The Importance of External Factors in Influencing the Conducting of Us Foreign Policy
The Importance of External Factors In Influencing The Conducting Of US Foreign Policy
To answer the essay question, external factors are indeed important in influencing the conducting of American foreign policy, as they are for all countries. They are important because they determine the direction American foreign policy takes, and with it, can drastically alter the futures of entire countries (Iraq & Afghanistan post 9/11). This essay will devote itself to exploring and explaining how each external factor is important and influential, and proceed to back it up by providing historic and modern examples detailing its effect on US foreign policy, and the end results. These external factors that will be explored are (sequentially) strategic interests of other nations, geographically-based vulnerabilities of the USA in relation to economic and military interests and finally the successes of grass roots revolution in the Arab Spring in upending both long-standing allies and enemies, and its effect on traditional US foreign policy stances.
The first external factor is the strategic interests of both allies and enemies across the world. Due to the USA’s current position as a hyper-power with a global presence, its influence and interests often collide with those interests or spheres of influence of other nations, ranging from allies such as the United Kingdom, Israel and Poland, to long-time rivals such as the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China or find itself involved in a conflict between two different nations (such as the Falklands issue or the current Israel-Iran crisis). In such situations where the USA must interact with other involved nation-states, the USA has either attempted to compromise with the other parties involved in an attempt to reach an amicable solution or fully backed a local ally/pursued its own objectives to the detriment of local nation-states. One of the more notable examples of the first is in the long-running negotiations
To answer the essay question, external factors are indeed important in influencing the conducting of American foreign policy, as they are for all countries. They are important because they determine the direction American foreign policy takes, and with it, can drastically alter the futures of entire countries (Iraq & Afghanistan post 9/11). This essay will devote itself to exploring and explaining how each external factor is important and influential, and proceed to back it up by providing historic and modern examples detailing its effect on US foreign policy, and the end results. These external factors that will be explored are (sequentially) strategic interests of other nations, geographically-based vulnerabilities of the USA in relation to economic and military interests and finally the successes of grass roots revolution in the Arab Spring in upending both long-standing allies and enemies, and its effect on traditional US foreign policy stances.
The first external factor is the strategic interests of both allies and enemies across the world. Due to the USA’s current position as a hyper-power with a global presence, its influence and interests often collide with those interests or spheres of influence of other nations, ranging from allies such as the United Kingdom, Israel and Poland, to long-time rivals such as the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China or find itself involved in a conflict between two different nations (such as the Falklands issue or the current Israel-Iran crisis). In such situations where the USA must interact with other involved nation-states, the USA has either attempted to compromise with the other parties involved in an attempt to reach an amicable solution or fully backed a local ally/pursued its own objectives to the detriment of local nation-states. One of the more notable examples of the first is in the long-running negotiations
Bibliography: CJ Radin, 2011, Focus ‘Analysis: The US-Pakistan relationship and the critical factor of supply’ [online] 4 December. Available: <http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/12/us_pakistani_relatio.php> Daily Mail Reporter, 2011, Focus: ‘Pakistan gives US two week ultimatum’ [online] 8 November. Available: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066488/Pakistan-gives-US-2-week-ultimatum-abandon-secret-airbase-closes-border.html Cox, M. and Stoke, D., 2008, US Foreign Policy, Oxford: Oxford University Press Lansford, T., 2003, A Bitter Harvest: US Foreign Policy & Afghanistan, Ashgate Holsti, O., 2006, Making American Foreign Policy, Routledge DeAlkatine, N., 2012, American Diplomacy: Interpreting the Arab Spring, Journal, Range 1996, Available from UWE Library