HPAVC/HPAVC CD-ROM.iso/HOMEWORK.ZIP/952.TXT

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Essay Name       : 952.txt
Uploader         : edgar roca
Email Address    : [e-mail]
Language         : english
Subject          : Politics
Title            : Future involvement in Foreign Affairs
Grade            : 90 on a 100 pt. scale
School System    : 4 year division 1 university
Country          : usa
Author Comments  : good long paper, has works cited, and works cited summary
Teacher Comments :
Date             : 11/12/96
Site found at    : dat family tree relative
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 Future Involvement in Foreign Affairs

    Since the United States is one of the last remaining super powers of the world,  we
have the obligation to maintain and support good relations with the smaller and weaker
nations throughout the world.  We should take full advantage of this authority in several
different ways.  First the U.S. must focus on investing and trading with those nations who
have yet to become economic powers; second, we must implement a consistent foreign
policy towards the Middle Eastern nations:  third, the United States needs to respect the
attempts and results of the democratization and religious revivals in the Middle East and
Latin America, while taking a passive role in letting the a Western type of democracy take
its course: and forth, the U.S. must ease and downplay its conflict with those civilizations
who dislike the "Western people" and their way of life.
    Obviously, foreign investment is necessary for the future of developing other
nations as well as our own.  There must be an emphasis on foreign investment and trade,
otherwise the third world nations will continue to fall behind economically, technologically,
and domestically, which could lead to an economic downfall for the U.S. as well.  The
question then arises as to what the United States must do in order to have large trade
agreements with other countries other than Japan and Mexico.  In order for the U.S. to
play a more active role in the economic and political development of many of these
developing nations, it must first accept a different philosophy than its current one.  First, it
is imperative for the United States to play a similar role in Latin America to the one Japan
has played with many of the developing nations in East Asia.   The U.S. neighbors Latin
America, and if it wants to play the role of big brother, it must accept the responsibility.
Japan has invested, traded, and been a guide for many of it's neighboring countries in East
Asia, making them grow politically and economically while also profiting economically
itself (Japan Remains 1996).  The U.S. must realize that the economies of Latin American
Nations will play an important part in the future of our own economy, and that it must
begin to lead, invest, and aid not just Mexico, but countries such as Peru, Argentina,
Bolivia, and Columbia into the twenty first century.  The mainstay in American foreign
policy has always been to promote and instill democracy.  However, in order to do this in a
foreign nation, the U.S. must be able to first establish a viable economic relationship and
system within the desired nations.  We should not expect or want a nation to switch from a
total authoritarian government to a market economy; doing so would be a disaster.  The
former Soviet Union is a notable example of this philosophy.   Instead, the U.S. has to be
willing to allow developing to nations invest in U.S. markets before we invest in theirs.  In
return, a viable export / import system will be established.  But it is essential that the
economy of the developing nation be monitored and run by its own government, and the
United States should only be there for advising purposes.  When a reasonable system has
finally been achieved, then--not right away--a more American, laissez - faire type of
economic network will be allowed to grow.  If
    The greatest challenge the United States faces is implementing a foreign policy that
is consistent throughout the Middle East.  Islamic nations aren't likely to be responsive to
ideas such as human rights, and democracy.  These nations will never be responsive to
western ideas when  the United States continues to levy sanctions against them.  The U.S.
is lucky that it has an ally in Saudi Arabia and Israel, allowing them to implement many of
these foreign policy agendas against the other Middle Eastern countries, without having to
face serious economic consequences in the oil and gas industry.  Oddly enough though,
Saudi Arabia is probably as much against western ideologies as any nation in the Middle
East.  Women do not have equal rights, torture is frequent, there is no separation between
church and state, and Saudi Arabia is extremely far from developing any sort of democracy
(Miller 58).   Now, when the U.S. promotes democracy and human rights, why does it
support one country and condemn the next?  Throughout the Cold War, American foreign
policy would give aid to any nation opposing communism.  So during that time the U.S.
developed a "you're either with us or against us" type of policy.  With that type of policy,
many of the Middle Eastern countries became so called enemies with the U.S., which has
led to unrest and hatred of western democracies.  In this time of global economics, the
United States cannot pick and choose which countries to invest in.  In order for the U.S. to
defeat the challenges it faces in the Middle East, it must start by supporting the entire
Middle East.  Israel and Saudi Arabia may be the most attractive offers, but Syria and even
Iran have vast resources that will be very valuable to our economy in the future.
    Next, the United States must respond to the problems of democratization and
religious revival in the Middle East and Latin America.  In the Middle East, there seems to
be the notion that attempts at democratization would lead to the downfall of minority
rights.  As Judith Miller pointed out, "The promotion of free elections immediately is likely
to lead to the triumph of Islamic groups that have no commitment to democracy in any
recognizable or meaningful form" (Miller 59).  What the United States must do is establish
a representational or parliamentary process that recognizes all forms of political action.
Simply promoting free elections would lead to a backlash in democratization efforts.  The
fear is in the idea of one group outlawing another.  A democracy might be based on
majoritarian rule; but all groups, whether they be Islamic fundamentalist or even Christian,
must be able to participate in the political process.  Similarly, the United States must show
complete support for the democratic process in Latin America.  When Salvador Allende
