Foreign policy is the means by which governments shape their relationship with the outside world. Governments seek to advance their interests and values through the use of military, economic, and diplomatic power to achieve their ends.
The primary goal of any government is to protect and advance its citizens’ security and prosperity. While leaders often approach this common goal with different strategies, all foreign policy is aimed at the same end: using a country’s unique resources to shape the world around it in ways that benefit its people.
In the modern age of global politics, this means promoting an international order that combines freedom and market democracy. It also means integrating the world’s “have-nots” into the democratic West. Pursuing these goals is not charity; it is self-interest. It is a way of making more of the world safe and prosperous, enabling Americans to live freer and better lives.
Americanists see a world that needs America to wield its overwhelming military, economic, and political power to get the job done. Globalists, on the other hand, stress that America is not omnipotent and warn against believing that it can do all things alone. Some crucial problems, such as global warming and stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction, defy unilateral U.S. solutions and require international cooperation.
The wise application of America’s unrivaled power can advance its interests and values. For example, the threat or actual use of force evicted Iraqi forces from Kuwait, ended Haiti’s military junta, ended Serb atrocities in Kosovo, and broke al-Qaida’s hold on Afghanistan. It can also extend the life of its power by creating international institutions and arrangements that imbed its values and interests in regimes and structures that will endure for decades.
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