Future Involvement In Foreign Affairs Essay, Research Paper
Since the United States is one of the last remaining super powers
of the world, we
have the obligation to maintain and support good relations with the
smaller and weaker
nations throughout the world. We should take full advantage of this
authority in several
different ways. First the U.S. must focus on investing and trading with
those nations who
have yet to become economic powers; second, we must implement a consistent
foreign
policy towards the Middle Eastern nations: third, the United States needs
to respect the
attempts and results of the democratization and religious revivals in the
Middle East and
Latin America, while taking a passive role in letting the a Western type
of democracy take
its course: and forth, the U.S. must ease and downplay its conflict with
those civilizations
who dislike the “Western people” and their way of life.
Obviously, foreign investment is necessary for the future of
developing other
nations as well as our own. There must be an emphasis on foreign
investment and trade,
otherwise the third world nations will continue to fall behind
economically, technologically,
and domestically, which could lead to an economic downfall for the U.S. as
well. The
question then arises as to what the United States must do in order to have
large trade
agreements with other countries other than Japan and Mexico. In order for
the U.S. to
play a more active role in the economic and political development of many
of these
developing nations, it must first accept a different philosophy than its
current one. First, it
is imperative for the United States to play a similar role in Latin
America to the one Japan
has played with many of the developing nations in East Asia. The U.S.
neighbors Latin
America, and if it wants to play the role of big brother, it must accept
the responsibility.
Japan has invested, traded, and been a guide for many of it’s neighboring
countries in East
Asia, making them grow politically and economically while also profiting
economically
itself (Japan Remains 1996). The U.S. must realize that the economies of
Latin American
Nations will play an important part in the future of our own economy, and
that it must
begin to lead, invest, and aid not just Mexico, but countries such as
Peru, Argentina,
Bolivia, and Columbia into the twenty first century. The mainstay in
American foreign
policy has always been to promote and instill democracy. However, in
order to do this in a
foreign nation, the U.S. must be able to first establish a viable economic
relationship and
system within the desired nations. We should not expect or want a nation
to switch from a
total authoritarian government to a market economy; doing so would be a
disaster. The
former Soviet Union is a notable example of this philosophy. Instead,
the U.S. has to be
willing to allow developing to nations invest in U.S. markets before we
invest in theirs. In
return, a viable export / import system will be established. But it is
essential that the
economy of the developing nation be monitored and run by its own
government, and the
United States should only be there for advising purposes. When a
reasonable system has
finally been achieved, then–not right away–a more American, laissez -
faire type of
economic network will be allowed to grow. If
The greatest challenge the United States faces is implementing a
foreign policy that
is consistent throughout the Middle East. Islamic nations aren’t likely
to be responsive to
ideas such as human rights, and democracy. These nations will never be
responsive to
western ideas when the United States continues to levy sanctions against
them. The U.S.
is lucky that it has an ally in Saudi Arabia and Israel, allowing them to
implement many of
these foreign policy agendas against the other Middle Eastern countries,
without having to
face serious economic consequences in the oil and gas industry. Oddly
enough though,
Saudi Arabia is probably as much against western ideologies as any nation
in the Middle
East. Women do not have equal rights, torture is frequent, there is no
separation between
church and state, and Saudi Arabia is extremely far from developing any
sort of democracy
(Miller 58). Now, when the U.S. promotes democracy and human rights, why
does it
support one country and condemn the next? Throughout the Cold War,
American foreign
policy would give aid to any nation opposing communism. So during that
time the U.S.
developed a “you’re either with us or against us” type of policy. With
that type of policy,
many of the Middle Eastern countries became so called enemies with the
U.S., which has
led to unrest and hatred of western democracies. In this time of global
economics, the
United States cannot pick and choose which countries to invest in. In
order for the U.S. to
defeat the challenges it faces in the Middle East, it must start by
supporting the entire
Middle East. Israel and Saudi Arabia may be the most attractive offers,
but Syria and even
Iran have vast resources that will be very valuable to our economy in the
future.