was elected President of Chile, the West feared the thought of a complete Marxist
government (Rosenberg 28).  What needs to be respected is not the political ideology of
one group or country, but rather its democratic process. " Because democracy neither
forms countries nor strengthens them initially, a multiparty system is best suited to nations
that already have a established bureaucracy and a middle class which pays income tax and
where the main issues of property, and power-sharing have been resolved, leaving two
politicians, or parties to argue about the budgets, and letting the tax payers decide who
should come to power" (Kaplan  E9).
    A problem then arises as to the issue of Islamic and Christian revivalism.  How the
United States deals with this problem is crucial in maintaining its leadership and future
economic entity's in both regions.  The revival of Islam in the Middle East is a reaction to
Western encroachment during and after the Cold War.  Traditionalists believe that by
opening up to Western culture they are losing their true faith in Islam.  The first step in
solving this problem might be to recognize that Muslim nations do not embrace every
aspect of liberalism.  If the United States can establish itself as a legitimate foreign investor
and/or trading partner, rejection of Western philosophies will soon begin to diminish.  The
U.S. should still stand strong in its fight to combat terrorism and radical militant groups,
but must also stop showing favoritism in the region (i.e. Saudi Arabia).  The democratic
process can work, but it needs to show the nations of the Middle East that it can be
reconciled with religious revival.  This is done by allowing groups, majority or minority, the
chance to reap in the rewards of democracy.
    Can religious revival be intertwined with economic development or democracy in
Latin America?  The case of  Brazil gives us good evidence as to whether it can or cannot.
"The theory of liberation grew out of the militant priests' direct involvement with the
working poor, both urban and rural" (Haynes 100).  In Brazil, the poor have always been
embraced by the church.  Priests have worked to show that the church is taking an active
role in the impoverished lives of that country.  The idea began to spread through out the
slums and the pueblos, and the poor were soon being encouraged to participate in some
sort of political movement, no matter how minor or trivial it seemed.  This was the first
evidence of a nation undergoing a religious revival and taking steps toward development
and democracy. It has been proven that participation in a regime allows for a greater wealth
of resources economically and politically, while encouraging development.  But, if we try
to impose our will by force or intimidation, there will be few willing volunteers to follow
and join such a movement.   Again, the United States needs to respect the efforts of
religious revival because it is returning Christianity or Islam  to its roots just as the U.S.  is
trying  to establish democracy to its most basic fundamental aspect in many of these
developing nations.  The U.S. must allow democracy, in whatever form it takes, to grow.
This means concentrating on being empathetic and tolerant to the political and economic
developments that might occur during this time of change, rather than taking forceful
actions that many believe is necessary.  The role the United States took when communism
was being defeated in Eastern Europe and the Western way of life was being pushed to the
forefront is the same approach it needs to take with most of these developing nations.
    Since the United States is at it's peak of power in relation to other civilizations, and
Western military power is unrivaled, the U.S. must attempt redefine it image in the non-
Western part of the world.  "The United States dominates the international political,
security, and economic institutions with Western countries such as Britain, Germany, and
France.  All of these countries maintain extraordinarily close relations with each other,
excluding the lesser and largely non-Western countries.  Decisions made at the United
Nations Security Council or in the International Monetary Fund that reflect the interest of
the United States and its Western allies are presented to the world as reflecting the desires
of the world community" (Huntington  39).  This type of selfish global policy can not be
tolerated if the United States wishes to be the leader in binding a "World Community."
The non-westerners view this global decision making in such a way such in effect makes
"the West look as if it is using its international institutions, military power, and economic
resources to run the world in ways that will maintain Western predominance, protect
Western interest and promote Western political and economic values" (Huntington 40).
These views do have merit to them nonetheless, because the United States does use it
worldly powers to influence these international councils in situations when the so called
anti-American countries are involved.  Just because one nations civilization and culture are
totally different from that of the Western nations, the US should not deem which cultures
are acceptable and non-acceptable in the realm of the world.  Because for the most part as
Huntington states "Western ideas such as individualism, liberalism, constitutionalism,
human rights, equality, liberty, the rule of law, democracy, free markets, the separation of
church and state, often have little in Islamic, Confucian, Hindu, Buddhist or Orthodox
cultures" (Huntington 40).  By trying to influence its views through the United Nations and
International Monetary Fund on the non-Western Countries, the U.S. is in fact just
building up more negative sentiment towards itself, which can be seen in the support for
fundamentalism of all types by the younger generation in the non-Western cultures.  If the
U.S. does not attempt to change it's image in the near future, a new generation of
fundamentalist will begin carry out all sorts of terroristic activity against the U.S. that will
be more devastating than the World Trade Center Bombing , because hate towards the
West will be have been instilled sense birth, and the terrorist will feel that means are
justifying the cause.
    It is in these policies, agendas, and attempts at foreign investment, and humbleness
throughout the world that the United States will be able to maintain its classification as a
world power, economically, politically, and socially.  If the United States does not act upon
these ideas and problems in the near future the results might not be immediate; but we will
see the effects well into the twenty- first century when we are no longer regarded as the
super power we once were.



