US and World Politics

1. US and World Politics “It’s the end of the world as we know it...”

2. Overview • The International Political System • Aims of US Foreign Policy • Evolution of US Foreign Policy

3. World Politics • Recap domestic politics • Why is government necessary? • What role does government play? • International environment is anarchic • No government • Implications?

4. World Politics • Global Political System is a “self help” system • Participants • States • Non-State Actors • IGOs • NGOs

5. World Politics • States: • Basic unit of world politics since 1648 (Treaty of Westphalia) • Features: • Defined Geography • Population • Sovereign Government

6. World Politics • States (continued) • Note that the first and third points (geography and sovereign government) mean that the idea of “statehood” rests in part on the agreement of other states. • States “recognize” other states by respecting the borders and the sovereignty of other states • Wars and violence result when that recognition breaks down (e.g., Iraq/Kuwait in 1990; Serbia/Croatia 1993)

7. World Politics • States (continued) • Distinct from “nations” by which we mean: • a people with a shared language • inhabiting a fixed territory • sharing common customs that take on sense of shared identity/commonality • recognition of common unity

8. World Politics • Keeping the two ideas distinct means that we can have: • states with a single nation (e.g., Italy) • states with multiple nations (UK, Russia) • nations with multiple states (Arabs, Koreans) • nations with no state (Kurds)

9. World Politics • Non-state actors in world politics include: • International Government Organizations • e.g, UN, NATO, EU, ASEAN, OAS, OAU • These organizations are comprised of a variety of states • But they lack sovereignty

10. World Politics • United Nations: • General Assembly (each state equal) • Security Council • 15 states, each with one vote, but 5 permanent members (US, UK, France, China, Russia) have “veto power” • Secretariat • International Court of Justice

11. World Politics • NGOs (Non Government Organizations) • Organizations that have a political impact or focus but which are unconnected to any government • e.g., Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, Greenpeace but also • Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, ETA, FARC, Sendero Luminoso

12. US and World Politics • Aims of US Foreign Policy: • National Security • Territorial Integrity • Political Ideology • How do we achieve them?

13. US Foreign Policy • 2 main themes have driven US policy: Isolationism • avoid “entangling alliances” and stay out of European and world politics

14. US Foreign Policy • Idealism • Promote democracy, freedom, and liberty abroad • Monroe Doctrine: protect western hemisphere from European encroachments • Truman Doctrine: protect all “free” nations from communist expansion • Bush Doctrine: use preemptive force to protect all free nations from terrorist threats

15. US Foreign Policy • Impact of these two strands has led the US to get involved in wars beyond national security or strategic interests • Use warfare to promote ideals • Democracy, freedom, capitalism • Expansion of US

16. US Foreign Policy • Factors/Players shaping foreign policy • President • State, DoD, Homeland Security, NSC, CIA • Congress • Corporations • Foreign Policy “elite” • think tanks, academics

17. US Foreign Policy • Resources for navigating in anarchy: • Diplomacy • Negotiation to work out differences/disagreements • Economics • Rewards: tax breaks, trade concessions, grants, loans • Punishments: tariffs, quotas, embargoes • Military

18. US Foreign Policy • Post WW2 the aim of US foreign policy was to contain communist expansion • Korean War • Vietnam War • Nuclear Arms Race with USSR (now Russia) • Regional Military Alliances • (e.g., NATO, OAS, SEATO, etc.)

19. Defense Spending & the Budget • Defense related expenses receive the largest share of federal appropriations: • See Table 8.9 for details

20. Global Military Spending • Latest figures (2005) show that total global spending on military is $1.118 trillion, or about $173 per capita • 34% increase from 2004 • US is responsible for 80% of that increase

21. Global Military Spending • US spent $420.7 billion in 2005 (not including the money appropriated for Iraq/Afghanistan) war • US military spending was almost two-fifths of the total; more than the combined spending of the next 14 nations. • US military spending was almost 7 times larger than the Chinese budget, the second largest spender.

22. Military Spending • The US military budget was almost 29 times as large as the combined spending of the six “rogue” states (Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) who spent $14.65 billion. • These six potential “enemies,” plus Russia, and China together spent $139 billion, or just 30% of the U.S. military budget.

23. Military Spending • Nuclear proliferation issues • Nukes and “rogue” states • Nukes and terrorist groups

24. Global Poverty • Currently 6.6 billion people in the world • Human population growth • Of that number, approximately 3 billion survive on less than $2.00/day

25. Global Poverty • Global economic data • GDP per capita • Divide between north and south • The GDP of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world’s countries) is less than the wealth of the world’s 3 richest people (Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim Helu) combined.

26. Conclusions • US and the world • population growthand immigration • energy • health • AIDS

27. 1919 flu pandemic • 1/4th of US population afflicted, 1/5th of global population • Estimated death from pandemic: 21,500,000