Middle Class Wars in the US - Essay Example

College Introduction United s of America has used foreign policy as a way of achieving national objectives as well as a means of taking actions against foreign circumstances. Largely, the U.S. has responded to foreign nations using economic sanctions, diplomatic means, military force as well as economic aid. Mainly, foreign policy of America promotes democracy to other countries, provides for the defense and advances the economy of the nation. Historically, the principles of U.S. foreign policies have changed from isolationism to providing economic and military needs of developing countries. Brands (2012) states that there are four main objectives of the American foreign policy: promoting the creation of democratic governments around the world; promoting self-interest of America to the rest of the world and protecting the “Western Hemisphere”; encouraging pragmatic or idealism of America in other regions; and increasing missionary activities to the rest of the world. These 4 major objectives are very important to the American middle class. First of all, promoting self-interest of America to the rest of the world, especially American globalization, has really benefited American Middle Class. It has improved flow of capital, services and goods across borders of many nations. This has boosted economic activities of American middle class and enhanced their prosperity. Protection of the “Western Hemisphere” and encouragement of idealism of America in other regions has enabled American Military to grow. This has greatly generated a source of employment to many middle class families in United States of America. While spending on defense in majority of other nations is falling, U.S. military spending is continuing to rapidly rise. As a way of example, the requested increase in this year's military spending is higher than the whole defense budget of China. Remarkably, United States of America has the ability to spend more by recruiting more young people from middle class to join the defense. Military spending only takes a fraction of the gross domestic product in United States of America. This is very important particularly to American middle class as they are assured of the safety of their children’s employment. Even the administration of Bush projected that the increase in defense spending would produce a budget amounting to 3.5 percent of GDP. And that amount was only half of what was spent in Cold War. These four objectives have allowed United States of America to develop a strong political infrastructure to support good economic growth that favors all middle class people. Economic wise, the United States has proven to its competitors that it can realize gains in productivity through use of information technology. Japan and the rest of Europe severely face demographic problems. Their population is aging rapidly leading to shortages in labor and severe pressures on nation’s budget. Russia and China which are rapidly modernizing, their present economies cannot sustain its middle class people as America does. The implications of objectives of American foreign policy is that they have assisted American middle class people understand the important truths about the present world. Those objectives have enabled middle class people to realize what they should try to accomplish when they are abroad. The objectives enhance and safeguard the liberty, prosperity and security of middle class people when they travel to stay overseas (Kagan, 2006). The objectives of the American foreign policy promote global politics by encouraging an international order which is based on human rights, democracy along with free enterprise. The policy continues to extend the degree of prosperity and peace the United States established sometime back that American middle class people living in Europe and other areas of the world enjoy. In other words, the United States had integrated what the rest of the world did not have into a globalized market. Pursuing such a goal is not easy. Creating an international order in which majority of people are prosperous and free can be profoundly located in self-interest of America. In the market democracies of the present world, American middle class businessmen will likely be more secure and more prosperous too. In a world like this, American middle class people will realize the globalization promise and minimize associated dangers at the same time. In order for American middle class to realize success of open markets on a global level, the American foreign policy ensures four main strategies. Firstly, it is important to strengthen and sustain the bases of United States power. This needs a way of ensuring that the elements of the economy of a particular country remain sound. It is wise not to spend what the nation may require tomorrow. Additionally, it necessitates for maintaining the military edge of America, both in overall capacity and technologically to enforce at a place and time when America has chosen. It also requires unrelenting diplomatic engagement on the part of Washington to show awareness that whatever is taking place abroad matters a lot to middle class and also has a reflective impact on prosperity and security of American middle class at home. Secondly, the American foreign policy must adapt and extend proven international arrangements and institutions. The recent transformation by NATO in the 1990s, to collectively protect organizations that safeguarded the protective integrity of its middle class members against Soviet Union for a period of forty years took a new role gradually: giving security for all of its state together with its people in a big area (Gaddis, 2005). Objectives of American foreign policy have focused on reducing barriers to free flow of capital, goods and services in the past few years. More nations have also joined the trading system. It is the right time to continue lowering the most