Essay about American Foreign Policy and Global Activism

American foreign policy has gone through many changes during our 200 years as an independent nation; our position as a global power has obligated us to participate in world affairs, even when public opinion has been unsupportive. After World War 2 we were only rivaled by the Soviet Union as a superpower; our policy at the time was to establish a righteous world order while simultaneously protecting that order against threats that could tear it down (i.e.: communism). After the end of the cold war the U.S was indecisive on what type of foreign policy to establish for itself, since American diplomacy before the end of the Cold War was centered on fighting the spread of communism. The answer to this question came within the academic article I†¦show more content†¦A solution to the Nicaraguan problem seemed more difficult to solve, Reagan wanted desperately to help the â€Å"contras† but was mandated by congress to stay out of the affair. His advisors secretly proposed a way to kill two birds with one stone, a decision that came to be referred to as Ronald Reagan’s black mark on his almost spotless record on foreign policy. The U.S would sale weapons to Iran in return for hostages taken by Muslim Jihadist in Lebanon, and with the money Iran paid those weapons with the U.S would direct that money to the contras fighting the Sandinistas. While the reasons for the trade were honorable and the president was following the American policy of communist containment at the time, it was still nonetheless illegal and badly battered Reagan’s reputation. The end of the cold war obligated the United States once again to face the old problems which weren’t based on containment of communism. Like in the aftermath of World War 2 when America’s influence in the world was expanded, the end of the Cold War did much of the same. The problem’s the Soviet Union once had of controlling and influencing smaller countries under its thumb, n ow were inherited by the last super power standing, which at the time was the United States. Debate began to rise on what path America should take next on foreign policy, should the U.S commit itself to small problems or hold back its fire until a greater threat emerged?Show MoreRelatedWhat Caused The Rise Of Protesters Throughout The 1960s? Essay1448 Words   |  6 PagesThe 1960s in the United States of America was an era of protests. Americans from the 1960s era experienced social changes that caused Americans to revolt of the Establishment of the 1950s. Racial discrimination, gender equality, and poverty are certain specific of the problems that Americans sought the need to identify of what caused the rise of protesters throughout the 1960s. The youth generation from the era â€Å"baby boomers† were the causes for the determination for the 1960s. 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