Russia: facing west or east

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jude Woodward
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
East Asia ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
The West ◽  
Uncertain Outcome ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
The Us ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Post War

This chapter reviews US-China-Russia relations in the post-war period, and considers how recent developments affect prospects for the US ‘pivot’. It explains why those driving US foreign policy towards China see the confrontation with Russia in Ukraine as a dangerous and diversionary adventure, leading to Sino-Russian convergence, distracting US attention from East Asia and undermining confidence among the US’s Asian allies of its commitment to the region. It is argued that if the US is to maintain primacy in the 21st century, it must subordinate other foreign policy goals to the paramount objective of containing China’s rise. The US’s failure to do this, instead pitting itself against both Putin in the West and China in the East, means it has driven Russia and China together, quite possibly sacrificing its vital need to contain China for a lesser goal of uncertain outcome in Ukraine.

Sociological theory and US foreign policy in the 21st century

2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-144
Author(s):  
Timothy M Gill
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Michael Mann ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Future Work

In recent decades, several sociologists have moved beyond grand theories of international relations, and empirically examined the motivations of US foreign policy leading into the 21st century. This article discusses the work of three political sociologists who have examined US foreign policy from three prominent perspectives: Michael Mann, William Robinson, and Julian Go. Working from a neo-Weberian perspective, Mann highlights the rise of neoconservatism within the US government that has encouraged foreign expansion. From a neo-Marxist perspective, Robinson emphasizes the importance of transnational capitalist class interests, including the promotion of neoliberal policies, on US foreign policy. And working from a world-systems perspective, Go underscores how the US is a hegemon in decline attempting to regain its imperial footing through military aggression. While these researchers cover much ground and raise important questions, their perspectives also contain several blindspots that future work on issues of US foreign policy could address. Most importantly, these three theoretical perspectives have neglected the importance of ideology in making sense of contemporary US foreign policy, and this article argues that future work should more intensively examine how ideology influences foreign policymaking in the US.

The Iraq Syndrome Revisited

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hastings Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
President Obama ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Vietnam Syndrome ◽  
Post War ◽  
Syndrome Analysis

Commencing from an observation by Freedman that Donald Rumsfeld’s legacy as US Secretary for Defense was comparable with that of Robert McNamara, and that where the latter begat the ‘Vietnam syndrome’ , the former would leave behind the ‘Iraq syndrome’. Analysis of discourse under President Obama reveals that the effects of Iraq are more profound than Freedman indicated. In the Obama era the use of force itself was ever more in doubt. In limiting US commitment to fighting for core interests and formal allies, the Obama administration broke with the main post-war tradition of US foreign policy. This made the use or threat of force more difficult, as the appetite for risk was blunted by its experience in Iraq. Obama’s position was unhelpful in embracing the implications of the limitations of American power. US ‘risk aversion’ risked failing both the US and the world.

scholarly journals Hegemonía no liberal

Norteamérica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Luis Valdés-Ugalde
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
World Peace ◽  
The West ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Liberal Internationalism ◽  
The Us ◽  
Utmost Care

Liberal internationalism had historically been the juncture from which the U.S. defined its international policy. It is a space in which multilateralism and international institutions, such as the U.N. –created by Washington and its allies in the second postwar period—, intended to achieve economic, political and social arrangements that give certainty and balance to global governance, while also limiting the threats to world peace that the actions of the Soviet bloc posed for the West. My argument here is that during the presidency of Trump this tacit agreement was outdone and the US foreign policy lost its way. Not only because of the turmoil caused by his wrecked and provocative narrative among both allies and opponents, but also because he deranged the chessboard pieces that the US had traditionally played in foreign policy, including the diplomatic advances that Obama, for good or ill, had achieved in Middle East, Cuba, Europe and Asia. In relation to the domestic democratic crisis surrounding his anomalous election, it is also argued that Trump takes away from the principle of hegemony –formerly preserved with utmost care by Washington— its "liberal" character.

scholarly journals INFLUENCE OF POWER NARRATIVES ON THE FORMATION OF THE US FOREIGN POLICY IDENTITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (43) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Iu. Tsyrfa
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The Us ◽  
Social Components

Since today the constructivist study of international relations puts the social components of their formation in the foreground, the foreign policy identity of a state becomes primary thing in determining its national interests and its foreign policy course. Accordingly, the goal of this article is to determine the complex influence of power narratives on the formation of the US foreign policy identity in the 21st century in the context of transformation of the domestic political matrix and redistribution of the influence between various political forces in this country. To achieve this goal, the author used the following research methods: the system analysis method, while determining the theoretical and methodological foundations for studying the phenomenon of foreign policy identity; the method of analogies and comparisons, while considering the power and political organization and institutionalization of the spatial structure of government in the United States; the method of comprehensive analysis, while establishing the main indicators of effectiveness of the influence of power narratives on the formation of the US foreign policy identity; the method of factor analysis, while substantiating the need to use individual approaches in building power narratives of the American politicians. As a result, the author determined that the US authorities form their narratives using an exclusive approach to the construction of collective identity of the society. However, such an algorithm is quite successful while forming stable foreign policy identity of the US.Key words: foreign policy identity, USA, power, narrative, G. Bush, B. Obama, War on Terror.

