History of American Foreign Policy

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Table of Contents

Reaganomics
The 9/11 attacks and its impact on America’s foreign policy
The cold war
Works Cited

Reaganomics

The principles behind Reaganomics were based on trickle-down economics in conjunction with the theory of supply-side economics (Maier 124).

With these policies, it was assumed that by eliminating a large portion of the amounts of money spent on social programming, it would be easy to reduce taxes in critical sectors of production and industry.

Therefore, with these assumptions, the new regime levied fewer taxes on corporations (Maier 187). Another assumption was that once levies on corporations were reduced, the government would reduce expenses, which would then yield a significant increase in the bottom line.

Consequently, it was assumed that companies would find it easy to use the freed-up capital to invest in product development and expansion of their businesses.

On the other hand, it was assumed that by reducing the rate of taxation on wealthy people, funds would be freed up on the consumer side. In turn, this would allow an increase in spending and capital investment in corporations (Maier 239).

The administration believed that this system would create synergy between tax breaks in combination with industrial development and capital investment and consumer spending.

Moreover, it was assumed that once the synergy was achieved, it would lead to a reduction in the price level from the larger output. The ultimate result would be a “trickle-down” on the side of the average income-earner.

The congress was encouraged to approve a 25% cut on taxation. This, among other tax legislation, allowed the government to proceed with the new policies.

Also, the Congress was made to pass legislation requiring an increase in military spending, although it refused to pass the president’s motion proposing for a reduction in social programmings such as Medicare and social security funds.

Reaganomics and its policies were different from the previous economic policies in the United States because they deviated from the traditions. It was largely market fundamentalism. It favored such initiatives as privatization, market liberalization, and independent centralization.

The achievements of Reaganomics were both appreciatable and doubtable. For instance, the reduction in taxpayer rates increased deficits, with the national debt tripling from one trillion to three trillion dollars between 1982 and 1990.

The economy first experienced a deep crisis between 1981 and 1982 but stabilized in 1983. Between 1983 and 1989, the economy boomed, with increased growth in capital investment and growth of the middle-income population.

However, this economic rise is considered one of the factors that contributed to the economic crisis of the 21^st century.

The 9/11 attacks and its impact on America’s foreign policy

When taking power in 2003, President Bush was focused on creating what he called a “missile shield” over some parts of Europe.

Theoretically, this shield was supposed to protect America and her allies in Europe if North Korea and Iran went on with their plans to attack America and her European allies.

Also, Bush wanted to initiate mutual understanding with China and Russia to encourage them to join America’s diplomatic efforts in dealing with Iran and North Korea, the two nations that America believed were carrying out massive nuclear tests in preparation for assembling nuclear weapons.

However, the 9/11 terrorist attacks brought a complete overhaul of America’s foreign policy. The focus on the “missile shield” was abandoned, with American now focusing on international terrorism (Lieber 46).

From this point in time, the Americas’ new foreign policy was developed. But America was not going to do it alone, but rather it needed the support of its allies in Europe (Lieber 75).

The first aspect of this new foreign policy was the invasion of Afghanistan in pursuit of Al Qaeda and its top leadership, where American allies under NATO initiated an assault on Afghanistan’s oppressive regime that was believed to have supported Al Qaeda.

The focus drifted towards military operations rather than diplomatic resolutions.

For instance, President Bush was increasingly calling for a military operation in Iraq, making the world believe that the regime of Sadaam Hussein was aiding Al Qaeda and that Sadaam was holding nuclear weapons.

Although the Americas’ allies in NATO rejected Bush’s hypothesis and an offer to be included in the interventions, America went on to attack Iraq. Bush was also keen on initiating military interventions in Syria while providing maximum aid to Israel (Little 92).

There is little if any, persuasive argument that can justify America’s military intervention in Iraq. The only good thing that America did was to liberate the people of Iraq from the oppressive regime of Bin Hussein (Mead 73).

However, Americas’ military intervention brought a long-term tribal and religious divisions in the country, insurgency and increased the degree of terrorism.

Thus, the long-term outcomes of the intervention in Iraq will include a deep-rooted state of enmity between America and most Arab states, poor economic and political structures in Iraq and poor relations between Arab nations and the West.

The cold war

The short-term and long-term causes of the cold war

The Cold War took place in 45 years and was a product of several reasons. First, the hostility of the United States towards the Bolshevik Revolution and the USSR made America fail to recognize the USSR, rather considering it as an illegitimate alliance meant to benefit Russia.

America and the United Kingdom were always focused on trimming the powers of Germany and Russia, which were increasingly becoming influential every decade (McCrisken 157). Russia was on the verge of overtaking several European nations, including Britain, as the regional superpower.

Russia and America became the two most powerful nations in the world. Each was, keen on reducing the influence of the other in an attempt to remain the world’s superpower (McCrisken 201).

After the second world, war, America was not ready to return into its former state as an isolated power, rather it wanted to play world politics beyond its borders.

America forged relationships with Britain and almost all other nations in Europe, while Russia forged allies with China, the Arab world and several other anti-western nations in South America, Asia, and Africa.

American was keen on ensuring that Communism movements, which were supported by Russia and China, would not spread to continental Europe, African, and Asia. Western Democratic nations like France, Britain, Italy, and Australia supported America and capitalism.

Russia was in constant support of anti-western movements in the Arab world, North Korea, Africa and some countries such as Vietnam.

These tensions were evident between the 1950s and 1990s. Although America and Russia never engaged in direct military interventions, thousands of lives were lost in some indirect confrontations.

For instance, each of these two powers supported opposing sides in various wars, including rebellions and insurgencies in Afghanistan, Angola, Vietnam, Grenada, Korea, and Vietnam.

Secondly, the Soviet Union carried several Show Trials, including long-range missile tests. Also, the two sides competed for military, scientific and space prowess; with Russia sending the first person on space while American sending the first person on the moon.

The unification of western and eastern German initially created tension in the world. America was opposing the initiative that was largely seen as an effort by the USSR.

Also, Americas’ involvement in efforts to disintegrate the USSR into individual and sovereign nations was a major cause of the Cold War.

Works Cited

Lieber, Robert. The American Era: Power and Strategy for the 21^st Century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print

Little, Douglas. American Orientialism: The United States and the Middle East since 1945. North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2008. Print.

Maier, Charles. An American Empire. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011. Print

McCrisken, Trevor. American Exceptionalism and the Legacy of Vietna. London: Palgrave Publishers, 2006. Print

Mead, Walter. Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How it Changed the World. New York, NY: Routledge Publishers, 2004. Print.

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