified
front to our enemies
Foreign Policy under Truman:
Truman doctrine (1947): the US will assist
any country facing subjugation
Marshall Plan 1947- $12 billion pledge to help rebuild central
European countries after the war, ensuring that they are on our side and
capitalist
The formation of NATO- an anti soviet military alliance b/t western
Europe, the US, and Canada, pledged to defend and go to war with each other
Korean war 1950- north korea invades south korea, US came to aid
with the UN
Truman fires
general McArthur over conflict- post Korean war puts US/USSR into stalemate
Foreign Policy under Eisenhower
Brinkmanship- escalated any armed conflict to the brink of nuclear
war so the other side would back down
Mutually assured destruction- any nuclear action would be definite
to completely destroy both countries
US expanded alliances outside of western Europe
Redscare- possibility of communist invasion with US government,
Hollywood, US society- this led to the McCarthy hearings
Sputnik 1957- Soviets beat US in space race, by sending manned
flight to space first
Foreign Policy under Kennedy
Bay of pigs invasion fiasco.
Missile crisis in 1962- brought very real possibility of nuclear
holocaust targeted at US
US/USSR agreed to SALT 1 treaty after missile crisis- this limited
each sides number of strategic arms
Goes to berlin wall to give speech and gain support
Peace corps- US expertise being brought to developing/needy
countries
Policy under Johnson
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution- 1964
Policy under Nixon
Foreign policy concentrated under secretary of defense
Nixon doctrine- military will provide assistance to friendly
governments who are resisting revolutionary movements
Vietnam- fought in an effort to prevent communist take over of S.
Vietnam- major set back in US foreign policy- tried to get troops out
Détente- lessened tension between US and Russia- plays china and
USSR against each other
Policy under Carter
Emphasis on returning to civilian rule in latin America
Camp David Accords 1978-
Brought president
of Egypt and Israel pm together to establish diplomacy b/t their feuding
countries
Panama canal treaties- return control of the canal to panama- made
US look weak
Iran hostage crisis in 1979- took over US embassy in Tehran
Policy under Reagan
Cold war rhetoric- calls Soviets evil empire- argues for increased
force
Troops- more willingly to commit them overseas such as in Grenada
and Lebanon, but brought them home when bases were bombed
Openings to Gorbachev- Gorbachev’s agendas of restructuring
(perestroika) and openness (glasnost)- helped soviet market, and refused to
intervene militarily
Post Cold War
Berlin wall fell in 1989- symbolic end of cold war
Problems/approaches under George H W Bush
End of bipolar view as the soviets no longer a threat- US now only
superpower
Gulf War 1991- when Iraq attacked Kuwait
Soviet empire is gone- but their arsenals still remain
Growing national/religious conflict around the globe
Conflicts over democracy and markets
US trying to
promote these to countries that may not have had this kind of experience
Arms Control- growing number of nuclear powers
More countries have
access to biological weapons/ weapons of mass destruction
Terrorism- caused new security issues
Groups having
access to weapons apart from governments
Environmental problems/health issues-
Spread of AIDS in
Africa, pollutions, effects of world economy
Drug trade- complicated US relations with central American nations
Problems/approaches under Clinton
Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia- internal conflicts- question of when/ should
we intervene
Trade deficit of mid 80’s where US imported more goods then exported
This led to
formation of NAFTA and WTO
Efforts to expand NATO and bring greater security in Europe
Sanctions- increasingly used as punishment to countries whose
internal policies we did not approve; ex) Suddam Hussein in Iraq
Kosovo- committed to using air power to limit power the Serbs
maintained
Problem/approaches under George W. Bush
Terrorism- 9/11 attacks on WTC/pentagon brought fear front/center
2002 national security strategy
US will use
preemptive action to thwart any perceived threats
US has world largest/strongest economy
US corporations are
increasingly global, affecting our foreign policy
2)
Describe and explain how the
national government influences economic policy.
Macroeconomic policy- the Governments efforts to affect the
performance of the economy as a whole
Stages of Policy Making-
1.
agenda setting- an effort to
get officials to consider an issue
2.
Policy formulation- proposals
developed to deal with a problems and a plan is decided
3.
policy adoption- the inaction
of the plan
4.
implementation- the plan is
carried out
5.
evaluation- how does it affect
the people and the issue- if it is ineffective, it will start over again
Goal of Economic Policy
1.
Economic growth- an annual
increase in the GDP
-more jobs, more
products, higher incomes
2.
Low unemployment
3.
Stable prices- avoiding inflation; seen in the consumer price index
4.
Positive international balance of payments and trade
-imports vs. exports
5.
Minimization of negative externalities
The US economy is moving towards a service based economy and away
from the production of goods
Monetary Policy-
1.
Gov.’s actions affecting the
supply of money and level of interest rates in the economy
2.
Made by the president and
congress when they determine the annual federal gov. budget
3.
Fed is responsible for monetary
policy
-
decisions that affect how much
money is available
4.
Federal reserve bank- clears
checks and does some regulating
5.
Board of governors serves 14
year terms, chairman serves 4
6.
Discount rate is lowered if Fed
wants to increase total spending in economy
-
discount rate is the interest
rate at which private banks borrow from the Fed
7.
Reserve Requirement- banks must
keep certain % of their assets on deposit with the fed
8.
buying and selling of
government bonds
Fiscal Policy
1.
Gov.’s actions affecting
spending and taxing levels; affects overall output and income in the economy
2.
Decisions on taxing, spending,
debt
3.
Decided by office of management
and budget, president, congress, committee
4.
Can increase government
spending or decrease taxes when economic stimulation is required
Trade Policy-
1.
Gov. deals with industry,
companies and other governments
2.
Tools used-
a.
tariffs: a tax on imported
goods
b.
quotas: limiting imports,
restricting supply and price raises
c.
Trade agreements between
countries
d.
Exchange rates: manipulating
value of one country’s dollar against another
Federal Budget
1.
Uncontrollable over 2/3 b/c
that is already taken up by programs such as social security
2.
Budget manipulation only
concerns remain 1/3
3.
Major changes
a.
increase in spending for
entitlement programs
b.
deficit- annual difference b/t
gov. spending and revenues
c.
debt- cumulative total of
defecits
Government regulation
1.
is the issueing of rules by government agencies with the aim of reducing the
scale of negative externalities produced by private firms
No comments:
Post a Comment