Foreign Policy Definition and Examples

Foreign Policy Definition and Examples A state’s foreign policy consists of the strategies it uses to protect its international and domestic interests and determines the way it interacts with other state and non-state actors. The primary purpose of foreign policy is to defend a nation’s national interests, which can be in nonviolent or violent ways. Key Takeaways: Foreign Policy Foreign policy encompasses the tactics and process by which a nation interacts with other nations in order to further its own interestsForeign policy may make use of diplomacy or other more direct means such as aggression rooted in military powerInternational bodies such as the United Nations and its predecessor, the League of Nations, help smooth relations between countries via diplomatic meansMajor foreign policy theories are Realism, Liberalism, Economic Structuralism, Psychological Theory, and Constructivism Examples of Foreign Policy In 2013 China developed a foreign policy known as the Belt and Road Initiative, the nation’s strategy to develop stronger economic ties in Africa, Europe, and North America. In the United States, many presidents are known for their landmark foreign policy decisions such as the Monroe Doctrine which opposed the imperialist takeover of an independent state. A foreign policy can also be the decision to not participate in international organizations and conversations, such as the more isolationist policies of North Korea. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy When foreign policy relies on diplomacy, heads of state negotiate and collaborate with other world leaders to prevent conflict. Usually, diplomats are sent to represent a nation’s foreign policy interests at international events. While an emphasis on diplomacy is a cornerstone of many states foreign policy, there are others that rely on military pressure or other less diplomatic means. Diplomacy has played a crucial role in the de-escalation of international crises, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 is a prime example of this. During the Cold War, intelligence informed President John F. Kennedy that the Soviet Union was sending weapons to Cuba, possibly preparing for a strike against the United States. President Kennedy was forced to choose between a foreign policy solution that was purely diplomatic, speaking to the Soviet Union President Nikita Khrushchev or one that was more militaristic. The former president decided to enact a blockade around Cuba and threaten further military action if Soviet ships carrying missiles attempted to break through. In order to prevent further escalation, Khrushchev agreed to remove all missiles from Cuba, and in return, Kennedy agreed not to invade Cuba and to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey (which was within striking distance of the Soviet Union). This moment in time is significant because the two governments negotiated a solution that ended the current conflict, the blockade, as well as de-escalated the larger tension, the missiles near each other’s borders. The History of Foreign Policy and Diplomatic Organizations Foreign policy has existed as long as people have organized themselves into varying factions. However, the study of foreign policy and the creation of international organizations to promote diplomacy is fairly recent. One of the first established international bodies for discussing foreign policy was the Concert of Europe in 1814 after the Napoleonic wars. This gave the major European powers (Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia) a forum to solve issues diplomatically instead of resorting to military threats or wars. In the 20th Century, World War I and II once again exposed the need for an international forum to de-escalate conflict and keep the peace. The League of Nations (which was formed by former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson but ultimately did not include the U.S.) was created in 1920 with the primary purpose of maintaining world peace. After the League of Nations dissolved, it was replaced by the United Nations in 1954 after World War II, an organization to promote international cooperation and now includes 193 countries as members. It is important to note that many of these organizations are concentrated around Europe and the Western Hemisphere as a whole. Because of European countries’ history of imperialism and colonization, they often wielded the greatest international political and economic powers and subsequently created these global systems. However, there are continental diplomatic bodies such as the African Union, Asia Cooperation Dialogue, and Union of South American Countries which facilitate multilateral cooperation in their respective regions as well. Foreign Policy Theories: Why States Act as They Do The study of foreign policy reveals several theories as to why states act the way they do. The prevailing theories are Realism, Liberalism, Economic Structuralism, Psychological Theory, and Constructivism. Realism Realism states that interests are always determined in terms of power and states will always act according to their best interest. Classical Realism follows 16th-century political theorist Niccolà ² Machiavelli’s famous quote from his foreign policy book The Prince: â€Å"It is much safer to be feared than loved.† It follows that the world is full of chaos because humans are egoistic and will do anything to have power. The structural reading of realism, however, focuses more on the state than the individual: All governments will react to pressures in the same way because they are more concerned about national security than power. Liberalism The theory of liberalism emphasizes liberty and equality in all aspects and believes that the rights of the individual are superior to the needs of the state. It also follows that the chaos of the world can be pacified with international cooperation and global citizenship. Economically, liberalism values free trade above all and believes the state should rarely intervene in economic issues, as this is where problems arise. The market has a long-term trajectory towards stability, and nothing should interfere with that. Economic Structuralism Economic structuralism, or Marxism, was pioneered by Karl Marx, who believed that capitalism was immoral because it is the immoral exploitation of the many by the few. However, theorist Vladimir Lenin brought the analysis to an international level by explaining that imperialist capitalist nations succeed by dumping their excess products in economically weaker nations, which drives down the prices and further weakens the economy in those areas. Essentially, issues arise in international relations because of this concentration of capital, and change can only occur through the action of the proletariat. Psychological Theories Psychological theories explain international politics on a more individual level and seek to understand how an individual’s psychology can affect their foreign policy decisions. This follows that diplomacy is deeply affected by the individual ability to judge, which is often colored by how solutions are presented, the time available for the decision, and level of risk. This explains why political decision making is often inconsistent or may not follow a specific ideology. Constructivism Constructivism believes that ideas influence identities and drive interests. The current structures only exist because years of social practice have made it so. If a situation needs to be resolved or a system must be changed, social and ideological movements have the power to bring about reforms. A core example of constructivism is human rights, which are observed by some nations, but not others. Over the past few centuries, as social ideas and norms around human rights, gender, age, and racial equality have evolved, laws have changed to reflect these new societal norms. Sources Elrod, Richard B. â€Å"The Concert of Europe: A Fresh Look at an International System.†Ã‚  World Politics, vol. 28, no. 2, 1976, pp. 159–174.  JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2009888.â€Å"The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962.†Ã‚  U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/cuban-missile-crisis.Viotti, Paul R., and Mark V. Kauppi.  International Relations Theory. 5th ed., Pearson, 2011.

