Pearson-Longman copyright 2004 Foreign And Defense Policy Chapter 20.

Pearson-Longman copyright 2004

Foreign And Defense PolicyChapter 20


Elections, Presidents, and Foreign Policy• Foreign policy is the conduct of relations among

nation-states.– Most important foreign policy issues involve war and

peace.

– Also involves economic trade among nations and other types of interactions.

• Two presidency theory– Wildavsky: explains why presidents exercise greater

power over foreign affairs than over domestic policy.


Need for Fast Action

• Foreign policy decisions often require rapid, decisive action.

• Ex: Bush sent marines to Haiti in 2004 to guard U.S. interests as the government of Haitian President Aristide fell.

• Secretary of State briefed Congress, but no approval was sought.


Voters’ Focus on Presidents

• Voters expect president to act in area of foreign affairs.

• Support the president in crisis situations.– “Rally ‘round the flag” effect: The tendency for the

public to back presidents in moments of crisis.

– While voters are supportive initially, they tend to demand quick results, and often forget foreign policy accomplishments, particularly if domestic economic issues become concerns.



Limited Role of Interest Groups

• On domestic issues, there is often great interest group involvement and influence.

• On foreign policy issues, interest groups are not as visible or as powerful.– Council on Foreign Relations

• influential based on quality of advice not ability to mobilize voters.

– AIPAC• has strong voice due to a strong domestic constituency.


Congressional Role

• Congress follows a “self-denying ordinance” when it comes to foreign affairs.

• Not equipped to determine defense policy.

• Has delegated to the president most of the major foreign policy decisions.

• Some clashes with the president– Ex. Vietnam


Foreign Policy Responsibilities of the President and Congress

• President plays the dominant role in foreign policy.

• Constitution gives responsibility to Congress as well.

• Treaty-making power divided between the president and the Senate.



War Power

• Hamilton: “Of all the concerns of government, the direction of war most peculiarly demands the exercise of power by a single hand.”

• Chief Justice John Marshall interpreted president’s constitutional powers broadly.– “The President is the sole organ of the nation

in its external relations and its sole representative with foreign nations.”


War Power

• Prior to Civil War presidents seldom acted on their own on military matters.– Abraham Lincoln first to action based on an expanded

interpretation of commander in chief.

– Theodore Roosevelt: sent ships to Japan without Congressional approval of cost

– Not since WWII has Congress officially declared war.

– Truman fought the Korean War without any congressional declaration at all.


War Power

• U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright (1936)– Supreme Court decision in which Congress is given the

authority to delegate foreign policy responsibilities to the president.

• Youngston Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyerv (1952)– Case in which the Supreme Court placed limits on the

executive power of the president.• Taken together: Presidents have more

constitutional discretion with respect to foreign versus domestic questions. But, presidents may not act contrary to the expressed will of Congress.


War Powers Resolution

• Vietnam War– Focused attention on the issue of executive authority– Eisenhower and Kennedy sent “advisors”– Johnson asked for Tonkin Bay Resolution

• Authorized response to attack with armed force (was told that U.S. had NOT invaded N. Vietnam’s territorial waters – but in reality they had)

• Gave president the authority “to take all necessary measures” to repel any attacks and to “prevent further aggression.”

• Resolution was legal basis for a war that would last 8 more years but based on misinformation from the Johnson administration.


War Powers Resolution

• 1973 congressional resolution requiring the president to notify Congress formally upon ordering U.S. troops into military action.– Troops must be withdrawn unless Congress

approves the presidential decision within 60 days after notice of the military action has been received.


War Powers Resolution & 9/11

• At Bush’s request passed war on terrorism resolution.– One dissenting vote in the House.– President authorized to “use all necessary and appropriate force

against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept 11, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism.”

– No limit placed on timer period in which president may act.– Second resolution focused continuing threat posed by Iraq. But

required Bush to exhaust “diplomatic or other peaceful means” of resolving the conflict prior to resorting to force.


Treaty Power

• Treaties are official agreements with foreign countries that are ratified by the Senate.