Bibliography

Haynes, Jeff .  Religion in Third World Politics.  Boulder, Colorado:  Lynee
    Rienner, 1994.

Huntington, Samuel.  "The Clash of Civilizations: The West Versus the Rest."
    Foreign Affiars  Vol.72 (1993).  No.3: 39-41.

" Japan Remains Pacific's Largest Trading Partner."  Sunday Star (1996): Star
    Publications,  (Maylasia) Berhad.  (Transmitted From Netscape).

Kaplan, Robert.  "Democracy's Trap."  New York Times  24 Dec.  1995: E9

Kennedy, Paul.   Winners and Losers in the Developing World:  Preparing the     Twenty
First Century.  New York:  Random House,  1993.

Miller, Judith.   "The Challenge of Radical Islam."  The Other World: Culture and     Politics
in the Third World  (1993) 57-58.

Rosenberg, Tina.  "Beyond Election."  The Other World: Culture and Politics in     the
Third World  (1993)  28.

Savona, Dave.  "Choosing a Nerve Center Overseas."  Foreign Trade  Nov. 1995:     11-22,
50.


Annotated Bibliography

Haynes, Jeff.  Religion in Third World Politics.   Boulder, Colorado: Lynee
    Rienner,1994 .   This is a book concerning Religion in the political realm of
    third world nations.  It focuses on the religions of Islam and Christianity,     and
examines their positions within the major Third World nations such as     Iran, Iraq,
Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Peru, and Chile.  Haynes  addresses the     topic of religion in
third world politics by showing us the parallels, and the     conflicts they face within
these nations.  A brief history of the situation is     usually given, and is followed by the
problems and successes the religions     have had within the desired country.  Hanyes offers
his own solutions to     many of the dilemmas described within his book. This source
provided very     useful information particularly on the involvement Christianity in the
    political movement of Brazil.

