Culture and American Foreign Policy - Essay Example

CULTURE AND AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY Culture and American foreign policy I believe that cultural factors help explain America’s interaction with the outside world. To substantiate on this answer, one needs to look at U.S interventions in numerous global conflicts. The focal point is always the expansion of the ideals of freedom and democracy. Freedom is part and parcel of U.S culture. America is a migrant society where every citizen has the right to do anything they want, provided they do not infringe on the rights of others.

For instance, America is one of the few societies where citizens are constitutionally allowed to own guns for personal and property protection (Hart, 2013). It is this same projection and protection of freedom that manifests in American foreign policy. A good example of this is the Middle East where the U.S is involved in multiple wars. While there are other factors contributing to these conflicts, the primary reason is the liberation of Middle Eastern people from tyrannical governments, in line with the American culture of liberty for all.

Another example is in the Far East. As part of American foreign policy, the United States maintains permanent military basis in both Japan and South Korea (Hart, 2013). It does this as a protection to both countries from North Korea and China. What is the common difference between China/North Korea and Korea/Japan? The answer is a culture of liberty. China and North Korea are against a culture of personal liberties and hence, are a threat to South Korea and Japan. These scenarios replicate across the world where the United States has a strong show of might in enforcing its foreign policy.

On this basis, it is safe to argue that, cultural factors help explain America’s interaction with the outside world. To test this assertion empirically, one can use quantitative techniques to analyze secondary data on U.S foreign interventions and their relation to the culture of liberty. References Hart, J. (2013). Empire of ideas: The origins of public diplomacy and the transformation of U.S. foreign policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.