Competency 3.5 - analyze the guiding concepts, principles, and effects of US foreign policy

Question 1

isolationism

Answer 1

one of the earliest guiding concepts and principles of US foreign policy, this principle basically states that nations seek to avoid alliances and communication with other nations, whether it be for economic, political, or social reasons

Question 2

non-interventionism

Answer 2

a diplomatic policy whereby a nation seeks to avoid military/political alliances with other nations to avoid bring drawn into unnecessary war

Question 3

monroe doctrine

Answer 3

passed in 1823, states that the United States would not interfere in European affairs and it would oppose any European attempts to colonize the Americas, further emphasizing the desire to avoid involvement in foreign affairs that Washington and other founding fathers warned against

Question 4

trade reciprocity

Answer 4

states that the United States would treat foreign countries the same way that it was treated

Question 5

manifest destiny

Answer 5

sought to settle the continent coast to coast, arguing that the United States had a divine obligation to civilize the continent and control its riches

Question 6

hegemony

Answer 6

political dominance

Question 7

open door policy

Answer 7

allowed all nations equal trading access in china

Question 8

roosevelt corollary

Answer 8

passed in 1904 as a response to the monroe doctrine, this stated that the United States would intervene in the domestic affairs of any weak or negligent state in the carribean or central america to keep them free of outside forces that might seek to take them over

Question 9

fourteen points

Answer 9

drafted by president Wilson, these policies were designed to act as a basis for major post-war settlement

Question 10

league of nations

Answer 10

advocated by president Wilson, this group would assist in resolving all future conflicts before they caused another war; ironically, congress refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, which had provided for its creation

Question 11

wilsonianism

Answer 11

the idea of spreading democracy and peace under American auspices

Question 12

kellogg-briand pact

Answer 12

wilsonianism effort designed to ouright ban war passed in 1928

Question 13

four freedoms

Answer 13

according to president F. Roosevelt in 1941, these are the freedoms of speech and religion, and freedoms from want and fear

Question 14

lend-lease act

Answer 14

allowed the United States to assist countries whose defense was seen as vital to the US by lending or leasing them war supplies, materials, and equipment

Question 15

united nations

Answer 15

created by FDR and the allied powers during world war II to guarantee the security of member nations and promote economic prosperity around the globe

Question 16

containment policy

Answer 16

coined by state department staffer George Kennan, this premise states that the United States must apply counterforce to any aggressive moves by the societ union; implemented in the truman doctrine

Question 17

truman doctrine

Answer 17

an attempt by the United States to cradt its foreign affairs around the idea to resist communism and oppose the societ union

Question 18

iron curtain

Answer 18

political, military, and ideological barrier that separated the soviet union and its dependent eastern and central European allies from contact with the west and non-communist areas

Question 19

marshall plan

Answer 19

a Truman initiative to pump billions of dollars into western europe to help rebuild it and its economies to make it strong enough to prevent communistic takeover

Question 20

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Answer 20

foreign military and political alliance; the first time the US joined an alliance unprovoked by war

Question 21

domino theory

Answer 21

belief that if one region came under communist influence, the surrounding nations would follow suit

Question 22

cuban missile crisis

Answer 22

confrontation in 1962 between US and USSR due to USSR attempting to store nuclear weapons in Cuba, a mere 90 miles from US soil

Question 23

gulf of tonkin resolution

Answer 23

passed in 1964, provided president L. Johnson with broad legal authority to combat north veitnamese aggression, increasing troop numbers from 75k to 125k

Question 24

détente

Answer 24

an easing of tensions between the United States and Societ Union

Question 25

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I)

Answer 25

passed in 1972 as part of détente, this agreement between US and USSR limited nuclear weapons

Question 26

helsinki accords

Answer 26

a meeting with the heads of many major governments in 1975 that left Europe and Russia at a standstill due to the geographical location

Question 27

carter doctrine

Answer 27

states the persian gulf is an area of vital US interest and that the US would fight to maintain its interests there

Question 28

glasnost

Answer 28

policy that implemented a more open and vocal government in the USSR by Mikhail Gorbachev

Question 29

perestroika

Answer 29

policy that implemented economic restructuring in the USSR by Mikhail Gorbachev

Question 30

dayton accords

Answer 30

an attempted (and failed) settlement between Serbs and Albanians, leading to the first NATO-issued attack on Serbia

Question 31

war on terrorism

Answer 31

president Bush’s response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, this declaration of war was not on any specific country or place, but on any country giving any assitance to large, international terrorist organizations

Question 32

bush doctrine

Answer 32

the policies of the US began to change from reactive strategies of containment and deterrance to a more proactive policy of preemptive military action due to this document

Question 33

obama doctrine

Answer 33

emphasized negotiation and collaboration over confrontation ans unilateralism

Question 34

foreign policy

Answer 34

involved the objectives nations seek to gain with reference to other nations, and the procedures they employ in order to achieve their objectives

Question 35

actors

Answer 35

primary players of foreign policy, such as nations, world organizations, and non-state ethnic entities

Question 36

unitary/rational actor model

Answer 36

assumes that all nations or primary players share similar goals and approach foreign policy issues in like fashion

Question 37

bureaucratic model

Answer 37

assumes that, due to the many large organizations involved in formulating foreign policy, particularly in powerful nation-states, final decisions are the result of struggle among the bureaucratic actors

Question 38

diplomacy

Answer 38

involves communicating with other primary players through official representatives, and can include participation in conferences, summit meetings, and exchange of official communications; an indispensable tool in the successful conduct of an entity’s foreign policy

Question 39

Peace of Westphalia (1648)

Answer 39

generally recognized as the conclusion of Europe’s thirty years war and ended the authority of the Roman Catholic popes to exert their political dominance over secular leaders and gave birth to the concept of the modern nation-state

Question 40

golden age of diplomacy

Answer 40

nickname given to eighteenth century europe as this era was relatively stable, and moderation/shared cultural values on the part of the decision-makers were the rule

Question 41

nation-states

Answer 41

legal entities occupying well-defined geographic areas and organized under a common set of government institutions

Question 42

non-state actors / principal players

Answer 42

movements or parties that function as independent states; although lacking sovereignty, these groups could weild more power than some less-developed nation-states

Question 43

non-territorial transnational organizations

Answer 43

institutes such as the carholic church that conduct activities throughout the world but whose aims are largely nonpolitical, even though they are highly influential

Question 44

intergovernmental organization

Answer 44

groups such as the United Nations and NATO made up of nation-states that can wield significant power on the international scene

Question 45

new world order

Answer 45

concept that involves alliances that transcend the old bipolr scheme with its emphasis on ideology military superiority and calls for multinational cooperation (as seen in the persian gulf war)

Question 46

hierarchical system

Answer 46

government where one unit dominates, like the Holy Roman Empire

Question 47

diffuse system

Answer 47

government where power and influence are distributed among a large number of units, such as the case with most of 18th century Europe

Question 48

sovereignty

Answer 48

supreme power or authority; jurisdiction

Question 49

Hugo Grotius

Answer 49

dutch scholar and statesman that codified the laws of war and peace, and has been called the “father of international law”

Question 50

international court of justice

Answer 50

original judicial arm of the United Nations

Question 51

permanent court of international justice

Answer 51

modern judicial arm of the United Nations; represents concerted efforts to to replace armed conflict with the rule of law; proven to be very ineffective

Question 52

mutual self-advantage

Answer 52

a way of ensuring effective enforcment of international law where complaince comes from attempting to (slightly) satusfy each party

Question 53

fear of reprisal

Answer 53

a way of ensuring effective enforcment of international law where complaince comes from a fear of losing peace and quiet