Huntington, Samuel.  "The Clash of Civilizations: The West Versus the Rest."
    Foreign Affairs  Vol. 72 (1993).  No. 3: 39-41.   This was a section of
    Huntington's article The Clash of Civilizations.  He explains how the West
    dominates the international economic, security, and political institutions,     and
how many countries are striving for a "Western" way of life.  He also     talks about
how those countries who's citizens dislike how the west uses its     power in the United
Nations, to enforce its will upon others.  He lists the     differences between the Western
ideas and the "non-Western" and gives     ideas on how to have a "universal
civilization."  Huntington's article gave     many valid points on dealing with conflicts,
and ways to go about resolving     them.

"Japan Remains Pacific's Largest Trading Partner."  Sunday Star (1996): Star
    Publications, (Maylasia) Berhad.  (Transmitted from Netscape).   This     article
was transmitted off the World Wide Web by using Netscape.  It was a     news article
from the Malaysian paper Sunday Star, that gave an insight into     how Japan has
become the Pacific's largest partner.  The paper also showed     some statistics about
Japan, and the other major players that trade with      Pacific countries such Vietnam,
Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea and     Cambodia.  This news paper article was used
because it came from country     in the Pacific and gave a definite status on Japan's economic
dominance in     the region.

Kaplan, Robert.  "Democracy's Trap."  New York Times  24 Dec. 1995: E9.
    This is a editorial article for the general public about how the United States     should
stop trying so passionately to establish multiparty  systems in every     third world nation.  Its
not that Kaplan is against the instilling of democratic     ideas in developing nations, but he
believes the U.S. should go about it in a     different way.  He explains how we must let
the idea grow and go through     natural process within the country, even though it might not
strengthen the     nation at first.  Kaplan also says that the U.S. should shift its emphasis from
    trying to hold elections for third world nations, to promoting family     planning,
environmental and urban renewal.

Kennnedy, Paul.  Winners and Losers in the Developing World: Preparing the     Twenty
First Century.  New York: Random House, 1993.

Miller, Judith.  "The Challenge of Radical Islam."  The Other World:  Culture and     Politics
in the Third World. (1993) 44-56.   In this article, Miller explains     the challenges the west
must face in dealing with all the different aspects of     the Islamic Religion in the Middle
East.  Since there are so many different     sects, and branches to the religion, Miller
explains what the major     characteristics are of each group, whether they are extremist
militants,     devote Muslims, or terrorist.  For the most part, she paves the way of how
    the West should go about in dealing with Islamic nations, and how forms of
    democracy might be instilled in many of these nations.  She also tells how
    negative most of these countries feel towards Western ideologies, but also     shows
the allies the West has built in the region with Egypt, and Saudi     Arabia.  Millers article
was very  informative on the subject Islam, and the     way Western foreign policies should
act towards it.

    Rosenberg, Tina.  "Beyond Elections."  The Other World: Culture and     Politics
in the Third World. (1993) 28.   In this brief article, Tina Rosenberg     talks about
how the US should react to the Governments that are taking     helm in many of the countries
of South and Central America.  She explains     how a Marxist Government was elected in
the country of Chile by a     democratic process involving most of its citizens.  This
article was very     brief, and was used solely because it tells that the West must show
the     respect to this country for participating in a type of democratic process, even
    a Marxist government was elected.

Savona, Dave.  "Choosing a Nerve Center Overseas."  Foreign Trade.  Nov. 1995:
    11-22, 50.   In this article that comes from a magazine dedicated strictly to     that of
foreign Trade, Dave Savona tells of the importance of establishing a     type of
regional headquarters in countries overseas.  He explains how it is     essential for American
companies to invest in overseas markets, not just in     countries such as Germany, and
Japan, but too rising nations such as Brazil,     Chile, Argentina, Hong Kong, Australia, and
Hungary.  It informs as to the     natural resources that each country offers, and the economic
opportunities     available for the U.S. and the desired nation.  This source was used
    primarily for its opinion of investing in the countries of Brazil and Chile by     the
U.S.


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