US Foreign Policy

Already during the First World War, the United States made efforts to become a leader in the global political arena. In the years 1914-1917, the United States pursued a policy of neutrality, which positively affected the country's economy.

In the 1920s, the United States fought for political expansion in Latin America , buying up land and providing loans through its companies. In some countries in this region, the United States directly controlled finances and customs, in some cases reinforcing its presence with the army.

Before World War II , the doctrine of isolationism was very popular in the US ruling elite.

The victorious end of World War II and the atomic bombings of Japan in August 1945 rapidly changed the role and importance of the United States in European and world politics. The very successful implementation of the plan of economic assistance to the countries of Western Europe in 1947-1952, known as the Marshall Plan, allowed the United States to finally “secure” the dominant economic and political influence on Western Europe, and then ^{[ how? ]} and to other regions of the world. As Harvard prof. S. M. Walt , USA are a “ hegemon in the western hemisphere ” ^[2] .

Since the 1940s, the United States has been involved in many armed conflicts and military coups around the world, including the coup in Iran in 1953, the Operation in the Bay of Pigs in 1961, the wars in Yugoslavia , Afghanistan and Iraq .

As the People's Daily noted in 2002, after the end of the Cold War, the United States strove to create a unipolar world under its leadership ^[3] .

According to Professor John Gray , the loss of US leadership in the world was indicated with the outbreak of war in Iraq , accelerating with the global economic crisis (since 2008) ^[4] .

According to the statement of the former US ambassador to Russia James Collins in 2015, there is no reason for any talk about revising US foreign policy and changing priorities: the US is still faced with the questions of containing China, solving the problems of Islamic radicalism, and control over oil resources , the strengthening of NATO and the development of Transatlantic relations, the creation of an alliance with the democratic states of the Far East, with India, the Iranian problem is of particular importance ^[5] .

The United States has diplomatic relations with almost all states of the world. The exception is 4 states:

•   Bhutan ( US-Bhutan Relations )
•   Iran (discontinued April 7, 1980 )
•   North Korea
•   Somalia

Democracy is proclaimed one of the main goals of US foreign policy ^[6] . According to the reports of the US State Department, “ color revolutions ” in Georgia can be considered examples of the success of such a model ^[7] and in Ukraine ^[8] , political transformations in Serbia (including Kosovo ) and Montenegro .

A number of observers in recent years, the process of "export of democracy" received a negative assessment. However, at the same time, opponents of US hegemony often use the term “democratization” to mean desirable, in their opinion, changes in the system of international relations ^[9] .

In this context, it is necessary to include the concept of the spread of democracy as a cultural policy in relation to other countries. US security is determined by the nature of regimes in other countries. The concept of "expansion of democracy" developed along the lines of Wilsonian liberal universalism, which traditionally combined the pragmatics of America's national interests with ideas about the American ideological mission - to carry liberal democratic principles around the world.

Madeleine Albright , who served as Secretary of State during Bill Clinton’s second administration, spoke out about this, saying: “The fact that the United States identifies itself with democracy is vital to American interests.”

According to Robert Kagan (2011), the Obama administration has actually returned to the Clinton formula “an irreplaceable country.” Kagan believes that the goal of US foreign policy is to revive and strengthen the global liberal order, and that the current administration "is moving in this direction." And then the big question arises: how to fit China into this scheme? How to enter Russia into it? ”In his opinion, at present“ the issue of promoting democracy is not so acute, how much is its protection ”,“ at the moment we are not talking about a crusade. This is largely a matter of consolidation and democratic solidarity ” ^[10] .

According to political analyst Dmitry Simes (2012): “In recent years, a complex has emerged in the United States to spread democracy. Entire organizations have arisen that are doing this professionally, for which it has become a source of income and the main meaning of existence. These are thousands and thousands of people associated with the administration and congress. And this is a very interesting situation: on the one hand, these non-governmental organizations are mainly funded by the administration and congress. On the other hand, they have the right to press on the administration and congress. And this gives them a unique interest in making the advancement of democracy an American foreign policy priority ” ^[11] .

At the same time, guided by the unspoken principle of “ our son of a bitch ”, the United States does not make real efforts to democratize theocratic monarchies of the Persian Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia , the United Arab Emirates , Qatar , Kuwait .

