Civics_Ch11_info

=**The U.S. and the World Background Information**=

**Foreign Policy:**
The __//NOTE//__: plan that a country follows for interacting with other counties is foreign policy. There are several goals of foreign policy. They are __//NOTE//__: to maintain national security, support democracy in the world, promote world peace, and provide aid to people in need. The president has overall control of foreign policy, however, there are a few areas of foreign policy that the Congress has some checks and balances. In terms of military powers, __//NOTE//__: the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but only Congress can declare war. Presidents are able to put troops into different nations and commit troops to combat, but according to the War Powers Act, if Congress doesn't approve of military action taken by the president then the troops have to leave after a certain time frame. A __//NOTE//__: treaty is a written agreement between countries by the president and must be approved by the Senate. There are peace treaties, which end conflict between nations. There are alliance treaties in which the allying nations agree to assist one another. There are also commercial treaties, which are ones that set up trade between nations. Presidents have the power to make __//NOTE//__: executive agreements with nations that don't need Senate approval, but only last while the president is in office. The president also has diplomatic powers in terms of foreign policy, which means the __//NOTE//__: president appoints ambassadors with Senate approval. Overall, the president sets the relations with other nations.

There are various agencies within the government that take part in foreign policy. The __//NOTE//__: Department of State carries out foreign policy and advises the president. The State Department issues passports and the Secretary of State travels to foreign nations a lot to represent the federal government in talks with foreign leaders. The __//NOTE//__: Defense Department advises on military and national security. The Department of Defense works out of the Pentagon and is where the military officials work. Another source of foreign policy work is the __//NOTE//__: CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), which gathers and analyzes information on foreign countries. Congress provides a check and a balances on the foreign policy powers of the executive branch. The Senate must approve of treaties and presidential appointments. Congress has the power to declare war. Finally, Congress must approve spending public funds, which includes funding to give aid to foreign nations.

Working for peace is a major goal of foreign policy from the standpoint of the U.S. __//NOTE//__: The process of conducting negotiations between nations is diplomacy. A __//NOTE//__: summit is a meeting between the leaders of two or more countries to discuss issues that concern those countries. Another goal of foreign policy is to promote peace and stability. Alliances often form for this reason. The United States is in three major alliances. One is __//NOTE//__ OAS - the Organization of American States between the U.S. and Latin America. Another alliance is __//NOTE//__: ANZUS between Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. The third and biggest is __//NOTE//__: NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which was originally formed to fight Communism, but today is a defensive alliance. Another important aspect of foreign policy deals with foreign aid. __//NOTE//__: Foreign aid is when a government program gives assistance to another country. In recent years, the U.S. has been the nation that other nations look to when there's a need especially financially. There are also treaties that deal with trade. More recently, the U.S. has had a trade deficit, which means the U.S. imports more than it exports - buys from other nations more than it sells to other nations. A major trade agreement that increased American business and trade was __//NOTE//__: NAFTA - the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

The United Nations plays a global role in world stability. The __//NOTE//__: United Nations is the organization that promotes peaceful co-existence and worldwide cooperation. The United Nations has two key bodies that handle their agenda. The __//NOTE//__: General Assembly is the body that discusses, debates, and recommends solutions while the Security Council is the body responsible for peacekeeping. Member countries also have a place to take international legal disputes, which is the International Court of Justice, or the World Court. The United Nations provides a forum, or place where the world's countries can express their views about problems that threaten peace.

**Charting a Course:**
The foreign policy of the United States has developed and changed throughout our history. After independence, the U.S. had a belief of __//NOTE//__: isolationism, or that the U.S. should avoid involvement in foreign affairs. However, early troubles under President Washington included the British in their colony of Canada around the Great Lakes region, the Spanish colonies in the South and West, and the French and British navies seizing American vessels and sailors in the Atlantic. The U.S. defeated the British in the War of 1812 and won a newfound respect among the nations of Europe. Under President James Monroe, the U.S declared what would be called the __//NOTE//__: Monroe Doctrine, which said western hemisphere was no longer open to European colonization. President Theodore Roosevelt strengthened the Monroe Doctrine by announcing the U.S. would police the western hemisphere in what became known as the Roosevelt Corollary. The Good Neighbor Policy of Franklin D. Roosevelt opposed any armed conflict in Central or South America pushing for friendly relations. In 1914, World War I broke out and the U.S. tried to stay out of it but got into the war in 1917 as President Woodrow Wilson said he wanted to make the world "safe for democracy." The U.S. tried to continue an isolationist role after WWI, but __//NOTE//__: got into World War II after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The Cold War was a major source of foreign policy during the last half of the 20th century. The __//NOTE//__: Cold War was a rivalry and tensions between the U.S. and democracies against the Soviet Union and oppressive Communist nations. Under Communism, the government owns the means of production - land, capital, and labor - and decides what products will be made. The American policy for a lot of the Cold War was containment, or to keep Communism from spreading around the world. The __//NOTE//__: Cuban Missile Crisis was the closet that the U.S. and Soviet Union got to nuclear war. This was when the Soviet Union was putting offensive weapons into Cuba that could hit the U.S. President Kennedy was able to get an agreement to keep the U.S. and Soviet Union from nuclear war.

More recent trends in foreign policy have become that of fighting terrorism. __//NOTE//__: Terrorists are individuals who use violence to achieve political goals. A major source of terror activity comes out of conflict in the Middle East, an area that is dominated by the Islam religion. __//NOTE//__: Conflict between the Jewish nation Israel and the Islamic area of Palestine has hardened relations in the Middle East. Terrorism has reshaped foreign policy in the U.S. On __//NOTE//__: September 11, 2001 was when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. President George W. Bush led the United States into a war on terrorism to fight against Islamic terror in the world. __//NOTE//__: The prime suspect was Osama bin Laden and his terror group al Qaeda. __//NOTE//__: Fighting drug trafficking in Latin America is the U.S. foreign policy in the war on drugs.

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