Post on 06-Jan-2016
description
Making Foreign PolicyWilson 20 B
Machinery
• Secretary of State• President• Many agencies• CIA• Defense• FBI• DEA• Embassies• Rivalries
• NSC• POTUS• VP• State• Defense• CIA• Joint Chiefs• Kissinger• Poindexter/North
Public Opinion
• Shift from isolation during WWII• Universally popular• Great success• Defeated evil – Nazis• Avenged homeland – Pearl Harbor
• Became world power
• Polls heavily influenced by questions, phrasing, leaders, and events
• See table 20.1 on page 540
Backing the President
• Tend to rally around the flag• More important than domestic policy• Fallacy about distaste when soldiers die• Change support to desire of victory• Presidents don’t start wars to boost popularity
• General public not informed in foreign affairs• Aught to support troops once they are there
• Elites better informed, more internationalist• Opinion changes more rapidly, more liberal
Cleavages Among Elites
• Greater influence in foreign policy• Deeply divided worldviews• Shaped by the mistakes of previous generations• Isolationism – withdraw from world affairs• Containment – resist expansion of aggressive nations• Disengagement – burned by Vietnam• 3 ways of interpreting on page 544
• Human Rights – improve lives of people elsewhere• Not consistently applied
• New 9/11 reality of terror• Go it alone or build coalition• Pre-emptive action?