Section 6.4: Foreign Policy Overview

Unit 6: The Executive Branch At Work

EQ: What is the executive branch and how does it function in the

American system of government?

Section 6.4: Foreign Policy Overview

How does the President handle foreign

policy?

Vocabulary

● Foreign Policy
● Isolationism
● Monroe Doctrine
● Collective Security
● Deterrence
● Detente

Open Ended

How would you define foreign policy?

What is foreign

policy?

Foreign Policy: everything a nation’s government says and does in world affairs

What is all involved in

American foreign policy?

Open Ended

What are two elements from the previous slide that are a part of foreign policy?

In the Beginning

●Isolationism: purposeful refusal to become involved in the affairs of the rest of the
world

should desire as little political connection as possible

●Doesn’t require complete separation
○Treaties and foreign trade

●Monroe Doctrine: stated an attempt of
European influence in Western Hemisphere
was a threat to peace and safety with the
U.S.

Preach!

World War I

●Forced U.S. out of isolationism
○Use of U-boats attacking ships in North Atlantic

○Joined to “make the world safe for democracy”

World War II - Cold War

●Isolationism officially ended
○“Arsenal of democracy”
■Supplied majority of
weapons and materials
needed to win WWII

○World military power

●Collective Security: working
together to keep international peace
and order
○Creation of the United Nations

●Foreign policy became about
relationship between superpowers

Use of Deterrence

●Deterrence: strategy of maintaining strong
military to discourage or prevent an attack by a hostile power
○Used after WWII and during tension with
Soviet Union

The Cold War

Containment: United States
policy of trying to prevent
Communism from spreading
past the U.S.S.R.

Multiple Choice

In which area of the world was the U.S. most concerned with the spread of communism?

• Western Europe

• Southeast Asia

• Southern Africa

• South America

●Proxy Wars in the Cold War
○U.S. and Soviet Union fought
using other countries as
battlefields

○Korea: divided N. & S.

○Vietnam: Communist

Policy of Detente

●Detente: policy of purposefully
attempting to improve relations
with the Soviet Union and China
○Mostly successful in China
When U.S. recognized the
People’s Republic of China

○Not so much in Soviet Union

●Cold War Ends
○Reagan and Gorbachev finally able to ease long standing tensions

Recent Foreign Policy

The Middle East

●Policy torn in two directions:
○Supporting Israel

○Importance of Arab oil

●U.S. recognized Israel as a
country as soon as the United Nations did

●U.S. worked with U.N. to get
countries to form peace
agreements

●Middle East is known for civil
wars and overthrowing
dictatorships with new ones

Afghanistan & Iraq

●Afghanistan
○Soviet invasion led to era of civil war

○Rise of Taliban & Osama bin Laden

○Policy changed to destroy Taliban in
Afghanistan

●Iraq
○Iraq leader Saddam Hussein agreed to
destroy chemical and biological weapons

○U.S. & U.N. did not believe it was true

○Second Gulf War
■Iraq conquered

■Saddam Hussein’s caught, tried,
executed

Open Ended

Do you think the United States should have been ivolved in Israel, Afghanistan, and Iraq in recent history? Why or why not?