USFPS18G5

In the realm of International relations, there are many ways in which states can interact with each other. One of these ways is trade. It can be beneficial for two countries to trade if each has something the other wants. For instance, if one country has raw materials and another makes finished products, then it would be beneficial for them to trade because one will have the raw material needed and then they can trade for finished products. The United States trades with many countries around the world.   When it comes to trade, the U.S. has two main interests: to satisfy local interests by 'winning' trade, and to serve interest groups, which can be seen by looking at how the U.S. went about its environmental policies. Since the presidency of Richard Nixon in 1969, most of the presidents have worked to pass legislation that was in favor of helping the environment. For instance, Nixon formed a group which eventually started the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Its “main...

Rachael Feldhausen American Foreign Policy Professor Shirk 4/11/18 US Goals in International Trade             Beginning in the post World War 2 era, the United States international trade prerogative prioritized U.S. interest abroad, while also supporting the creation of a globalized and capitalistic society. The Trans Pacific Partnership and the World Trade Organization are two such agreements that exemplify this position. However, under President Trump’s presidency this goal has changed so that US policies towards international trade is purely an ‘american first’ dichotomy. This includes pulling out of trade agreements that are multilateral such as NAFTA, NATO, and the TPP, only joining in bilateral trade agreements, and only agreeing to deals that will wholy benefit the United States.             It is inherent to trade that the parties involved are first and fo...

TO: President Donald Trump CC: Mark Shirk FROM: Foreign Analyst Trang Nguyen DATE: April 2nd, 2018 SUBJECT: Foreign Policy Regarding Venezuela’s Crisis Introduction Venezuela’s economy has been severely hit by the decline in global oil since 2014. It directly impacted on the state’s ability to import the same quantity of food and medicine as in previous years. In other words, economic struggles have led to a humanitarian crisis, in which basic food and medicines for thirty million citizens are increasingly scarce. While Venezuela’s dictatorial regime has repeatedly rejected humanitarian aid from the outside, the country’s gradual collapse has caused 1.2 million Venezuelans to flee the country over the past two years. To prevent a refugee crisis across the Americas, the United States should seek regional consensus to provide humanitarian aid and continue to support Venezuela’s democratic opposition. Problem statement The humanitarian crisis will not just persist in Ve...

Memorandum Memorandum on United States Foreign Policy Regarding North Korea To: President Donald Trump CC: Professor Shirk From: Foreign Policy Analyst, Victoria Hassan Subject: The North Korean Nuclear Arsenal Dilemma Issue: If not already, North Korea is very close to achieving nuclear armed international ballistic missile capability that is capable of reaching the United States and other regions of North America. Even to experts, North Korea’s motive and intentions for building up a nuclear arsenal have been quite unclear and unpredictable. Recently, there has been much debate as to whether or not the United States should take military action regarding North Korea’s reluctance to denuclearize the entire Korean Peninsula. However, U.S. military action and complete U.S.  inaction are not the only options for dealing with North Korea. Option 1: Trump-Kim Summit Peaceful Negotiations Avoiding military action and possibly the use of nuclear weapons agai...

Memorandum on U.S. Foreign Policy Towards North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program TO: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo CC: Mark Shirk FROM: Foreign Analyst Rachael Feldhausen DATE: March 25th, 2018 SUBJECT: Foreign Policy Regarding North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program It is currently believed that North Korea may finally have developed a functioning nuclear missile capable of reaching the United States mainland. Given the threat that North Korea poses to the United States and U.S. allies, it is important that the U.S. work to denuclearize North Korea. Plans have been made to summon a summit between the U.S., North Korea, and thirteen other countries, to initiate talks of denuclearization. There have also been talks of taking direct military action against North Korea to encourage them to denuclearize. However, Trump and his administration should pull out of the summit, not engage militarily unless provoked by North Korean military action, and continue the Obama ad...

   One purpose of NATO in the 21st century would be to keep doing what it has done well in the first half-century, which was to provide political and military cooperation between the United States and Europe. Such alliance would focus on collective defense and also tasks beyond the defense of territory. Since the collapse of Soviet Union, the importance of Europe to American interests has declined.     Instead, U.S security interests would focus more on other non-European regions, especially Asia. Therefore, it is also NATO's purpose to expand, work and collaborate with other regions both inside and outside of Europe. With the expansion, NATO would have to face the question whether or not to intervene in wars and conflicts to protect democracy and collective security of the Alliance.      As an organization of values, NATO would have to promote and enforce the common norms and standards including rule of law, principles of sovereignty, protectio...

After the end of World War II, relations between the western Allies and Russia quickly became hostile. Russia was a powerful communist nation while much of western Europe was still rebuilding from the Second World War. In order to counter the Soviet threat, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established in 1949. This organization allowed the smaller countries of western Europe to band together in case there was a Soviet invasion of Europe. Although it was established at the beginning of the Cold War, it is still important in U.S. foreign policy. One of the reasons why it is still important today is that Russia is still a threat. Russia has always been looking for weaknesses in western Europe by looking to invade the much smaller, weaker countries closer to its borders. We have seen Russia’s aggression relatively recently with the annexation of the Crimea region of the Ukraine. Had NATO not been around, Ukraine might now be part of Russia. NATO is the only thing that ...