US Foreign Policy Goals and Initiatives

US Foreign Policy Goals and Initiatives

Multiple Select

Which of the following are part of foreign policy?

• economic concerns

• defense concerns

• security concerns

​The goals of US foreign policy include

• ​preserving world peace

• ​promoting the values of democracy

• ​protecting nations from aggression

• ​encouraging market economies

• ​encouraging free trade

• ​advancing international cooperation

​Most of the time, trying to accomplish all the foreign policy goals at once is complicated. It is often impossible. So, decisions must be made about which goal is the most important in a given situation. For example, is it more important to encourage democracy or to maintain peace in a region with non-democratic governments?

​Government leaders are required to make decisions based first on safety and security, especially if American citizens are involved. The recent action of withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan required the president and his advisers to make plans to remove as many American civilians as possible from harm's way in

Afghanistan while removing troops. The

foreign policy goal of maintaining peace

was difficult to achieve in that particular

situation.

• ​democratic decision-making

• ​civil liberties like freedom of speech

• ​equality before the law

• ​social justice

​Promoting values of democracy includes working supporting other nations as they work toward:

​Protecting other nations from aggression means

• ​helping develop effective military forces and strategies

• ​sharing information about possible threats

• ​training together

​The type of economic system that we have here in the US is called a market economy. We believe it provides the strongest, most sustainable economy for our nation. We also believe the market economy would benefit other nations.

​Market economies offer the greatest degree of

• individual job choices

• variety of goods and services

• individual choices to own and operate businesses

• quality of goods and services​

​Market economies also strengthen the economies of their trading partners.

Free trade​

​Free trade means trade between nations that has low or no tariffs and/or restrictions. The purpose of free trade is to grow the economies of all nations involved by allowing business owners to make more money (and therefore pay more to their employees and invest in their business).

​The final goal of US foreign policy is advancing international cooperation. This includes such concerns as the environment, natural resources, humanitarian efforts, and space. As we said earlier, these goals sometimes compete for resources and require difficult decisions.

As always, there are current issues that make it difficult to achieve all our foreign policy goals.​

​

• ​One of those challenges is trade imbalances. A trade imbalance is when a country imports more from another country than it exports to them. This can destabilize the economy of the country with the imbalance. it can also lead to heavy dependence on another country economically. At present, the US has a trade imbalance with China. Because China has a different economic system and government, the US worries about being dependent on China for trade goods.

• ​Another current issue that deeply concerns the US is human rights abuses in other nations. The US pressures other nations to adopt policies of fairness, equality, and human rights. The US actively works to lessen problems like excessive punishment, human trafficking, and drug abuse.

• ​Curbing drug traffic is a major emphasis, especially with our border nations.

• ​Controlling nuclear and biological weapons has been a concern of the US government since the middle of the 20th century. Because these weapons can affect more than just the targeted area, they are of international concern. There is also a danger of them being used by groups other than national governments.

​Eight countries currently have nuclear weapons capability.

​Biological weapons are much more common and have been used for much longer.

​Controlling the inventory and the proliferation of both types of weapons is a major foreign policy issue.

​North Atlantic Treaty Organization

​One of the most important international arrangements

the US belongs to is NATO. It started in 1949 as a way

​to defend its member nations from the threats posed

​by the spread of communism after WWII.

​The member nations work together to defend themselves and each other from external threats. They work through both diplomacy and military action.

​At the present time, the future status of NATO is unsure. Many of the original threats it was formed to protect against no longer exist.