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Example research essay topic: Arab Israeli Conflict American Foreign Policy - 2,669 words

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American Foreign Policy It is not a secret that today America is the most influential country around the globe. Americas rise to world power is a consequence of the nations geographical position, natural resources, dynamic energy and successful foreign policy. (Carpenter, 74) For relatively short period, America became so strong that today it is a single superpower in the world. In 1938, the United States possessed the most productive economy in the world with one of the largest navies. However, to describe it as a fully active world power as we have shown already would be inaccurate.

If it was America that sealed the fate of Germany in the First World War, its financial muscle during the twenties that brought a degree of stability to Europe, then it was its isolationist policy in the thirties compounded by the Depression that upset the international system. This encouraged German and Japanese expansion and weakened the resolve of more liberal democracies to stand up to their aggression. Subsequently what the United States did and did not do in the inter war years had an enormous impact on world politics. The United States tried desperately to shield itself from the war in Europe and Asia by retreating into isolation. However, after the fall of France in 1940 Roosevelt believed that vital American interests were at stake.

He considered the defense of Britain to be vital to United States interests. Whilst America remained technically neutral, Britain managed to exchange a number of naval and air bases in exchange for 50 destroyers. The subsequent Lend-Lease act of March 1941 allowed the sale of war materials to any country whose defense the President considered would promote the defense of the US, without the need for immediate payment. By December 1941, the US had declared war on Germany and Japan. Rise to Globalism, by Stephen Ambrose, is an enlightened work on the development of American foreign policy from World War II through the Reagan administration. Ambrose's book explains the trends in foreign policy that led America from its isolationist attitude of the first half of the nineteenth century to its position of global power and imminence today.

The basic causes of the worlds major problems today (from the American viewpoint), communism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and third-world development, are traced from World War II and explained as they pertain to Americas foreign policies and overseas activities. According to Ambrose, Americas involvement in World War II was the most significant event that had influenced American foreign policy through the XX century and even today affects the world order. By 1945, the America controlled about one-half of the worlds industrial output. The war effort had broken the back of the depression and GNP had doubled in four years. The war not only changed the economy of the US it also transformed it militarily. Its navy was the biggest, its air force the strongest and it possessed the atomic bomb.

Because of the war, the United States and the USSR had gained much more intellectual and physical power. The focal issue would be the relationship between the two. America would have to take a much more significant role in world affairs than it had done in the inter-war period. The results of isolationism were clear and it was no longer an option. American prosperity and security was tangled from developments in other parts of the world what happened elsewhere had a direct bearing on the United States. In planning for peace, American policy makers assumed an open world economy, the primacy of liberal democratic principles and the benign use of hegemonic power to create the new-world order.

Since then America has drastically changed its foreign policy. After the World War II, the Eastern European states, liberated by Russia, were incorporated into satellite states of Russia, which then became the Soviet Union. The governments formed in these countries after the war were, naturally, communist. In Western Europe, all former satellite nations had been liberated by the United States and Great Britain, which then consequently set up democratic governments.

This split of Europe, into east and west, set the stage for the Cold War. The Marshall Plan was the response to the faltering economies in Western Europe. It was a very successful political move. It provided economic assistance to all European nations that would agree to United States to intervention.

The Marshall Plan was not only effective in maintaining good trade but it also undermined the spread of communism. Within years of the plans establishment communism in the countries that agreed to the intervention had declined and American trade thrived. Ambrose wrote that Marshall Plan was a very successful and useful move in American foreign policy. It strengthened American allies in Europe to help America to fight communism. More troops were going in to serve in Western Europe than had served there during the bulk of World War II. As tensions between the east and the west were heightened, an arms race ensued.

Cold War significantly changed the way foreign policy is administered today. The United States was forced to make strategic plans to help other countries regain economic stability, contain communism, and not end up in a ruinous global nuclear war. The war was what pushed America from the Monroe Doctrines limited jurisdiction to Truman's National Security Councils response to the endangering communism and warfare with NSC 68, Containment's and the Marshall Plans economic intervention in volatile nations, and Dulles brinkmanship. Three policies and two ideologies formed the backbone to what became the outline for foreign policy in America through the Cold War era and eventually setting an exemplar reflected in present politics.