Promoting international development is one of the priorities of US foreign policy. After the end of World War II, the Marshall Plan , a program to help the war-ravaged countries of Western Europe, played a significant role. In 1961, the United States Agency for International Development was established. Each year, the United States allocates 0.5% of the federal budget to promote international development. US assistance aims to develop nearly 100 countries located in regions such as sub - Saharan Africa , Asia , Europe and Eurasia , Latin America and the Caribbean , and the Middle East . The United States is the world leader in official development assistance (ODA) in absolute terms. The volume of ODA from the United States in 2007 amounted to $ 21,787 million (in 2006 - $ 23,532 million, in 2005 - $ 27,935 million, in 2004 - $ 19,705 million) ^[12] .

The United States also provides significant military assistance to its allies. According to the results of fiscal year 2011, as part of intergovernmental agreements on the military assistance program, military products worth $ 28.3 billion were delivered to foreign countries (FMS). Another $ 6.5 billion worth of military products was supplied under various security agreements. The list of ten major recipients of US military assistance included Afghanistan ($ 5.4 billion), Taiwan (4.9 billion), India (4.5 billion), Australia (3.9 billion), Saudi Arabia (3.5 billion) , Iraq (2 billion), UAE (1.5 billion), Israel (1.4 billion), Japan (0.5 billion), Sweden (0.5 billion) ^[13] .

The United States has been providing significant financial assistance to Israel since its inception in 1948. In addition to the military, Israel receives from the United States the so-called "economic assistance" (this money goes to pay off Israeli debt on military loans taken from the United States before 1985). Since 1986, total aid has been around $ 3 billion annually ^[14] .

Sometimes US denial of assistance is used as a tool of pressure. So, military assistance was stopped for 35 states that refused to sign agreements with the United States on the extradition of US citizens to the International Criminal Court (the agreement on the creation of this court was first signed by the USA, but then withdrew). Moreover, in July 2003, the United States managed to conclude such agreements with 51 states ^[15] .

It became known that the United States will reduce financial assistance to Ukraine by almost 70%. Thus, Ukraine can count on receiving instead of the planned 570 million dollars - only 177 million ^[16] .

Many former US graduates hold leading government posts in their respective countries. So, 80% of the Saudi government members were educated at American universities, 75% of the parliament in Kenya were trained in the United States. Government-sponsored international cultural policy programs are seen as one of the most effective areas of public diplomacy that contribute to stability and prosperity in developing or transitional countries. The main tools for the realization of American external cultural influence are the media , especially the American ones.

The United States is a co-founder and permanent member of the UN . On September 15, 2011, in connection with the opening of the next session of the UN General Assembly, US Assistant Secretary of State Esther Brimmer issued a statement stating that “US participation in the work of the United Nations strengthens our national security , promotes basic American values ​​and supports global institutions and infrastructure, on which the economy of the 21st century depends ” ^[17] . Brimmer also stated that the United States “should not and will not” abandon its leadership role in the UN, and that the executive branch in Washington is also not going to follow “resounding calls for US contributions to the UN system budget”. : “For too long, the United States played games with its contributions, paying them when they wanted, and keeping them in cases where they thought it was somehow justified. This undermined the reputation of the United States and impaired our ability to achieve certain goals at the UN ” ^[18] . So, on October 13, 2011, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the US Congress approved a bill restricting Washington’s participation in UN funding, explaining that only cuts in US funding can affect the UN in connection with the issue of recognizing Palestine . The bill provides, in particular, the transfer of UN funding on a voluntary basis. At the same time, in 2010, the United States invested $ 7.7 billion in the UN, which is 22% of the organization’s budget ^[19] .

On June 19, 2018, the United States withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council ^[20] .

On December 31, 2018, the United States withdrew from UNESCO ^[21] , the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The NATO military-political alliance was created on April 4, 1949 and united under the auspices of the United States 10 states of Western Europe and Canada . Until 1991, the alliance expanded to 15 members, including all of Germany , as well as Spain , Greece and Turkey . Initially, NATO was created to prevent potential Soviet aggression against Western Europe. In 1955 , the Organization of the Warsaw Pact was established in Eastern Europe with a similar purpose, with the leading role of the Soviet Union. Thus, Europe remained divided for more than 30 years.

The NATO Charter suggests that aggression against any of the parties to the treaty is equal to aggression against all countries that are members of the alliance. It should be noted that although the United States declared its neutrality in the British-Argentine conflict and did not directly oppose Argentina , they provided substantial support to the United Kingdom .

