United States Foreign Policy Since 1945 - 1802 Words

The Second War World changed the scope of American foreign policy dramatically. The United States had historically sought to stay out of disputes in continents outside North America. The nation had sought isolationism during the Great War of 1914-1918 until it became necessary to protect innocent American lives. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was also inclined to remain uncommitted in the struggle that began in Europe in 1939. It was not until the end of 1941 that a direct attack against the United States at Pearl Harbor drew the United States into the conflict raging throughout the rest of the world. In the book Washington Rules, Andrew Bacevich, himself an officer in the U.S. army for many years, argues that every president†¦show more content†¦We had the ability to overwhelm the enemy with sheer firepower and nuclear superiority. It worked for the containing large threats such as a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union, but it had challenges standing up to small sca le problems such as the Hungarian rebellion of 1956. The problem was that this idea of destruction was based on the idea that the Soviet Union did not also have the ability to strike the United States with massive force. McNamera tried to come up with a policy that differed from massive retaliation, but he did not fully succeed. Kennedy along with McNamera looked for other options to meet global threats. The administration sought to increase Pentagon defense expenditures, close the supposed â€Å"missile gap† with the Soviet Union, and add troops to the army. I did find that the book does not detail much of the factors that influenced President Kennedy to begin flexible response as some scholars note, but Bacevich does outline the significant differences between the Kennedy administration and Eisenhower’s approach to defensive spending. Kennedy campaigned on closing the â€Å"missile gap† and the Pentagon budget was substantially increased under his admini stration in order to explore other modes of action which was one step in the path to flexible response. In 1961 and 1962, the nation of Cuba became a centerpiece of the Kennedy administration’s focus and attention. There we came to theShow MoreRelated The Effects of Reagan and Bush’s Policies in El Essay1696 Words   |  7 PagesThe Effects of Reagan and Bush’s Policies in El Salvador and Iraq United States foreign policy, since the Cold War, has been driven by ideology: good versus evil, capitalism versus communism, and democracy versus totalitarianism. America’s foreign policy objective from 1945 to 1991 was to contain communism, prompting Cold War calculus – the enemy of your enemy is your friend. The United States, following Cold War calculus, allied with unscrupulous leaders opposed to communism,Read MoreCanada s Role During The World Since 19451062 Words   |  5 PagesCanada’s Role in the world since 1945 Canada has played a big role in the world since 1945 and this role has continued to this very day. Canada is still to this day being viewed as a peacekeeping nation because of its efforts and contributions in organizations like the United Nations, NATO and NORAD. These have given Canada a bigger and more important role in the world.Canada has made considerable contributions in organizations such as the UN, NATO and NORAD. The United Nations, is a organizationRead MoreHarry S. Trum President Of The United States After The Cold War1025 Words   |  5 PagesHarry S. Truman became commander in chief of the United States after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. 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In the 1930s, American leadership, and most importantly, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, came to view economic decline, political radicalization, and instability as forming a vicious cycle that led to utter chaos andRead MoreJapan s Post War Economic Miracle1443 Words   |  6 PagesWhen Japan be defeated in World War II, Japanese economy was nearly collapsed. Their industrial production was sharply declined, only reached 10% of the 1934-6 level in 1945 (Kunio 1994). In 1945, Japan has signed an official document of surrender in the Pacific War and occupied by the United States from 1945-1952. In the occupation period, the U.S. was helped Japan to recover their economy from a complete shambles situation. Thus, the Japanese economy was gradually recovered to the pre-war level