Definition of Semi-Auxiliaries and Semi-Modals

Definition of Semi-Auxiliaries and Semi-Modals In English grammar, a semi-auxiliary is a multi-word construction based on an auxiliary verb and having some of the same grammatical characteristics. Also known as a semi-modal or a lexical auxiliary. Semi-auxiliaries include be about to, be able to, be going to, be likely to, be supposed to, had better, have to, ought to, used to, and would rather. Some are followed by an infinitive; others by a zero infinitive. Geoffrey Leech et al. note that the semi-modals are probably the most cited cases of grammaticalization in the ongoing history of English. Among these, in turn, the protoypical, most indubitable cases of semi-modal status are BE going and HAVE to . . .. [T]he lexically independent verbs have and go have, over the centuries, gradually acquired an auxiliary-like function in construction with the infinitive to (Change in Contemporary English: A Grammatical Study, 2012). Also Known As:  semi-modal, quasi-modal, periphrastic modal, phrasal auxiliary, modal-like, modal idiom, lexical auxiliary Examples and Observations What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want.(Mignon McLaughlin, The Complete Neurotics Notebook. Castle Books, 1981)Women have got to make the world safe for men since men have made it so darned unsafe for women.(Lady Nancy Astor)We had better dispense with the personification of evil, because it leads, all too easily, to the most dangerous kind of war: religious war.(Konrad Lorenz, On Aggression, 1963)Girl, you look so good, someone ought to put you on a plate and sop you up with a biscuit.(Arsenio Hall as Reverend Brown in Coming to America, 1988)Reckon somebody oughta help the poor guy.(Nigel in Finding Nemo, 2003)A great teacher is supposed to show them there are other points of view besides their own.(Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester, The Substitute. Glee, 2010)Im shaking the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and Im going to see the world. Italy, Greece, the Parthenon, the Coliseum. Then Im going to go to college and see what they know, an d then Im going to build things. Im gonna build air fields. Im gonna build skyscrapers a hundred stories high. Im gonna build bridges a mile long.(George Bailey in Its a Wonderful Life [1946], adapted from the short story The Greatest Gift [1943] by Philip Van Doren Stern) Strings of Semi-Auxiliaries Only the first word in a semi-auxiliary is a true auxiliary, since only that word functions as an operator, for example in forming questions: Is Sandra going to apply for the job?Had I better eat now?Is Jennifer supposed to phone us today? The semi-auxiliaries may come together to make a long string of verbs: We seem to be going to have to keep on paying the full fee.They are likely to be about to start working on our project. (Sidney Greenbaum and Gerald Nelson, An Introduction to English Grammar, 3rd ed. Pearson, 2009) The Habitual Past With Used to The   past form of habitual aspect is often expressed by the semi-auxiliary used to: Your mother used to sleep like a log.People used to whitewash their ceilings.My father used to bath us six kids in front of the fire. These utterances describe situations that occurred habitually in the past.(Thomas Edward Payne, Understanding English Grammar: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 2010) The Future With Going to The salient semantic and pragmatic features of going to which are generally underlined by grammarians are: - its relatively informal style with respect to will (Huddleston and Pullum, 2002: 211). The widespread use of gonna (as opposed to going to in conversation is often a marker of informality; and it certainly is in written texts when spelt that way. . . .;- its dual meaning of future fulfillment of present intention and future result of present cause (Quirk et al. 1985), which have often been summed up as its intentional meaning and its predictive meaning;- its tendency to be used to indicate the proximity of a future event unless there is a time adverbial or context indicating otherwise (Declerck 1991: 114). The fact that the structure is that of the present progressive form of the verb to go would seem to underline strongly its connection with the present (Williams 2002: 102). (Yiva Berglund and Christopher Williams, The Semantic Properties of Going to: Distribution Patterns in Four Subcorpora of the British National Corpus. Corpus Linguistics 25 Years On, ed. by Roberta Facchinetti. Rodopi, 2007) Markings for Tense and Person [S]ome of the semi-modals, like have to and be going to, can be marked for tense and person: - past tense:He had to call the police. (CONV)- third-person agreement:Maybe she has to grow up a bit more. (CONV) These semi-modals can sometimes co-occur with a central modal verb or another semi-modal.(Douglas Biber, Susan Conrad, and Geoffrey Leech, Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Pearson, 2002)