American Foreign Policy

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that the foreign policy of the United States of America in regard to such diverse areas as the Cold War, the U.S. relationship with China and the U.S. conflicts with Iraq, presents challenges to any analyst. The writer argues that these challenges stem from the fact that U.S. foreign policy is rarely cohesive across the broad spectrum of international relations. The writer notes that in both the strengths and weaknesses of American foreign policy from the Cold War to the War on Terror/Long War, a complex range of contributing factors determine the shape of U.S. foreign policy in ways that often differ radically from one theater of operations to another.

Outline:
Introduction
The United States and the Cold War
The United States and China
The United States and Iraq
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"In critically evaluating the course of American foreign policy from the Cold War to the present it is necessary to look beneath the surfaces of international relations to consider a range of contributing factors that may have shaped American foreign policy in ways that do not seem immediately apparent upon initial examination."
"The Cold War represents just such a situation, for while it may seem initially to have been a conflict between two pre-eminent superpowers - the United State and the U.S.S.R. - at the end of the Second World War, many observers have argued that Western European nations played a primary role in persuading a reluctant United States to become engaged in Europe as a counter-balance to the Soviet Union."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Amery, H.M. and W.A. Madhoun (eds.). Shaping the Gulf: In Search of Order. London, ON: Canadian Institute for Policy Analysis, 1992.
• Gaddis, John. The United States and the End of the Cold War: Implications, Considerations, Provocations. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
• McCauley, Martin. The Origins of the Cold War 1941-1949. Second Edition. London: Longman, 1995.
• Neack, Laura. The New Foreign Policy: U.S. and Comparative Foreign Policy in the 21st Century. Toronto: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.
• Ridgeway, James (ed.). The March to War: From Day One to War's End and Beyond. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1991.

More papers on American Foreign Policy:

• Essay # 74122 : "Shifting American Foreign Policy"
• Analytical Essay # 8668 : "American Foreign Policy"
• Essay # 33944 : "American Foreign Policy Since The Vietnam War"

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