The second major concern in Rise to Globalism is the Arab-Israeli conflict, which can trace its accentuation into the forefront of world politics back to the British and Americans after the end of World War II and the formation of the United Nations. Israel was created by the United Nations to provide a homeland for the many millions of persecuted Jews throughout the world. It also created a serious conflict with the Arab countries of the region. It was created from land the Turks had conquered almost 1, 000 years before and which the Arabs then controlled.

The newly created country had the backing of the United States and Great Britain, while the Arabs, for the most part, had the backing of the Soviet Union. Yet, Iran, Egypt, and Jordan were friendly to the U. S. and this presented a unique problem for America. They supplied billions of dollars of military aid to Israel to help them to fight wars to keep the Arabs out of the new country. The U.

S. needed oil from the Arab countries and supported the Arabs enemy, Israel with military. The conflict required a special solution and Ambrose had it. The Israelis, after having fought to defend and even expand their ancient homeland, were unwilling to give up anything they had gained or to give the Palestinians a homeland of their own if it was to be created out of Israeli soil. The Arabs, for the most part, were calling for the abolition of the newly formed country, or at least the return of the territories it had captured. The conflict involved the United States in two ways.

The U. S. sold military goods to, maintained trade and diplomatic relations with Israel, and needed to maintain that relationship to show other countries that America would stand behind her friends. In addition, the U. S. also needed Arab oil.

The need was so great that the oil embargo that was imposed on the U. S. by the Arab countries actually forced the U. S. to speed up peace efforts in the Middle East. The Arabs, small and somewhat unorganized, could yield some power over the greatest superpower in the world.

The U. S. had to and did act to overcome the situation. Henry Kissinger, and later President Jimmy Carter, acted in accordance with Americas best interests to gain a peace agreement. Although little was done to resolve this conflict, they landed several treaties, which ended most of the open warfare and provided for many of the issues that concerned each side.

Ambrose does an excellent job of showing the impact of these accomplishments on the United States. Kissinger got the oil embargo lifted and Carter negotiated a treaty to end Arab-Israeli hostilities. Ambrose fit this into Americas continuing foreign policy so well that the reader does not realize until afterward that this conflict set the tone for America in dealing with the question of developing nations. Americas third and minor problem was dealing with third world countries. Ambrose does an excellent job of walking the reader through the various ways America approached relationships with developing countries, in chronological order, and the success or failure of each approach.

This may have been his greatest success in this book: third world foreign policy is explained clearly and concisely with little room left for understanding. He walks the reader through the topic, starting with the rebuilding of Europe after World War II. He shows the common thread, massive amounts of foreign aid money, which is found in every dealing with third world countries. He shows the reader the effects of each approach, as well as, the mediocre success of the Truman doctrine and the Marshall Plan, to the failure of containment and linkage, all the way up to the success of the hardball tactics of the Reagan administration. He traces the debacle in Vietnam back to its source in the policy of containment, and he shows why America bothered to get involved.

He shows the lessons learned from this event and how they were later applied to situations in the Dominican Republic and Grenada. He showed the U. S. lack of involvement in Africa and explained why America had little reason to meddle in African affairs. Americas dealings with the third world, while altogether confusing and often unsuccessful, were easier to understand and to track using Ambrose's simple words. Although he did an excellent job, there were some places where Ambrose could have improved upon his work.

He did an excellent job of explaining the American, Soviet, Arab, and Israeli sides of issues, but seldom was another country, or at least its opinion, mentioned. Another absence in this work was an in-depth analysis of the problems in the Far East. China was covered extremely well, but the book lacked a sufficient section discussing the recent balance of trade problems with Japan. This had played a big role in American foreign policy recently and should have been included. In addition, there were only two economic issues discussed: the Arab oil embargo and the Russian wheat sales. Economics, however, were linked to many different government decisions and should have played a greater role in the explanations and descriptions given in the book.

