United States history - Essay Example

United s History: Although We Think of Democracy as America's Key Feature, Capitalism has Played a Much Greater Role in Defining American Foreign Policy Since 1865 2007 United States History: Although We Think of Democracy as America's Key Feature, Capitalism has Played a Much Greater Role in Defining American Foreign Policy Since 1865 The issue of democracy in America in general is one which has been debated on and about for ages, and the matter of whether or not capitalism has played a larger role in the defining of American foreign policy when compared to democracy is one which is incredibly significant and relevant overall. There are many different factors which need to be taken into consideration in order to be able to properly determine the answer to this posing, and this particularly in regards to the reasons that America became involved in foreign affairs in the late 19th century, as well as the motivations for their entering both world wars and the progress of the Cold War, for instance. All of these issues have great influence on the matter of whether democracy or capitalism should be considered as being more important in the defining of American foreign policy, and thus they all must be thoroughly addressed and discussed. The aim of this paper is to consider all aspects of both democracy and capitalism which are two tremendously dynamic and substantial subjects on their own, and to compare their similarities and differences in order to be able to properly determine which has played more of a role in creating and defining American foreign policy since the 1800s. We will be able to do this by discussing the previously mentioned issues as well as any and all other key and related factors relevant to this case. This is what will be dissertated in the following. The term democracy is one which is typically used in the context of a political state however the principles are also applicable to numerous other groups and organizations. There are several different forms of democracy, with the most major being: representative, liberal, direct, socialist, anarchist, tribal, and consensus. The representative, liberal, and direct forms of democracy are the most well-known, and they are considered as follows: representative democracy is the form of democracy which involves the selection of government officials by the people, and one characteristic of representative democracy in particular is that of the fact that while the representatives are elected by the people, to act in their interest, they retain the freedom to exercise their own judgment as how best to do so; liberal democracy is a form representative democracy with free and fair elections along with the protection of minorities, the rule of law, a separation of powers, and protection of liberties; and the direct form of democracy is one which is largely referred to as being "a political system where the citizens vote on all major policy decisions. It is called direct because, in the classical forms, there are no intermediaries or representatives. All direct democracies to date have been relatively small communities, usually city-states. However, some see the extensive use of referenda, as in California, as akin to direct democracy in a very large polity with more than 20 million potential voters" (Wikipedia, 2007). Capitalism, on the other hand, is a term which generally refers to an economic system in which "the means of production are mostly privately owned and operated for profit, and in which distribution, production and pricing of goods and services are determined in a largely free market. It is usually considered to involve the right of individuals and groups of individuals acting as 'legal persons' or corporations to trade capital goods, labor, land and money" (Boyer, Clark & Kett, 2002). The first actual theories of capitalism came about in the context of the Industrial Revolution, and this followed the social theorist Karl Marx in particular, and these theories were generally used to criticize the concept. The Cold War is one era which holds particular importance in regards to this social theory, as during the Cold War, certain theories of capitalism in fact continued to be developed and elaborated on, and this was primarily in order to explain and justify the private ownership of the capital. The concept of capitalism is truly one which has limited analytic value, particularly given the great variety and difference of historical cases over which it is applied, and some specific economists have made note of a variety of different types of capitalism, depending on the specifics of concentration economic power and wealth, and methods of capital accumulation. The issue of American foreign policy is one which has been the subject of much debate and criticism over the years, and one of the most major arguments within this forum is in regards to the question of whether it was democracy or capitalism which had a greater role overall in the defining of the American foreign policy since 1985. This is an incredibly important question overall because the foreign relations of the United States are highly influential on the world stage, not just within their own area. In all reality, the officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States, as was mentioned in the Foreign Policy Agenda of the U.S. Department of State, are "to create a more secure, democratic, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people and the international community" (Boyer, Clark & Kett, 2002). American foreign policy can really be considered to have first originated or emerged with the initiation of the Olive Branch Policy, which was a basic attempt on the part and behalf of the new state of America, which was completed in order to reconcile with Great Britain. As well one of the most comprehensive and significant treaty of the century was concluded in Washington on May 8, 1871, and it was one which "resolved antebellum and wartime disputes. Meanwhile, American patience about the French military occupation of Mexico City to protect the puppet ruler Napoleon III's 'grand design' to modernize backward notions. His design was more fraudulent to spread his imperial power, which he was then unable to in Europe or elsewhere such as in the Middle East" (Wikipedia, 2007). Starting in the year 1866, French troops began to be withdrawn from Mexico, and with the end of the British military persuasion after 1815, the U.S. became truly unchallenged in its home territory. During the time of the Cold War, the United States foreign policy worked and fought to limit the influence of the Soviet Union around the world. This resulted in leading to the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the overthrow of the Iranian government, and as well to certain diplomatic actions such as the opening of China and establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. There have been many critics that have responded to the methods of the American foreign policy situation, and most critics in this regards tend to state that "the goals commonly regarded as noble were often overstated and point out what they see as contradictions between foreign policy rhetoric and actions" (Boyer, Clark & Kett, 2002). When it comes to actually determining whether it was democracy or capitalism which more greatly defined American foreign policy overall, there are many issues that need to be taken into consideration here. The United States is considered as being a very dynamic country, and it was the European settlers who came to the region, which was already populated, and one of the very first tasks of these settlers was to establish what could properly be called a foreign policy. "Almost from the beginning, however, that foreign policy was one of imperialism and eventually eradication of the native population. That foreign policy came to be known in the United States as 'Manifest Destiny', and the original formulation of the doctrine tended to view North America as the ultimate boundaries of the new country. Thus, both democracy and capitalism played a role in the overall defining of American foreign policy, however it was democracy which absolutely played a greater role, and we can see this best by looking at the issue of the Cold War, particularly that of the post-Cold War era, which is the period of time in which the United States truly emerged as a world power. There was a challenge to representative democracy which took place at this point, which resulted in leading to World War II, and then following this, Britain's subsequent exhaustion ended up "leaving a vacuum in Central Europe which could only be filled by either the United States or the Soviet Union. The United States assured the continuation of the representative democracy by occupying and re-writing the constitutions of Germany and Japan. But the defense of market capitalism became an open question, which urgently seized the attention of the United States" (Boyer, Clark & Kett, 2002). Thus, this was the first time that the United States ever truly decided to be actively involved and engaged in world affairs, and this was a dramatically and significantly different response than it had had in the past, particularly in the year 1918 when it decided to revert to its more characteristic isolation. It is also important to make note of several different points in particular here, such as the fact of how the United States made two specific decisions which were related but at the same time quite distinguishable. The first was one which was made by Franklin Roosevelt in the year 1941, and this was that "the US would not repeat its mistake of 1918as wellIn the Atlantic Charter, the US announced that it would take on the role of a world power, albeit in combination with the British. This decision was formally institutionalized in 1944. The US staked its political claim to great power status by its support for the Bretton Woods institutions: the IMF, the World Bank, and the GATT. The American vision for the world after World War II was clear: it was to be a world safe for representative democracy and capitalism" (Tocqueville, 2001). The driving forces in American foreign policy both are and are not like those of other nations, as they include the same basic emphasis on national self-interest, as well as the same intrusion of the larger culture, the same distortions, and yet each and every one of these forces, or factors, also has a peculiarly American character. Bibliography Boyer, P., Clark, C. E. Jr. & Kett, J. F (2002). Enduring Vision: A History of the American People Volume 2: From 1865. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. Tocqueville, A (2001). Democracy in America. New York: Signet Classics. Wikipedia (2007). Democracy, online article retrieved April 23, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy Read More