US Foreign Policy Before World War Two
The first United States President, George Washington, established non-interventionism in his farewell address to the nation. Non-interventionism was maintained throughout the majority of the 19th century. Non-interventionism is a minimal foreign policy that bases its notion on minimal foreign interference. Non-Interventionism states that; “Political rulers should avoid interfering in the affairs of foreign nations relations but still retain diplomacy and trade while avoiding wars unless related to direct self-defense.” Non-Interventionism also discouraged making political alliances with foreign countries to avoid being drawn into their conflicts as an ally. Non-interventionism had been a forefront policy in the United States which was vastly supported and attributed to their initial lack of support in World War One and Two, these policies were in full force when the United States Congress rejected Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations.
The turning point for United States foreign policy was the Spanish-American War in 1898. The Spanish-American War originated as a battle for independence by the Spanish Empire colonies. The United States had in no way been impacted or provoked by other nations, yet abandoned their non-interventionist policy and came to the aid of the Spanish colonies. However, the US had other intentions than to protect these cosines; they wanted to gain control of the colonies and build their empire while taking down the Spanish Empire. This was the first sight of Interventionism entering the US’s foreign policy. “Interventionism is a policy of non-defensive activity undertaken by a nation-state, or other geopolitical jurisdiction of a lesser or greater nature, to manipulate an economy and/or society. The most common applications of the term are for economic interventionism and foreign interventionism.” Following the Spanish-American War, the US was also seen to intervene in World War One, however, this decision proved catastrophic for the US who lost tens of thousands of men to a war that was going on thousands of miles away from their borders.
Following its disastrous intervention in World War One, the US readopted its non-interventionist policy and remained out of all foreign affairs until 1939. The US population was overwhelmingly against intervening in World War Two when calls were placed upon the US for military aid. Although there was vast opposition, Roosevelt was determined that this war would be a success for the US, which it was with the defeat of the Nazis. Over the next half-century, the US would go on to become one of the most heavily interventionist countries with interests in foreign geopolitical events such as the cold war where they intervened in many satellite wars in countries such as Vietnam and Korea.
The US’s actions became problematic as they did not have direct authority to begin intervening in sovereign nations' domestic disputes. The definition of sovereignty is the monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a territories borders. A central government that controls legitimate force within a country - such as the military or police is sovereign. All state no matter the size are entitled to the same legal right to control their borders. This notion was made prevalent at the Treaty of Westphalia in 1948, and although the concept would have seemed null at the time of the Spanish-American War of the World. War, arguments can be made to suggest that the US’s actions in the cold war and thereafter are illegal. Their meddling and occupation of foreign territories could be considered illegal invasions. Although, in some instances, these incursions have been sanctioned by international organizations, such as the International Courts of Justice, which gives authority to the incursion based on issues such as Human Rights Violations. However, there is the question that if a country does not recognize the International Courts of Justice or other international bodies, does this not then make the incursion illegal and should we not hold the US to the law, or are they above the law due to the fact of them being a major superpower.
The Gulf War
In early August 1990, Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and occupation of Kuwait. The United Nations Security Council demanded that Iraqi forces dismantle and withdraw from the region, but their demands were met by silence. By mid-January 1991 the Persian Gulf War was in full throttle commencing with an enormous US air offensive known as ‘Operation Desert Storm’. The US decided to intervene in the Gulf War following pleas from other Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In the early years of the US government, they were known as isolationists, or non-interventionists, however, in the decades leading up to the Gulf War and chaos in the Middle East, the US becomes gradually increasing interventionists, until they were eventually dubbed the ‘worlds police’.
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In August of 1988, the United Nations, brokered a ceasefire between Iran and Iraq, however, by the mid-1990s the two nations had still not begun to broker a peace treaty. All prospectus of a peace treaty seemed hopeful at a meeting between the countries foreign ministers in July of that year, however, subsequently, Saddam Hussein delivered a speech to the Iraqi people accusing Kuwait of stealing crude oil from the Ar-Rumaylah oil fields on the border of the two countries. Hussein demanded that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait dismiss $30 billion in Iraqi debt and suggested the two nations were in cahoots to decrease the price of oil in the hope this would discourage Western nations from buying their oil. Following these demands and allegations, Hussein massed troops on the border of Kuwait. Following the failed peace negotiations by Egypt, Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait. Two-thirds of the 21 Arab League condemned these actions and turned to the United States for help.
