us and world politics “it’s the end of the world as we know it...”
TRANSCRIPT
Overview
• The International Political System
• Aims of US Foreign Policy
• Evolution of US Foreign Policy
World Politics
• Recap domestic politics– Why is government
necessary?
– What role does government play?
• International environment is anarchic– No government
– Implications?
World Politics
• Global Political System is a “self help” system
• Participants– States– Non-State Actors
• IGOs
• NGOs
World Politics
• States:– Basic unit of world politics since 1648 (Treaty
of Westphalia)– Features:
• Defined Geography
• Population
• Sovereign Government
World Politics
• States (continued)– Note that the first and third
points (geography and sovereign government) mean that the idea of “statehood” rests in part on the agreement of other states.
– States “recognize” other states by respecting the borders and the sovereignty of other states
–Wars and violence result when that recognition breaks down (e.g., Iraq/Kuwait in 1990; Serbia/Croatia 1993)
World Politics
• States (continued)– Distinct from “nations” by which we mean:
• a people with a shared language
• inhabiting a fixed territory
• sharing common customs that take on sense of shared identity/commonality
• recognition of common unity
World Politics
• Keeping the two ideas distinct means that we can have:– states with a single nation (e.g., Italy)– states with multiple nations (UK, Russia)– nations with multiple states (Arabs, Koreans)– nations with no state (Kurds)
World Politics
• Non-state actors in world politics include:– International Government Organizations
• e.g, UN, NATO, EU, ASEAN, OAS, OAU
– These organizations are comprised of a variety of states
– But they lack sovereignty
World Politics
• United Nations:– General Assembly
(each state equal)• Security Council• 15 states, each with one
vote, but 5 permanent members (US, UK, France, China, Russia) have “veto power”
– Secretariat– International Court of
Justice
World Politics
• NGOs (Non Government Organizations)– Organizations that have a political impact or
focus but which are unconnected to any government
• e.g., Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, Greenpeace
but also
• Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, ETA, FARC, Sendero Luminoso
US and World Politics
• Aims of US Foreign Policy:– National Security– Territorial Integrity– Political Ideology
• How do we achieve them?
US Foreign Policy
• 2 main themes have driven US policy:Isolationism
– avoid “entangling alliances” and stay out of European and world politics
US Foreign Policy
• Idealism– Promote democracy,
freedom, and liberty abroad– Monroe Doctrine: protect
western hemisphere from European encroachments
– Truman Doctrine: protect all “free” nations from communist expansion
– Bush Doctrine: use preemptive force to protect all free nations from terrorist threats
US Foreign Policy
• Impact of these two strands has led the US to get involved in wars beyond national security or strategic interests
• Use warfare to promote ideals– Democracy, freedom, capitalism
• Expansion of US
US Foreign Policy
• Factors/Players shaping foreign policy– President
• State, DoD, Homeland Security, NSC, CIA
– Congress– Corporations– Foreign Policy “elite”
• think tanks, academics
US Foreign Policy
• Resources for navigating in anarchy:– Diplomacy
• Negotiation to work out differences/disagreements
– Economics• Rewards: tax breaks, trade
concessions, grants, loans
• Punishments: tariffs, quotas, embargoes
– Military
US Foreign Policy
• Post WW2 the aim of US foreign policy was to contain communist expansion– Korean War– Vietnam War– Nuclear Arms Race with USSR (now Russia)– Regional Military Alliances
• (e.g., NATO, OAS, SEATO, etc.)
Defense Spending & the Budget
• Defense related expenses receive the largest share of federal appropriations:– See Table 8.9 for details
Global Military Spending
• Latest figures (2005) show that total global spending on military is $1.118 trillion, or about $173 per capita
• 34% increase from 2004
• US is responsible for 80% of that increase
Global Military Spending
• US spent $420.7 billion in 2005 (not including the money appropriated for Iraq/Afghanistan) war
• US military spending was almost two-fifths of the total; more than the combined spending of the next 14 nations.
• US military spending was almost 7 times larger than the Chinese budget, the second largest spender.
Military Spending
• The US military budget was almost 29 times as large as the combined spending of the six “rogue” states (Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) who spent $14.65 billion.
• These six potential “enemies,” plus Russia, and China together spent $139 billion, or just 30% of the U.S. military budget.
Military Spending
• Nuclear proliferation issues
• Nukes and “rogue” states
• Nukes and terrorist groups
Global Poverty
• Currently 6.6 billion people in the world
• Human population growth
• Of that number, approximately 3 billion survive on less than $2.00/day
Global Poverty
• Global economic data– GDP per capita– Divide between north
and south
• The GDP of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world’s countries) is less than the wealth of the world’s 3 richest people (Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim Helu) combined.