Foreign policy refers to the schemes that authoritiess employ to steer their actions towards other states. The U. S. foreign policy is founded on the rules of democracy and dogmas liberalisation ( Goldstein. 2003 ) . The U. S. foreign policy takes into history issues of human rights. economic growing and development. terrorist act and environmental debasement and addresses them as challenges that can outdo be addressed through democracy in states and establishments throughout the universe ( Goldstein. 2003 ) .
The U. S. foreign policy has undergone important passages that match different historical periods in the universe that include the World War I. the World War II. the Cold War. the station Cold War period and the September 11. 2001 terrorist onslaughts. The United Nations and the United States are arguably the most influential participants in the international system every bit good as in the planetary political economic sciences as a whole.
Having been formed with the chief aim of advancing and accomplishing sustainable peace in the universe. the United Nations remains the most dominant and most influential International Governmental Organization in the universe ( Roberts & A ; Kingsbury 1994 ) .
In theoretical footings. the cardinal significance of the United Nations every bit good as the operational challenges faced by the establishment are illustrated in the theory of pragmatism which states that “there is no universe authorities. or political authorization above the province. a state of affairs that finally reduces the international system to absolute lawlessness with the absence of any overarching political organic structure with the capacity to implement jurisprudence and order among its members or state states” ( Roberts & A ; Kingsbury 1994 ) .
The pragmatism theory emphasiss on the centrality of the province. or state province as the ultimate political authorization in the political relations of the international system. As such. the overruling motivation of all provinces is self-preservation through maximization of power. a characteristic that efficaciously transforms the international system of a war of all against all ( Goldstein. 2003 ) . The pragmatism theory further argues that stableness is best achieved in the balance of power which can be achieved through increased interactions among provinces. with the most powerful state playing the function of a balancer ( Goldstein. 2003 ) .
Today. the U. S. is the most powerful state in the universe and has efficaciously assumed the function of a balancer in the international system. with the United Nations helping as the overarching political organic structure with capacity to implement jurisprudence and order among its member provinces. Domestic Public Attitudes toward Foreign Policy in the United States At the domestic degree. the U. S. foreign policy enjoys a batch of support among the people. Harmonizing to a study by World Public Opinion. org. a strong bulk of U. S. citizens support of the U. S. engagement in the universe.
However. the figure of U. S. citizens who feel disgruntled by the country’ foreign policies is turning steadily. The World Public Opinion. org has established that Americans overpoweringly back up the continued leading function that the U. S. plays in the universe. These findings were based on a 2006 GMF canvass which indicated that 84 per centum of those polled stating it was desirable for the U. S to exercise strong leading personal businesss. with 43 per centum holding been quoted as showing a US planetary influence as being really desirable. and merely 14 per centum showing their concerns about the U.
S. planetary influence. However. the overpowering support of the U. S foreign policy by its people does back up the function of the U. S. in planetary personal businesss as a hegemony. but instead supports the thought of shared leading functions with other participants in the international system. A important section of the U. S population believes that the U. S security has been threatened by the manner the U. S. has been utilizing the menaces of military force as purchase in the international system.
In a canvass conducted by the World Public Opinion. org. 63 per centum of the respondents were of the position that the U. S. military menaces prompt other states to be protective by developing and geting arms of mass devastation. In another study that was carried out in 2003 by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. bulk of the U. S. citizens faulted the war in Iraq. with 66 per centum of the respondents believing that the war has had negative effects on the dealingss between the U. S. and the Muslim universe.
Harmonizing to the study. 64 per centum of the respondents expressed concerns that the war will non advance democracy in the Middle East while a farther 61percent expressed frights that the war will non cut down the menace of terrorist act. International Public Attitudes toward Foreign Policy in the United States There has been a turning contempt for the U. S. foreign policy in many states throughout the universe. The September 11 terrorist onslaughts and the subsequent U. S. war on panic are seen as holding peculiarly caused dramatic displacements in U. S. foreign policy ( Grant. 2004 ) .
The military operations in Afghanistan that have been ongoing since October 2001 to day of the month and the U. S. invasion of Iraq have taken toll on the image of the United States with people from around the universe and those in the Muslim states in peculiar demoing the lowest evaluations for the U. S foreign policy. Harmonizing to the Pew Global Attitudes Project that is run by the Washington DC based Pew Research Centre. America’s image relation to the country’s foreign policy has dropped vastly over the old ages.
Harmonizing to the study of the undertaking. the United States is draging many states in favorability evaluations. States such as France. Germany. China and Japan are more popular than the U. S in the European Union states and Muslim states. The survey showed that while the evaluations of the U. S were highest in Asiatic states such as India. the favorability evaluations of the state dropped by 15 per centum in India between 2005 and 2006. The survey farther indicated that degrees of negative attitudes that the populations of Western Europe have towards America are even higher than they were in 2002 before the Iraq invasion.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project study besides showed low evaluations for President George Bush both domestically and internationally. with the assurance in shrub to do the right determinations in international personal businesss holding dropped in seven of the 11 states in 2005 as provided by the informations that tracked the tendencies. The study farther indicates a steady slack of evaluation for George Bush in European states and among preponderantly Muslim populations. George Bush registered the largest slack of evaluations in the U. S. from 62 per centum in 2005 to 50 per centum in 2006.
In respect to the War on Terror. the Pew Global Attitudes Project reported an overpowering lessening in international public support for the U. S led war on terrorist act. With Muslim states holding evidently registered the highest degrees of unfavorable judgments against the war on panic. Spain and Japan besides registered about practical prostration of support for the counter-terrorism war. As of 2006. the support for war on panic in Spain had reduced to 19 per centum from 63 per centum in 2003 while Japan registered public support of 26 per centum from 61 per centum in 2002. harmonizing to information provided by the Pew Global Attitudes Project.
