The Constitution
Foreign Policy
For almost half a century, the main objective of American foreign policy has been to counter the threat from the Soviet Union. While national security questions and relations with Russia remain high on the foreign policy agenda, new questions have come to the fore. Increasing global interdependence in economic development, communications, and the environment is blurring the distinction between domestic and foreign policy.
National security issues
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the pace of nuclear disarmament quickened. American and Russian nuclear missiles are no longer targeted at each other, and the United States has worked with the newly independent countries of Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan to dismantle the nuclear arsenals on their territory. Nuclear proliferation and the danger of terrorist groups or renegade states, such as Iraq, Iran, and Libya, using weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, biological, and chemical) remain major foreign policy concerns.
The concept of a “new world order” suggested that the United States would act through coalitions rather than assume the role of the world's policeman. While coalitions worked during and immediately after the Persian Gulf War, they proved less successful in Bosnia and Somalia. Indeed, it was an American initiative that brought about the tentative settlement in Bosnia through the Dayton Accords, and the United States is a critical go-between in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Throughout the Cold War, the United States relied on NATO to check Soviet expansion in Europe. With that danger removed, a reevaluation of the role of this military alliance is taking place. One development is the interest of the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in becoming members of NATO.
International economic policy
As shown in the last chapter, decisions made about international economic policy have a direct domestic impact. Economic policy is also used as a tool in foreign policy. American companies are prohibited from doing business with countries that are identified as sponsors of terrorism. Working through the UN, the United States has tried to make sure that Iraq cannot sell its oil on the world market to rebuild its military strength. Economic boycotts and sanctions are employed to force other nations to alter their policy or to bring about changes in human rights.
Environmental issues
The environment is a comparatively new issue in foreign policy. The discovery of a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica and evidence of global warming demonstrate that environmental change has a global impact and requires international action. Through international agreements, progress has been made in reducing the production of chemicals that destroy ozone. Global warming, which many scientists believe has already begun and is traceable to the burning of fossil fuels, is a more difficult problem. Strong action here would not only affect industrialized countries but would impose severe hardships on the developing countries that do not have the resources to shift to other energy sources. A related issue that was raised at the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) is biodiversity decline, that is, the rapidly falling number of plant and animal species in the world. The United States did not support the biodiversity treaty that came out of the conference.