• The president’s power to negotiate treaties is the most circumscribed of all the president’s powers.– Ex: Woodrow Wilson and the Versailles Treaty

– Ex: Clinton and the Comprehensive Nuuclear Test Ban Treaty


Executive Agreements

• Executive agreements – Are agreements with foreign countries that require only

a presidential signature.– Power not found explicitly in the Constitution.– First one: 1817 limiting the size of the U.S. and Great

Britain’s naval forces on the Great Lakes – James Monroe

• Most executive agreements either are extensions of treaties ratified by the Senate or involve routine presidential actions that have been authorized by Congress.



Foreign Policy Institutions: From Cold War to Homeland Defense

• Cold War– The 43-year period (1946-1989) during which

the United States and the Soviet Union threatened one another with mutual destruction by nuclear warfare.

– Institutions designed to meet this threat.– 9/11 has focused attention and reevaluation of

institutions in light of new threat.


The Cold War and the Post Cold-War World• Cold War view: Bipolar

– Divided into two centers of power: U.S. and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies.

• Containment– U.S. policy that attempted to stop the spread of

communism in the expectation that this system of government would eventually collapse on its own.

– Proved successful.

• New focus was on the areas of dangerous instability in the world.



State Department

• State Department is the agency responsible for conducting diplomatic relations.

• Secretary of State– Officially, the president’s foreign policy adviser and head of the

Dept. of State.• Ambassadors

– The head of a diplomatic delegation to a major foreign country.– Many political appointments. Bush appointed 19 of his top fund-

raisers as ambassadors. But usually trained career diplomats.• Embassy

– The structure that houses ambassadors and their diplomatic aides in the capital cities of foreign countries.


Defense Department

• Department of Defense is the cabinet department responsible for managing the U.S. armed forces.

• Secretary of Defense– The president’s chief civilian adviser on defense

matters and overall head of the army, navy and air force.

• Joint Chiefs of Staff– The heads of all the military services, together with a

chair and vice-chair nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.




Central Intelligence Agency

• This agency is primarily responsible for gathering and analyzing information about the political and military activities of other nations.– Was not created until the Cold War began.– The National Security Act of 1947– Most controversial has been the authority to

conduct covert operations.


National Security Council

• Created in 1947 because so many departments and agencies needed to work together to formulate U.S. Cold War policy.

• Located inside the White House Executive Office of the President

• Coordinates U.S. foreign policy.• National Security Advisor

– Council assisted by a staff under the direction of the national security advisor. Has more access to the president than other foreign policy advisors & can be influential.

– Condoleeza Rice is George W. Bush’s NSA.


Ideals, Interests, and the Worldwide Campaign Against Terror

• Idealists– Those who say that U.S. foreign policy should

be guided primarily by democratic principles.

• Realists– Those who say that U.S. foreign policy best

protects democracy when it safeguards its own economic and military strength.


Strategies for Nation-Building

• Nation building– Interventions designed to enhance democratic practices

in other countries. Realists are less likely to support this practice.

– At outset of 2000, G.W. Bush questioned efforts to secure human rights and other efforts to enhance democratic practices in other countries.

– After 9/11, Bush administration policies changed sharply. Nation-building became an important objective in the war on terror.


Role of International Organizations

• United Nations– Organization of all nation-states, whose

purpose is to preserve world peace and foster economic and social development throughout the world.

– Idealists and realists have different feelings toward the U.N.


Russia, China and Human Rights

• Idealists and Realists differ on the appropriate U.S. policy toward Russia and China.– Idealists argue that the United States should use

economic and political means to force China to alter its policies.

– Idealists would sanction Russia for its ongoing war Chechnya.

– Realists are more cautious. Do not offend friends and economic partners.

– Realists believe the goals of the U.S. can be better achieved by encouraging the spread of free markets and international trade.


The Politics of World Trade: New Alliances?• Trade Policy

– 1947 General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade– Truman signed it – called it an executive

agreement– Action set the pattern for trade policy ever

since. – Executive branch takes the lead although

Congress must approve the overall framework within which policies are determined.


The Politics of World Trade: New Alliances?• Trade policy has grown contentious.

– Labor and environmental groups concerned that firms in other countries need not follow the labor and environmental regulations to which U.S. firms are subject.

– North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): eliminated trade barriers among U.S., Canada and Mexico- narrowly passed Congress.

– World Trade Organization (WTO): a trade body much more powerful than GATT with enforcement and trade resolution mechanisms.

– Ultimately, politics will influence the resolution of this policy arena.

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Pearson-Longman copyright 2004 Foreign And Defense Policy Chapter 20.

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