destructive barriers, typically the ones related to agricultural goods so as to bring poor middle class people into the global economic regime. The third point is that the U.S. foreign policy must enforce conformity with already founded international agreements and strengthen that are already in place to compel and monitor compliance. Lastly, the objectives American foreign policy should lead in coming up with effective worldwide arrangements and institutions to deal with new challenges that arise from the downscale of globalization. The American foreign policy objective of promoting the creation of democratic governments around the world led to American participation in World War II. Tensions arose when U.S. wanted to increase democratic governments in Eastern Europe. America wanted to increase economic and democracy reconstruction in eastern part of Europe. That objective of American foreign policy also led to American taking part in World War I. The Truman policy indicated that America was to help in freeing peoples who were living under regimes of communist and dictatorships. The institution of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) made America, France and the U.K to form military organization that was against communist. Similarly, the objective of American foreign policy to promote its idealism such as democracy to other nations made it to participate in World War II. Bolsheviks had taken power in Russia in late 1917. He had a mind of extending his regime on international basis in Bavaria and Hungary. This made America, various western and central Europeans to be afraid that a violent revolution of Communist would overpower their countries’ democracy. Thus intention of U.S. to stop communist revolution made it to participate in World War II. According to Kissinger (2005), encouraging pragmatic or idealism of America in other regions led to cold war. The Americans were suspicious and feared that their idealism would not be promoted to other regions. Since communism regime of the Soviet Union was increasing at a high rate, America decided to stop that communism regime thus making it to take part in cold war. At first, U.S. used diplomacy but it was replaced with use of force. The U.S. was guided by its foreign policy that was against communism. It started using military interventions instead of negotiations, thus ending up taking part in Cold War. This objective also made America to participate in World War II. The U.S. wanted to use force to achieve its idealistic goals to other parts of the world. Since used military force to promote its idealism to other parts of the world, it made it to take part in World War II. The American foreign policy objective of promoting self- interest of America to the rest of the world, led to its participation in Cold War. That war was between the Soviet Union and U.S. from 1946 to 1991. America wanted to promote its self-interest and end communism that had been planted by Soviet Union. Also the American foreign policy objective of promoting its self-interest to other parts led to its taking part in World War I. during that time, America wanted to promote its economic leadership and political hegemony. China was continuing to gain a leading role. This made America to attempt to stop it hence ended up participating in World War I (Mandelbaum, 2004). Correspondingly, the objective of American foreign policy of promoting self- interest of America to the rest of the world made America to take part in World War II. The United States of America favored the “Isolation” self-interest. America preferred nonintervention in political affairs of other nations. Since America wanted to liberalize people in other countries and promote free investment, trade and interchange among citizens of all nations made it to participate in World War II as it attempted to accomplish that objective. The objective of American foreign policy of increasing missionary activities to the rest of the world led to its participation in Cold War. Given that the Soviet Union had actually extended its influence in Europe, the American missionaries also wanted to control and liberate greater parts of East Europe that was already under influence of Russia. This made U.S. to take part in Cold War. Likewise, promotion of U.S. missionary activities also led to its taking part in World War I. President Woodrow Wilson preferred diplomacy that was consistent with American domestic Progressive reform faith and goals that the American superiority wanted. Mead (2011) posits that resolution by Wilson to make United States to recognize American governments that was established on law, faith and order, made Wilson to use defense force to compel other nations to accept American “missionary diplomacy”. This made America to become involved in World War I. The same “missionary diplomacy” led to U.S. participation in World War II. In 1934, American missionaries, John along with Betty Stam, were killed by Communist soldiers. The biographies of these people inspired other missionaries to carry on missionary activities causing persecution of more American missionaries during 1940s. More persecutions made America to attempt stopping it, hence making it participate in World War II. References Brands, H. (2012). The Devil We Knew: Americans and the Cold … New York: Oxford University Press. Gaddis, J. (2005). Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of … Harvard: Oxford University Press. Kagan, R. (2006). Dangerous Nation: America's Foreign Policy … Chicago: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kissinger, H. (2005). Does America Need a Foreign Policy? New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. Mandelbaum, M. (2004). The Ideas That Conquered The World: Peace … New York: Oxford University Press. Mead, W. (2011). Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World. New York: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Read More