Next, the United States must respond to the problems of
democratization and
religious revival in the Middle East and Latin America. In the Middle
East, there seems to
be the notion that attempts at democratization would lead to the downfall
of minority
rights. As Judith Miller pointed out, “The promotion of free elections
immediately is likely
to lead to the triumph of Islamic groups that have no commitment to
democracy in any
recognizable or meaningful form” (Miller 59). What the United States must
do is establish
a representational or parliamentary process that recognizes all forms of
political action.
Simply promoting free elections would lead to a backlash in
democratization efforts. The
fear is in the idea of one group outlawing another. A democracy might be
based on
majoritarian rule; but all groups, whether they be Islamic fundamentalist
or even Christian,
must be able to participate in the political process. Similarly, the
United States must show
complete support for the democratic process in Latin America. When
Salvador Allende
was elected President of Chile, the West feared the thought of a complete
Marxist
government (Rosenberg 28). What needs to be respected is not the
political ideology of
one group or country, but rather its democratic process. ” Because
democracy neither
forms countries nor strengthens them initially, a multiparty system is
best suited to nations
that already have a established bureaucracy and a middle class which pays
income tax and
where the main issues of property, and power-sharing have been resolved,
leaving two
politicians, or parties to argue about the budgets, and letting the tax
payers decide who
should come to power” (Kaplan E9).
A problem then arises as to the issue of Islamic and Christian
revivalism. How the
United States deals with this problem is crucial in maintaining its
leadership and future
economic entity’s in both regions. The revival of Islam in the Middle
East is a reaction to
Western encroachment during and after the Cold War. Traditionalists
believe that by
opening up to Western culture they are losing their true faith in Islam.
The first step in
solving this problem might be to recognize that Muslim nations do not
embrace every
aspect of liberalism. If the United States can establish itself as a
legitimate foreign investor
and/or trading partner, rejection of Western philosophies will soon begin
to diminish. The
U.S. should still stand strong in its fight to combat terrorism and
radical militant groups,
but must also stop showing favoritism in the region (i.e. Saudi Arabia).
The democratic
process can work, but it needs to show the nations of the Middle East that
it can be
reconciled with religious revival. This is done by allowing groups,
majority or minority, the
chance to reap in the rewards of democracy.
Can religious revival be intertwined with economic development or
democracy in
Latin America? The case of Brazil gives us good evidence as to whether
it can or cannot.
“The theory of liberation grew out of the militant priests’ direct
involvement with the
working poor, both urban and rural” (Haynes 100). In Brazil, the poor
have always been
embraced by the church. Priests have worked to show that the church is
taking an active
role in the impoverished lives of that country. The idea began to spread
through out the
slums and the pueblos, and the poor were soon being encouraged to
participate in some
sort of political movement, no matter how minor or trivial it seemed.
This was the first
evidence of a nation undergoing a religious revival and taking steps
toward development
and democracy. It has been proven that participation in a regime allows
for a greater wealth
of resources economically and politically, while encouraging development.
But, if we try
to impose our will by force or intimidation, there will be few willing
volunteers to follow
and join such a movement. Again, the United States needs to respect the
efforts of
religious revival because it is returning Christianity or Islam to its
roots just as the U.S. is
trying to establish democracy to its most basic fundamental aspect in
many of these
developing nations. The U.S. must allow democracy, in whatever form it
takes, to grow.
This means concentrating on being empathetic and tolerant to the political
and economic
developments that might occur during this time of change, rather than
taking forceful
actions that many believe is necessary. The role the United States took
when communism
was being defeated in Eastern Europe and the Western way of life was being
pushed to the
forefront is the sam
developing nations.