The US responded to these pleas for help in kind and condemned Iraq’s unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation. President George H.W. Bush sent the then secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney, to meet with the King of Kuwait where they discussed US military assistance. Bush’s decision to intervene in the Gulf War was met with mass controversy in the US, to Bush supporters this decision was based on his desire to defend the defenseless, however to his enemies, Bush intervened to protect US interests in Kuwait’s Oil market. To the international community, the majority also viewed this intervention as a selfish act designed to further the United States' agenda. President Bush proceeds to convince several other world leaders to create a trade embargo on Iraq. In addition to these economic sanctions, all the participating countries proceed to create an armada of force that could be used in the worst-case scenario. For the next 12 years, the US would impose a no-fly zone over Iraq which would go on to cost them $9 Billion, despite being victorious in their intervention and pushing Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. The US claimed that the main reason for the no-fly zone was to protect the ethnic Kurdish population in the north and the Shiite Muslims in the south, who were being persecuted by the Iraqi people and government. Many people in the international community believe that the US has a bullying foreign policy, that most likely started around the time of the War on Terror. The US is perceived as the ‘greedy bully’ who own has its self-interest in mind when involving itself in foreign policy, although there is no way to know President Bush’s true intentions behind the intervention in Kuwait, many outside American borders believe that it was to further the US’s interest in one way or another creating a cruel reputation for the US. Ultimately, their hyper-involvement in Middle Eastern politics has led to their regional standing becoming weakened.
Operation Infinite Reach
On August 20th, 1998, President Bill Clinton launched an offensive missile strike on al-Qaeda bases in Khost Afghanistan. These attacks were in repose to the August 7th bombings at the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed 224 people. This was the first time in US history a preemptive strike was launched against a violent non-state actor. Operation Infinite Reach was the biggest reaction to a terrorist attack since the 1986 bombings in Libya. To the majority of the Western international community, these strikes were met with public support, however many Muslim actions condemned these actions. As a result. The strikes failed to kill Osama Bin Laden, and his public image within the Muslim community was increased creating, in the long run, a greater threat to the United States. There was greater upset and embarrassment for the US following the Taliban’s outright denial that Osama Bin Laden was within their borders, insisting the US carried out an unprovoked attack on sovereign soil killing innocent civilians. This led to protests in Afghanistan, where people burned a UN office to the ground and killed an Italian UN official in Kabul. Sudan expelled a British ambassador from their borders and support for the anti-American movement in Sudan came pouring in from Middle Eastern leaders such as Gaddafi. Protests continued in Islamabad, Tripoli, and Karachi, increasing the hatred of the US among Arab countries. Many Western countries attribute the brute force strength of the West to the actions the US had perpetuated upon countries in the Middle. East. Much of the international community believed that the Us had bullied its way into being hated by intervening and attacking nations without solid leads of proof and evidence to back them up.
War in Afghanistan
In the wake of the 21st century, the US became heavily involved in middle eastern conflicts. September 11th, 2001 marked the start of the War on Terror, as 19 terrorists hijacked four flights heading towards New York and Washington DC. These attacks were claimed to be carried out at the behest of the terrorist organization al Qaeda. Following this devastating day, the US, along with her allies invaded Afghanistan on October 7th, 2001 under the direction of President George W Bush, a Republican. The public aim of the war in Afghanistan was to dismantle and destroy al Qaeda and remove the possibility of a safe base in Afghanistan for the terrorist organization by removing the Taliban from power. Once the military had settled in the region, the US demanded the Taliban hand over Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, as well as banning the rest of the organization from Afghan borders. The Taliban declined the request and demanded the US government hand over proof that Bin Laden was behind the 9/11 attacks. The US did not take too kindly to this request being denied and by December 17th, 2001 had driven the Taliban from power and placed strategic military bases near major cities such as Kabul. In August of 2003, NATO forces joined the US in entering the Afghan conflict and were met in kind by an insurgency, which continues to this day, launched by Mullah Omar, the then-Taliban leader.
The war in Afghanistan was dubbed ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ which was largely supported by the US population with a survey in October 2001 showing 88% of American citizens backed military intervention. However, the same mass of support was not seen in the international community. In another survey conducted in 2001, 34 out of 37 countries were found to not support military intervention, and rather favor legal extradition through a trial. The table beside shows how over the years favor gradually fell for military intervention in Afghanistan, by September 2010 only 39% of the US population supported the war. A clear dichotomy was also prevalent between Republican and Democrat supporters. A poll conducted by ABC News in 2009 found 78% of Republicans were in favor of the war in comparison to 22% of Democrats. In 2008, none of the six NATO members had a majority supporting troops in Afghanistan, yet the troops remained. Over the past two decades, the decline in public support, within and without US borders has caused a decline in the international reputation of the US. It is notably prevalent that withdrawing from a lost war would be incredibly damaging to the US’s international reputation and credibility. However, at the time there was a broader understanding in the international community about the rationale behind the US’s military intervention in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks. As well as this, under the United National Security Council, this was deemed a legal act of self-defense as the US had been attacked.
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