Actors and Institutions in U.S. Foreign Policy Making

Isolationism refers to a policy of the U.S. remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other groups, especially the political affairs of other countries.

The policy of containment, implemented as a part of the 1947 Truman Doctrine, was a policy specifically designed against the Soviet Union and operated on the principle that communist governments would eventually fall apart as long as they were prevented from expanding their influence.

The president and his/her chief advisers are the principal architects of U.S. foreign policy. In fact, the president is the Commander-in-Chief of the military and nominates and appoints ambassadors and other public ministers. The president also has broad powers to manage the foreign policy priorities of the government. S/he can issue rules, regulations, and instructions called executive orders, which have the binding force of law upon federal agencies but do not require approval of the United States Congress.

The U.S. Congress is a bicameral legislative institution with 100 senators serving in the Senate and 435 state representatives serving in the House of Representatives. These two bodies of Congress share full legislative power. Whereas the Senate has exclusive authority to approve–or reject–presidential nominations to executive and judicial offices the House possesses the sole authority to impeach federal officials and, in the case of indecisive Electoral College results, to elect a president.

In the Senate, there are the Foreign Relations Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In the House, there are the Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committee and the Armed Services Committee.

The departments of State and Defense, as these two bureaucracies are at the center of the permanent staff within the government devoted to foreign policy. Very briefly, the State Department has charge of diplomatic efforts, and the Department of Defense prepares and operates the military. In addition to the departments of State and Defense, the Department of Treasury, the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency play significant roles in U.S. foreign policy making.

The Department of Treasury plays an important role in protecting U.S. national interests and extending American power around the globe. In particular, the Treasury Department “protects and supports U.S. economic prosperity by
strengthening the external environment for U.S. growth, preventing and mitigating global financial instability, and managing key global challenges (The U.S. Department of Treasury).”

The most important and influential ethnic- or national origin interest group affecting U.S. foreign policy has traditionally been the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC is a bipartisan organization of U.S. citizens committed solely to strengthening, protecting and promoting the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the United States and Israel.

Similar to interest groups, the role of think tanks in the United States is important in the formulation of foreign policy. Think tanks, which are independent policy research institution, have helped shape U.S. global engagement. The main function of think tanks in U.S. foreign policy is to “think” and to produce ideas and advice for foreign policy decision makers specifically based on research and informed judgment (Little 2016). Among the most significant U.S. think tanks who supply experts are the Brookings Institution, the RAND Corporation, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Among the best well-known and historically most significant presidential doctrines are: the Monroe Doctrine, the Truman Doctrine, The Eisenhower Doctrine, the Nixon Doctrine, the Carter Doctrine, the Reagan Doctrine, and the Bush Doctrine.

The Monroe Doctrine deeply affected the United States’ foreign policy relationship with Latin American countries.  On the one hand, the doctrine demanded that Spain left the U.S. alone in the region. On the other hand, it justified the expansionist policies of the United States in the region. 

The 1947 Truman Doctrine was one of the main pillars of the U.S’s response to the increasing power of the Soviet Union, not only in Europe but also in the Middle East. Under the Truman Doctrine, and through the policy of containment, the United States provided monetary and military support to countries that were threatened by the Soviet Union.

While it was never invoked publicly, the Eisenhower Doctrine was first put into effect in 1958 when the Lebanese President, Camille Chamoun requested assistance from the United States in order to prevent attacks from Chamoun’s political rivals who had communist leanings and ties to Syria and Egypt. The United States responded to this request by sending U.S. troops into Lebanon to help maintain order. This was also an occasion when the United States showed increasing interest in Middle East developments.

It is widely argued in the literature that the Nixon Doctrine made a big influence on the military defense industry in the United States because the doctrine paved the way for the United States to begin to sell conventional weapons to other  countries in the world, especially in the Middle East. The developments in this region in the 1970s led the United States apply the Nixon doctrine in the region more forcefully, setting the stage for the Carter Doctrine and the increasing involvement of the United States in the Middle East.

The Carter Doctrine, which came following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, was based on the principle that the United States would use military force if necessary to defend its national interests in the Gulf region of the Middle East. After his 1980 State of the Union address, Carter outlined specific measures that he would take to implement his new doctrine, including the abandonment of the belief in mutually assured destruction that had governed the nuclear strategy of both the United States and the Soviet Union until that point.

Despite his increasingly hawkish attitude toward the Soviet Union, President Carter did not succeed in his reelection bid. This was mainly due to the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis. In the end, Ronald Reagan, who supported the Carter Doctrine but argued that overall foreign policy of the Carter administration had weakened the position of the United States, became the new president of the United States in 1981.

The doctrine served as the foundation for the Reagan administration’s support of those who were fighting against the Soviet-supported aggression. Based on this doctrine, the Reagan administration not only offered financial and logistical support to the anti-communist opposition in different parts of the world, but it also followed a hard line policy against socialist and communist governments in Afghanistan, Angola, and Nicaragua.

The Bush Doctrine advocated preventing terrorism through active intervention in foreign countries, including pressuring or even invading foreign countries and using military force against terrorists where they live and train. The doctrine also advocated maintaining an omnipotent military.

In foreign policy, an instrument, or a tool, helps policy makers to implement the decisions they formulate. In other words, a specific decision with regard to U.S.’s relations with foreign entities is reflected in policy implementation through an instrument. There are four important foreign policy instruments that the United States use. These are diplomacy, alliances and international organizations, economic aid and sanctions, and military force.

Diplomacy is believed to be the art or practice of conducting international relations. In the context of U.S. foreign policy, diplomacy intends to promote national values or interests by peaceful means. Despite its importance in U.S. foreign policy, the first fully professional diplomatic corps was created only after the promulgation of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 following World War II.

Today, from the perspective of U.S. foreign policy, NATO has both political and military goals. Its main political goal is “to promote democratic values and enable members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict (NATO).” NATO’s military goal includes “peaceful resolution of disputes. [However,] if diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations,” which are carried out under the collective defense clause of the Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, NATO’s founding treaty.

The final foreign policy instrument that the United States use in foreign policy is military force. The United States has the world’s strongest military, with army, navy, marine and air force personnel spread around the world. In addition, The United States spends nearly as much on its military establishment as the rest of the world combined. While the use of military force is always considered to be of last resort due to the costly nature of military involvement, and while the tension between the “Never-Again” and the “Limited War” viewpoints still persists, the United States rarely shies away from using military force in cases where national values and interests are deemed to be in danger.