Different Interpretations of US National Interests Flashcards
Joesph Nye quotes
- “Obama placed much more emphasis on allies and institutions and multilateralism”
- “Trump is much more of a unilateralist”
- “Defines ‘America First’ very narrowly as American interests not much the interest of others”
- “Obama was a believer in American exceptionalism, but believed you could accomplish that with other countries and with the international institutions”
National Interests
The national interests of a state are pursued to ensure the survival and potential growth of that state. States implement policies and types of power to achieve their national interests and maintain state sovereignty
Realism
involves states (and other global actors) prioritizing their specific interest and needs over those of the global community
Internationalism
- Internationalism is a political principle which advocates a greater political or economic cooperation among nations and peoples,[1] and whose ideological roots can be traced to both socialism and liberalism.
- Supporters of this principle are referred to as internationalists, and generally believe that the people of the world should unite across national, political, cultural, racial, or class boundaries to advance their common interests, or that the governments of the world should cooperate because their mutual long-term interests are of greater importance than their short-term disputes.
- Internationalism is, in general, opposed to nationalism, jingoism or chauvinism, and war,[2] and proponents can include supporters of any of the four socialist Internationals and organizations such as the United Nations or the World Federalist Movement
Liberal Internationalism
A set of related concepts on how to best organize international relations between states and non-state actors that emphasizes a belief in international progress, interdependence, cooperation, diplomacy, multilateralism, and support for international political structures and organizations
Republican vs Democrat differences of NI: GLOBAL WARMING
- The 2017 NSS makes no mention of global warming as a national security threat; Obama’s 2015 NSS emphasized it as a “top strategic risk.”
- Instead of calling for U.S. leadership to fight global warming, Trump’s NSS says, “U.S. leadership is indispensable to countering an anti-growth energy agenda that is detrimental to U.S. economic and energy security interests.” This is the rationale for Trump pulling out of the Paris climate accords
Republican vs Democrat differences of NI: TRADE
- The 2017 NSS makes no pledge to expand free trade as opposed to Obama’s 2015 NSS, which pledged to “advance high-standard trade deals.”
- The discussion of trade in Trump’s NSS is wholly negative, with its authors complaining that other countries have “exploited the international institutions we helped to build.” It continues: “They subsidized their industries, forced technology transfers, and distorted markets. These and other actions challenged America’s economic security.”
- Although the Trump NSS does make a tenuous commitment, deep in the document, to “pursue bilateral trade and investment agreements with countries that commit to fair and reciprocal trade,” its main thrust is to “counter unfair trade practices” through retaliatory mechanisms
Republican vs Democrat differences of NI: US AS THE PROMOTER AND DEFENDER OF DEMOCRACY
- The 2017 NSS makes no mention of democracy promotion, unlike Obama’s 2015 version, which stated up front that “defending democracy and human rights is related to every enduring national interest,” this one relegates language about “American values” (which could actually be seen as universal values) to a small subsection near the end.
- It suggests that the United States will promote those values by example rather than by action: “America’s commitment to liberty, democracy, and the rule of law serves as an inspiration for those living under tyranny,” the NSS says, while making clear that “we are not going to impose our values on others.”
Republican vs Democrat differences of NI: INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
- This NSS places scant importance on international cooperation. Instead, it emphasizes protecting “American sovereignty” from supposed threats. As the introduction states, “We will pursue this beautiful vision—a world of strong, sovereign, and independent nations, each with its own cultures and dreams, thriving side-by-side in prosperity, freedom, and peace—throughout the upcoming year.”
- It is a very different vision from the one propounded in Obama’s 2015 NSS, which pledged “a rules-based international order advanced by U.S. leadership that promotes peace, security, and opportunity through stronger cooperation to meet global challenges.”
- Trump favours competition, not cooperation, and the NSS reflects that preference
KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE OBAMA AND TRUMP ADMINISTRATIONS: NATIONAL SECURITY
1. GLOBAL WARMING: 2017 NSS makes no mention of global warming as a national security threat; Obama’s 2015 NSS emphasized it as a “top strategic risk.” – Paris climate accords is detrimental to US energy security interests
- Trump foreign policy strives to advance American interests above all else – the Trump doctrine emphasizes, even idealizes, American “sovereignty,” based around a narrow conception of U.S. economic and security interests. This results in a more obviously transactional foreign policy, with the president pursuing those interests with little regard for international norms or institutions
2. BORDER SECURITY: Trump pledging to bring to an end the era in which “our politicians seem more interested in defending the borders of foreign countries than their own,”
- illegal immigration was reduced by 38 percent from November 2016 to November 2017
3. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (IS/NS/RR)
- 2017 NSS emphasizes protecting “American sovereignty” from supposed threats - Trump favours competition, not cooperation - unilateralist approach to protecting NI
- emboldened America’s adversaries and squandered US leverage to contend with national security challenges from North Korea, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan … ill-advised trade war against China
- It is a very different vision from the one propounded in Obama’s 2015 NSS, which pledged “a rules-based international order advanced by U.S. leadership that promotes peace, security, and opportunity through stronger cooperation to meet global challenges.”