Since the United States is at it’s peak of power in relation to
other civilizations, and
Western military power is unrivaled, the U.S. must attempt redefine it
image in the non-
Western part of the world. “The United States dominates the international
political,
security, and economic institutions with Western countries such as
Britain, Germany, and
France. All of these countries maintain extraordinarily close relations
with each other,
excluding the lesser and largely non-Western countries. Decisions made at
the United
Nations Security Council or in the International Monetary Fund that
reflect the interest of
the United States and its Western allies are presented to the world as
reflecting the desires
of the world community” (Huntington 39). This type of selfish global
policy can not be
tolerated if the United States wishes to be the leader in binding a “World
Community.”
The non-westerners view this global decision making in such a way such in
effect makes
“the West look as if it is using its international institutions, military
power, and economic
resources to run the world in ways that will maintain Western
predominance, protect
Western interest and promote Western political and economic values”
(Huntington 40).
These views do have merit to them nonetheless, because the United States
does use it
worldly powers to influence these international councils in situations
when the so called
anti-American countries are involved. Just because one nations
civilization and culture are
totally different from that of the Western nations, the US should not deem
which cultures
are acceptable and non-acceptable in the realm of the world. Because for
the most part as
Huntington states “Western ideas such as individualism, liberalism,
constitutionalism,
human rights, equality, liberty, the rule of law, democracy, free markets,
the separation of
church and state, often have little in Islamic, Confucian, Hindu, Buddhist
or Orthodox
cultures” (Huntington 40). By trying to influence its views through the
United Nations and
International Monetary Fund on the non-Western Countries, the U.S. is in
fact just
building up more negative sentiment towards itself, which can be seen in
the support for
fundamentalism of all types by the younger generation in the non-Western
cultures. If the
U.S. does not attempt to change it’s image in the near future, a new
generation of
fundamentalist will begin carry out all sorts of terroristic activity
against the U.S. that will
be more devastating than the World Trade Center Bombing , because hate
towards the
West will be have been instilled sense birth, and the terrorist will feel
that means are
justifying the cause.
It is in these policies, agendas, and attempts at foreign
investment, and humbleness
throughout the world that the United States will be able to maintain its
classification as a
world power, economically, politically, and socially. If the United
States does not act upon
these ideas and problems in the near future the results might not be
immediate; but we will
see the effects well into the twenty- first century when we are no longer
regarded as the
super power we once were.
Bibliography
Haynes, Jeff . Religion in Third World Politics. Boulder, Colorado:
Lynee
Rienner, 1994.
Huntington, Samuel. “The Clash of Civilizations: The West Versus the
Rest.”
Foreign Affiars Vol.72 (1993). No.3: 39-41.
” Japan Remains Pacific’s Largest Trading Partner.” Sunday Star (1996):
Star
Publications, (Maylasia) Berhad. (Transmitted From Netscape).
Kaplan, Robert. “Democracy’s Trap.” New York Times 24 Dec. 1995: E9
Kennedy, Paul. Winners and Losers in the Developing World: Preparing
the Twenty
First Century. New York: Random House, 1993.
Miller, Judith. “The Challenge of Radical Islam.” The Other World:
Culture and Politics
in the Third World (1993) 57-58.
Rosenberg, Tina. “Beyond Election.” The Other World: Culture and
Politics in the
Third World (1993) 28.
Savona, Dave. “Choosing a Nerve Center Overseas.” Foreign Trade Nov.
1995: 11-22,
50.
Annotated Bibliography
Haynes, Jeff. Religion in Third World Politics. Boulder, Colorado:
Lynee
Rienner,1994 . This is a book concerning Religion in the
political realm of
third world nations. It focuses on the religions of Islam and
Christianity, and
examines their positions within the major Third World nations such as
Iran, Iraq,
Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Peru, and Chile. Haynes addresses the topic of
religion in
third world politics by showing us the parallels, and the conflicts
they face within
these nations. A brief history of the situation is usually given, and
is followed by the
problems and successes the religions have had within the desired
country. Hanyes offers
his own solutions to many of the dilemmas described within his book.
This source
provided very useful information particularly on the involvement
Christianity in the
political movement of Brazil.
