US and World Politics

“It’s the end of the world as we know it...”

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.

Conclusions

• US and the world– population growth

and immigration– energy– health– AIDS

1919 flu pandemic

• 1/4th of US population afflicted, 1/5th of global population

• Estimated death from pandemic: 21,500,000