The Warsaw Pact was dissolved in 1991 , and the Cold War was officially declared terminated. Thus, the root cause of the emergence of NATO itself has disappeared. Nevertheless, by agreement with the USSR, GDR was included in NATO, which had already become part of the Federal Republic of Germany. After that, the Soviet leadership was given guarantees that elements of the US strategic nuclear forces would never be located on German territory, and that NATO would not expand eastward ^[22] .

NATO's attention has shifted from the Soviet Union to Yugoslavia . Since 1993, NATO aviation has been actively involved in the Bosnian war . In the spring of 1999 , the largest military operation in the history of the alliance begins - the 78-day bombardment of Serbia .

1999 was a turning point in the history of NATO: in 1999 Hungary , Poland and the Czech Republic joined the alliance, in 2004 another 7 states of Eastern Europe joined the NATO structure, including 3 former Soviet republics - Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania . By this time, the United States had already announced its War on Terrorism . The NATO contingent in 2001 was introduced into Afghanistan in response to the September 11 attacks . In 2003 , however, some U.S. European NATO allies refused to enter the Iraq war .

Currently, the governments of the seven states of Europe, as well as Georgia, are pursuing an active atlantist foreign policy and set as their goal to join NATO .

In April 2017, US President Donald Trump signed a protocol on Montenegro's entry into NATO ^[23] .

With respect to Russia, the United States is pursuing a restrictive economic policy on the basis of the Jackson-Vanik amendments (this amendment introduced an embargo on the USSR, based on the existence of discrimination against Jews). Until 1994, the organization operated KOKOM ( abbr. International Coordinating Committee for Export Control), created in 1949 by the United States and other NATO countries to control exports to the USSR, and later to the Warsaw Pact countries.

According to Mikhail Leontiev, US foreign policy is aggressive ^[24] .

In 2002, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov noted that “there are forces in the United States that would not want any agreements at all. And not only with Russia, but also with other countries. These are representatives of those circles who advocate that the United States, at its discretion, carry out certain actions in the international arena ” ^[25] .

Valentine Falin noted: “There is no faith in the words of Washington, he juggles them at his discretion, violates even the treaties ratified by the Senate” ^[26] .

On September 11, 2013, Russian President V. Putin wrote an editorial in the New York Times , intended for the American public and calling on the US to restraint when considering a military strike on Syria , in which he noted ^[27] :

US foreign policy is increasingly criticized as a source of instability in all regions where there are US interests. In particular, US participation in " color revolutions " around the world, support for opposition and US-loyal organizations through non-profit foundations, and coups. According to some observers, the United States was carried away by the idea of world domination and the creation of a unipolar world , which in recent decades has been completely hidden by American politicians ^[28] .

According to former Pentagon diplomat and Pentecost officer Chez Freeman, US foreign policy relies mainly on forceful decisions because of a sense of military superiority and neglect of the interests of other countries and suffers from the low professionalism of senior diplomats ^[29] .

• History of US Foreign Policy and Diplomacy, 1775-1877 / Ans. ed. N. N. Bolkhovitinov. M.: Intern. Relations, 1994.
• The history of US foreign policy and diplomacy, 1867-1918 / Otv. ed. G.P. Kuropiatnik. M .: Nauka, 1997.
• Inozemtsev N. N. US foreign policy in the era of imperialism. M .: Gospolitizdat, 1960.
• Zubok L. I. US expansionary policy at the beginning of the 20th century M .: Nauka, 1969.
• US Foreign Policy. In 2 vols. T.1-2 / Ans. ed. G.A. Trofimenko. M .: Nauka, 1984.
• American expansionism. New time / Ans. ed. G. N. Sevostyanov. M .: Nauka, 1985.
• American expansionism. Recent time / Ans. ed. G. N. Sevostyanov. M .: Nauka, 1986.
• Brusilovskaya O.I. US Foreign Policy: Conceptual Foundations and Reality // Notes from the History Department of the Odessa Sovereign State University. І.І. Mechnikov. - Odessa, 1998. - VIP. 7. - S. 240-247.
• Pechatnov V.O., Manykin A.S. History of US Foreign Policy. M.: Intern. relationship, 2012.

• Department of State
• National Security Council
• U.S. Embassy in Russia