Seldom was anything mentioned about the situation at home and its relation to foreign policy. In fact, not until the Carter administration does Ambrose give more than passing mention to Congress affect on foreign policy. The only thing that he noted was when Congress handed the president the ability to act without a Congressional vote for a certain period. Congress has the exclusive right to ratify treaties and to control the budget, so they had more of an effect on foreign policy than Ambrose led the reader to believe. Overall, however, Ambrose did an excellent job in creating a work that will open its readers mind to an understanding of American foreign policy since 1938 until Reagan Presidency. Through his excellent explanations, eloquent language, and expert understanding of American foreign policy, Ambrose has created a book worthy of praise and valuable as a source of knowledge for anyone seeking an understanding of Americas foreign policy.

His skill and writing ability bring out the true meaning and importance of Americas foreign policy and its incredible impact on the world. As a source of basic understanding, Rise to Globalism is an excellent volume worthy of full consideration. Every issue, from the cold war to the Arab-Israeli conflict to third world diplomacy, is covered in an extremely comprehensible and thought-provoking manner. Another absence in this work was an in-depth analysis of the problems in the Far East. China was covered extremely well, but the book lacked a sufficient section discussing the recent balance of trade problems with Japan. Ambrose has created an excellent work, which will only continue to grow in importance, and insight as it continues to be revised and updated.

Actually, some historians claim that the United States policy on foreign affairs is that there really is no specific foreign policy. Controversy and mixed opinions have surrounded this area of politics since the beginning of the countrys existence. Each presidential administration has had its own perception as to what this policy should be. Some Americans feel that the United States should return to the isolationist country that it once was. With all the expense and effort needed to have a world presence, it is a belief that the United States should not involve itself in the affairs and conflicts of other countries. The United States has involved itself in many foreign conflicts around the world, making its presence known and showing that it is the only world superpower at present time.

However, majorities of fifty-five to sixty-five percent of the American public say that events in Western Europe, Asia, Mexico, and even Canada have little or no impact on their lives. (Drinan, 6) It is more evident now in the American public that there is a new sense of isolationism, which has never been absent from Americas thinking (Drinan, 7) just suppressed. Although the U. S. involves itself with many of the conflicts around the world, most observers would concede that American foreign policy today suffers far less from the vicious ideological struggles and political turf battles that plagued it during much of the cold war. (Tyson, 9) However, new countless Americans agree with Patrick J. Buchanan that the United States should disengage itself from the rest of the world. (Drinan, 6) The ideals of a partial isolationist ic policy stem most of its support from Patrick Buchanan. Buchanan believes that the U.

S. should withdraw its troops from around the world. As the U. S. moves off the mainland of Europe, we should move our troops as well off the mainland of Asia. (Tonelson, 76) Forty years after the Marshall Plan, it is time Europe conscripted the soldiers for its own defense. (Tonelson, 74) Disengagement does not mean disarmament. (Tonelson, 75) Just because the United States pulls its military out of foreign countries, does not mean that we must let our entire defense system shut down.

Instead of continuing the forward deployment and contingent use of its military forces in a vain effort to defend a lengthy roster of client states and maintain an illusory global order, the United States should concentrate on developing strike warfare long-range retaliatory capabilities to be used to defend only its indisputably vital interests. (Carpenter, 23) Attempts to intervene in other regions especially with ground forces will become more difficult in the twenty-first century, in the face of emboldened challenges and the defection of U. S. allies and clients. (Carpenter, 23) Buchanan believes that when defense cuts are made, they should come in army bases, no longer needed for homeland defense; and ground troops no longer needed on foreign soil. (Tonelson, 76) In essence, the United States should not completely tear itself away from the global community; rather it should recede in its overwhelming presence. Bibliography: Drinan, Robert F. Cry of the Oppressed: The History and Hope of the Human Rights Revolution. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1987.

Tonelson, Alan. What Is The National Interest? The Atlantic Monthly, 1991. Carpenter, Ted.

A Search for Enemies: Americas Alliances after the Cold War, Washington D. C. : CATO Institute, 1992 Tyson, Stanley. Doing the Best for America, New York: Duke U. Press, 1989


Free research essays on topics related to: arab israeli conflict, third world countries, world war ii, american foreign policy, cold war

Research essay sample on Arab Israeli Conflict American Foreign Policy

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