Huntington, Samuel. “The Clash of Civilizations: The West Versus the
Rest.”
Foreign Affairs Vol. 72 (1993). No. 3: 39-41. This was a
section of
Huntington’s article The Clash of Civilizations. He explains how
the West
dominates the international economic, security, and political
institutions, and
how many countries are striving for a “Western” way of life. He also
talks about
how those countries who’s citizens dislike how the west uses its
power in the United
Nations, to enforce its will upon others. He lists the
differences between the Western
ideas and the “non-Western” and gives ideas on how to have a “universal
civilization.” Huntington’s article gave many valid points on
dealing with conflicts,
and ways to go about resolving them.
“Japan Remains Pacific’s Largest Trading Partner.” Sunday Star (1996):
Star
Publications, (Maylasia) Berhad. (Transmitted from Netscape).
This article
was transmitted off the World Wide Web by using Netscape. It was a
news article
from the Malaysian paper Sunday Star, that gave an insight into
how Japan has
become the Pacific’s largest partner. The paper also showed some
statistics about
Japan, and the other major players that trade with Pacific countries
such Vietnam,
Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Cambodia. This news paper article
was used
because it came from country in the Pacific and gave a definite status
on Japan’s economic
dominance in the region.
Kaplan, Robert. “Democracy’s Trap.” New York Times 24 Dec. 1995: E9.
This is a editorial article for the general public about how the
United States should
stop trying so passionately to establish multiparty systems in every
third world nation. Its
not that Kaplan is against the instilling of democratic ideas in
developing nations, but he
believes the U.S. should go about it in a different way. He
explains how we must let
the idea grow and go through natural process within the country, even
though it might not
strengthen the nation at first. Kaplan also says that the U.S. should
shift its emphasis from
trying to hold elections for third world nations, to promoting
family planning,
environmental and urban renewal.
Kennnedy, Paul. Winners and Losers in the Developing World: Preparing the
Twenty
First Century. New York: Random House, 1993.
Miller, Judith. “The Challenge of Radical Islam.” The Other World:
Culture and Politics
in the Third World. (1993) 44-56. In this article, Miller explains
the challenges the west
must face in dealing with all the different aspects of the Islamic
Religion in the Middle
East. Since there are so many different sects, and branches to the
religion, Miller
explains what the major characteristics are of each group, whether
they are extremist
militants, devote Muslims, or terrorist. For the most part, she
paves the way of how
the West should go about in dealing with Islamic nations, and how
forms of
democracy might be instilled in many of these nations. She also
tells how
negative most of these countries feel towards Western ideologies,
but also shows
the allies the West has built in the region with Egypt, and Saudi
Arabia. Millers article
was very informative on the subject Islam, and the way Western
foreign policies should
act towards it.
Rosenberg, Tina. “Beyond Elections.” The Other World: Culture
and Politics
in the Third World. (1993) 28. In this brief article, Tina Rosenberg
talks about
how the US should react to the Governments that are taking helm in
many of the countries
of South and Central America. She explains how a Marxist Government
was elected in
the country of Chile by a democratic process involving most of its
citizens. This
article was very brief, and was used solely because it tells that
the West must show
the respect to this country for participating in a type of democratic
process, even
a Marxist government was elected.
Savona, Dave. “Choosing a Nerve Center Overseas.” Foreign Trade. Nov.
1995:
11-22, 50. In this article that comes from a magazine dedicated
strictly to that of
foreign Trade, Dave Savona tells of the importance of establishing a
type of
regional headquarters in countries overseas. He explains how it is
essential for American
companies to invest in overseas markets, not just in countries such as
Germany, and
Japan, but too rising nations such as Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Hong
Kong, Australia, and
Hungary. It informs as to the natural resources that each country
offers, and the economic
opportunities available for the U.S. and the desired nation. This
source was used
primarily for its opinion of investing in the countries of Brazil
and Chile by the
U.S.