Drifting of the U.S. Foreign Policy (PDF)

Academic Paper from the year 2018 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: USA, grade: 1, , language: English, abstract: Over centuries, the U.S. foreign policy has been experiencing reforms to reflect the status of the nation's international relations. These reforms have been instrumental to different administrations in the American history in addressing both domestic and international challenges. For instance, the emergence of the Cold War which created tension between the U.S. and its foes including Russia and the Soviet Union prompted Truman's and Eisenhower's administrations to adopt the containment policy, in order to counter Soviet aggression. This strategy enabled the U.S. to subvert political, military and economic consequences of Stalinism.
Despite the numerous reforms that have been designed to redefine the U.S. foreign policy in accordance to its domestic and international interests, it is apparent that the country has not yet adopted an 'all-inclusive' foreign policy that advances its interests. In the current global order, numerous issues related to the U.S. foreign policy have emerged including the intensification of domestic and international challenges. These changes in the evolving global order seem to have placed the U.S. foreign policy in a state of drifting. Holmes & Inboden (2015) reaffirm that "America's standing in the world, and arguably its influence -- has diminished" (par. 6). This phenomenon can be explained by the current rifts between the United States and its continental allies which are characterized by the rise of anti-U.S. political regimes in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. This calls for appropriate measures which will redefine U.S. engagement with the international community as it is envisaged in the Obama's Doctrine, the 'Grand Strategy' (Chadha & Muni, 2014). Therefore, this research paper will provide a comprehensive overview on the U.S. foreign policy drift. It will discuss this phenomenon by focusing on the rifts between the United States and other countries which have compromised the effectiveness of the country's foreign policy.