- Whereas Obama advocated for a model of cooperation and integration - Obama focused on overcoming the various challenges—poverty, economic dislocation, bigotry, extremism—that impede global “integration”
KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE OBAMA AND TRUMP ADMINISTRATIONS: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
1. GLOBAL WARMING: Instead of calling for U.S. leadership to fight global warming, Trump’s NSS says, “U.S. leadership is indispensable to countering an anti-growth energy agenda that is detrimental to U.S. economic and energy security interests.” This is the rationale for Trump pulling out of the Paris climate accords
2. THE ECONOMY: rebalance the United States’ trade accounts with the rest of the world - correct systematic and excessive trade imbalances with wealthy East Asia and Europe, while protecting industries vital to U.S. national security
- He is an economic nationalist at heart. For example, The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) each receives prominent attention in the NSS
- Outcome of “America First policy” On the domestic front, the unemployment rate fell to 3.8% in May, a level not seen since the heady days of the dot-com boom – with unemployment at an all-time low among African Americans
- Trump believes that political factors should determine economic relations, that globalization does not foster harmony among states, and that economic interdependence increases national vulnerability = ISOLATIONIST PERSPECTIVE
- OBAMA: focus on promoting global trade and investment by threatening and imposing tariffs and other protectionist measures = attempts to elevate trade diplomacy. emphasised the need for economic cooperation, by protecting and advancing other state’s economies. He is an economic nationalist at heart
3. TRADE: OBAMA = MULTILATERAL TRADE, TRUMP = BILATERAL TRADE
- The 2017 NSS makes no pledge to expand free trade as opposed to Obama’s 2015 NSS, which pledged to “advance high-standard trade deals.”
- Trump complains other countries have “exploited the international institutions we helped to build.” - challenges economic security - “pursue bilateral trade and investment agreements with countries that commit to fair and reciprocal trade,”
- T.administration has withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trump has also threatened to end the North American Free Trade Agreement and instead strike separate bilateral agreements with Canada and Mexico, which he contends are easier to enforce than multilateral arrangements
KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE OBAMA AND TRUMP ADMINISTRATIONS: REGIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
- Trump rejects many of the core tenets of the liberal international order, advocated especially under Obama
- While Obama has an idealist perspective on foreign policy based on multilateral solutions to growing global issues, Trump questions international cooperation, reduced funding for the UN, denounced NATO, threatened to end multilateral trade agreements
- Trump = transactional approach to foreign relations is realist and pragmatic in nature – it marks a United States less interested in managing its long-term relationships than in making gains on short-term deals. Trump has sent the message that the United States will now look after its own interests, narrowly defined, not the interests of the so-called global community, even at the expense of long-standing allies
1. IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL: Obama’s interests in hoping for less conflict in the middle east resulted in the initiative to create an Iran Nuclear deal – which highlights foreign policy idealism
- The Iran Nuclear deal was dismantled by President Trump on the pretence that it was founded and misplaced premises and fails to benefit US interests = a realist pragmatic approach to foreign policy
2. US AS THE PROMOTER AND DEFENDER OF GLOBAL DEMOCRACY (IS/RR): The 2017 NSS - no mention of democracy promotion, Obama’s 2015 NSS - “defending democracy and human rights is related to every enduring national interest,”
3. NO MORE MULTIATERALISM: Trump’s foreign policy indicates that the United States should work with its international partners on a bilateral basis whenever possible, rather than through multilateral arrangements and commitments. Along these lines, the administration has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal (THAT OBAMA FORGED WITH IRAN IN 2015), the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Paris agreement on climate change. Trump has also threatened to end the North American Free Trade Agreement and instead strike separate bilateral agreements with Canada and Mexico, which he contends are easier to enforce than multilateral arrangements
4. NO MORE FREE RIDING:
- Trump’s foreign policy: insits U.S. allies pay their fair share of the costs of their defence.
- NATO itself concedes that the United States accounts for 73 percent of the alliance’s defence spending—a rather large amount for an organization with 29 member states and that is focused on European security.
- His list of partners not pulling their weight included the United Kingdom, and he warned that the country would no longer be able to claim a “special relationship” with the United States unless it spent at least two percent of its GDP on defence.
KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE OBAMA AND TRUMP ADMINISTRATIONS: INTERNATIONAL STANDING
1. GLOBAL WARMING:
- Instead of calling for U.S. leadership to fight global warming, Trump’s NSS says, “U.S. leadership is indispensable to countering an anti-growth energy agenda that is detrimental to U.S. economic and energy security interests.” This is the rationale for Trump pulling out of the Paris climate accords
2. US AS THE PROMOTER AND DEFENDER OF GLOBAL DEMOCRACY (IS/RR)
- The 2017 NSS makes no mention of democracy promotion, unlike Obama’s 2015 version, which stated upfront that “defending democracy and human rights is related to every enduring national interest,” this one relegates language about “American values” (which could actually be seen as universal values) to a small subsection near the end.
- It suggests that the United States will promote those values by example rather than by action
2. NO MORE MULTIATERALISM: At the UN, it Trump proposed reducing U.S. contributions to the organization by 40%, forced the General Assembly to cut $600 million from the peacekeeping budget, announced its intention to withdraw from UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Council, and abandoned talks on migration
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN TRUMP AND OBAMA FOREIGN POLICY:
1. GEOPOLITICS: international relations as influenced by geographical factors
- Obama’s “Asia pivot,” for example, called for beefing up the U.S. diplomatic and military presence in the region to manage Beijing’s newfound strength
- China’s rise reinforces some of Trump’s instincts, for example, his willingness to engage in a trade war.
- the arrival of a new great power adversary also overwhelms other Trump preferences: Despite the president’s skepticism about foreign aid, in 2018, he signed into law the BUILD Act, bipartisan legislation that created a new foreign aid agency with $60 billion in funding to encourage U.S. investment in developing nations
2. STABILITY AND PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