Regime Type, Post-Materialism, and International Public Opinion about US Foreign Policy: The Afghan and Iraqi Wars

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-39
Author(s):  
BENJAMIN E. GOLDSMITH
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
Security Cooperation ◽  
Muslim Population ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Several Variables ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Relationship

Previous research (e.g., Horiuchi, Goldsmith, and Inoguchi, 2005) has shown some intriguing patterns of effects of several variables on international public opinion about US foreign policy. But results for the theoretically appealing effects of regime type and post-materialist values have been weak or inconsistent. This paper takes a closer look at the relationship between these two variables and international public opinion about US foreign policy. In particular, international reaction to the wars in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) are examined using two major multinational surveys. The conclusions of previous research are largely reinforced: neither regime type nor post-materialist values appears to robustly influence global opinion on these events. Rather, some central interests, including levels of trade with the US and NATO membership, and key socialized factors, including a Muslim population, experience with terrorism, and the exceptional experiences of two states (Israel, Albania) emerge as the most important factors in the models. There is also a consistent backlash effect of security cooperation with the US outside of NATO. A discussion of these preliminary results points to their theoretical implications and their significance for further investigation into the transnational dynamics of public opinion and foreign policy.

The Influence of Personal Factor on US Foreign Policy (Secretary of State John Kerry)

2014 ◽  
pp. 72-83
Author(s):  
A. Borisova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Leader ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Secretary Of State ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa

The last five years defined an alternative course in the US foreign policy. Obama's reelection caused staff transfers which notably influenced the course. This comprehensive process is based on tremendous work conducted by the Administration of Barak Obama, in particular by John Kerry, who was appointed as a Secretary of State in 2013. His personality plays a significant role in American domestic and foreign policy interrelation. Adoption or rejection of the bills, which are well-known today, depended in large on a range of circumstances, such as personality, life journey and political leader career of the today's Secretary of State. John Kerry’s professional life is mainly associated with domestic policy; nevertheless, he has always been interested in foreign relations and national security issues. Those concerns generally included: non-proliferation, US security, ecological problems, fight against terrorism. The article is intended to highlight Kerry’s efforts in each of these fields, showing not only his actions, but also difficult process of adoption or banning bills in the USA. The author tried to display the whole complicated decision-making process among different parties, businessmen and politicians, law and money clashes. The results of many former endeavors can be seen today, in the modern US policy. Based on assumptions about Secretary of State’s beliefs, certain road map can be predicted. In conclusion, the article offers several courses, where the United States are likely to be most active during the next few years. It can be judged exactly which way some current political issues will develop, how the US foreign policy will be shaped by today's decision-makers in the White House.

scholarly journals The Sino-Russian Relationship: Fellow Travellers in the West-dominated World

2018 ◽  
Vol 236 ◽  
pp. 1197-1205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Kaczmarski
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Grand Strategy ◽  
The West ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Dividing Line

A decade ago, Beijing's relations with Moscow were of marginal interest to China scholars. Topics such as growing Sino-American interdependence-cum-rivalry, engagement with East Asia or relations with the developing world overshadowed China's relationship with its northern neighbour. Scholars preoccupied with Russia's foreign policy did not pay much attention either, regarding the Kremlin's policy towards China as part and parcel of Russia's grand strategy directed towards the West. The main dividing line among those few who took a closer look ran between sceptics and alarmists. The former interpreted the post-Cold War rapprochement as superficial and envisioned an imminent clash of interests between the two states. The latter, a minority, saw the prospect of an anti-Western alliance.

scholarly journals Public Diplomacy as an Instrument for Obtaining Foreign Policy Goals of the USA in Central Asia

2018 ◽  
pp. 32-39
Author(s):  
B. Bahriev
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Regional Environment ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The Usa

The article deals with the features of public diplomacy resource’ application in US foreign policy in Central Asia. The author claims that American public diplomacy which has been actively working in the region since the collapse of the USSR appears to be an important instrument of achievement of not only regional, but also global objectives of the USA. Despite a certain de-emphasis on the Central Asian direction in the American foreign policy at the present stage, the rising Russian public diplomacy activity and increasing Chinese influence in the region forces Americans to look for public diplomacy response in order to secure their positions in this important, from geopolitical viewpoint and energy resource perspective, region. The aforementioned tendencies shape a competitive regional environment for implementation of public diplomacy.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document