The United States and its Foreign Policy-Making Process - Essay Example

?Critically assess the US foreign policy-making process. What are its main strengths and weaknesses? Introduction A country has national interests and with this it has to substantially address the issue of widening its international relation through foreign policy. As can be observed, a foreign policy is an act to formulate specific strategies that are in line with a country’s way of protecting its national interests and international relations (Hill, 2002). It is an act with the intent of creating the best effort in order to create harmonious environment for organizations, corporations and individual citizens of a certain country. The United States sets interaction among its organizations, corporations and individual citizens and into other nations through the implementation of its foreign policy. The United States does not live by its own economy alone but its level of achievement in the world depends on its interaction with its surrounding environment. It is known that the United States performs its functions not just for its people but to its surrounding nations and all other countries in which it has tied up interaction with. For instance, its healthy interaction with China is another important part that it needs to take into account. China is said to be an emerging economy in Asia and it is becoming extraordinary when it comes to its capacity to influence the world economy. With this, the United States has to essentially perform the best possible option in order to maintain its healthy interaction with Chinese government. On the other hand, the United States’ interaction with oil producing countries is another important strategy in which its economy will be able to survive in times of financial challenges. Thus, it is important to consider healthy foreign policy that will protect its national interests in times when there is a need so. The objective of this essay is to assess and evaluate the strength and weaknesses of the United States foreign policy making process. Using the PEST analysis, the United States foreign policy-making process is evaluated in detail. Political Analysis The United States is a nation with high level of influence. It is because of this that its range of power is substantially considered in the international setting. The international distribution of power according to realists is one of the reasons why the United States adopts foreign policy, but another approach is giving more emphasis on the political institutions of a country in the domestic setting (Trubowitz, 2004). As can be observed, power is the bottom line which is one of those that influence the United States foreign policy making. There are different motivated individuals and groups competing against each other in order to achieve flow of power and symbolism in the government and society. And this eventually affects the entire foreign policy making process of the United States (Rosati and Scott, 2010). Competition at some point is healthy. Then one of the strengths in the United States’ foreign policy-making process is the ability to come up with the best procedure because it is necessary to substantiate all the needed concerns for the purpose of ensuring national interests. However, because of this competition there is also a need to properly define the best intention of stakeholders and other competing organizations in as thorough as possible. This is a disadvantage point because the unlikely intention may have greater chance to prevail in the process and will eventually affect the entire foreign policy-making process. As a result, the output may not entirely be for the national interest alone but for the benefits of the few. This creates a considerable issue because of the inclusion of power and generally politics. For instance, private groups have the capacity to check the state’s initiatives and this is due to the weakness of the US political system at some point (Krasner, 1977). Secure global system is one of the primary expectations in instituting foreign policy (Hill, 2002). This is highly influenced by surrounding forces or power among concerned organizations. It is in this level that foreign policy-making process is highly surrounded by politics. International organizations are looking forward to negotiating a stable international order. This is the reason why international organizations are looking forward to peace and order situation of a country just prior to their actual implementation of their investments. It is in line with this that the United States always ensures that its political power is highlighted. It is its reason why political stability is always on its primary list of priorities. This is a clear picture of initiating the required power and influence of the state and thus, the foreign policy-making process becomes highly political in this case. There are corresponding expectations in the process considering that foreign policy is viewed that in a way it has strong political influence towards the creation of protection and change. Thus, the US foreign policy making process is embodied in the context of absolute power and creation of fundamental change. It is therefore undeniably true that the entire process of foreign policy making in the United States is a way to create political strength. This strength in general is very obvious and one of the reasons why the United States remains as one of the most powerful country in the world. However, it is always in this reason that the United States is always misunderstood in its political moves. This however creates integral issue towards its integrity and the reliability of its international policy. Thus, it always takes extra challenges on its part to allow great transparency for its foreign policies and other procedural moves. Economic Analysis In policy making, there are common intellectual steps applied and these include problem recognition and definition, goal selection, identification of alternatives and choice (Wittkopf et al., 2008). These steps are tantamount to creating the best option as possible considering that there are necessary choices that have to be chosen in the international foreign policy-making process. Prioritizing goals is a complicated task especially in the foreign economic policy-making process. This does not ensure automatic recognition or achievement of national interests especially when economic activities are involved. For instance, the sectors of the American economy starting in the mid 1960s were adversely affected by foreign trade which resulted to the need of the US regime for more coherent economic policy (Krasner, 1977). This implies giving much focus and priority to the capitalist class. It is important to understand and include in the discussion that capitalist class has special role to play on how the government exactly determines the right policy it has to implement. The capitalist class has strong influence over the government’s decisions in which the bottom line is a process of seeking benefits and notable advantages to be achieved by the former. The capitalist class has their capacity to achieve their collective will in which the state is used for their advantage (McGowan and Walker, 1981). For instance, the United States is home to renowned corporations in the world. In fact it is its major advantage in the world because investors have great role for its economic growth from the past until the present time. The United States cannot just forget the fact that the national interest it has to bear in the process is not absolutely focused for the country alone in general but one of the specific objectives is to ensure protection for its investors and other contributing bodies for its economic activities and growth. In a practical sense, the United States cannot just remain unfulfilled when it comes to existing global economic activities. This is the reason why it has to substantially use its influence when it comes to dealing with international economic activities. In the case between China and the United States, the latter is said to be strongly affected by existing economic activities of the former. More jobs have been eliminated away from people in the United States because China is offering cheaper labor and thus the final products of the latter have to be relatively cheaper. This is an issue of economic activity and the United States cannot just lie in wait for the right solution to come. Its main goal is to create foreign policy that eventually will take care of the welfare for its people at economic point of view. The American social science assumes that the state is a neutral power broker with respect to addressing the interests of different sectors of capital, labor, agriculture and the public (McGowan and Walker, 1981). The United States’ creation of effective policy to stay on guard when it comes to any harmful impacts brought by other rising economies is just a proof that it is into fostering capitalist accumulation and profits. The US foreign economic policy is very strong because it is backed up with strong influence of the capitalist class that for over the century had controlled the entire economic activity of the state. The disadvantage however of this is that the capitalist class has specific freedom to choose for their moves. Thus, they can always look out for the best foreign economic policy or options suited to their interests. The rising economy in other parts of the world is a threat to the US economy. This leads to the need for more aggressive efforts in order to define the best foreign economic policy that will help the United States continue to acquire capitalist accumulation and profits. Social Analysis Another important aspect in foreign policy is the social factor consideration. Foreign policy deals with people and it is in this reason why there is a need to focus on social judgment and decision-making process, bargaining and negotiation process, and predicting of behavior in complex setting (Tetlock, 1986). The generic social consideration when it comes to foreign social policy in the United States can be categorized into three approaches: system-centered, society-centered and state-centered (Ikenberry et al., 1988). All of these approaches deal with specific issues that include social judgment, decision-making process, bargaining, negotiation process and complex behaviors. The good thing about all these moves is that they continue to create impacts into other states in the international system. This is just an indication that through the social interaction placed by the United States in its foreign policy, the entire action has become a powerful tool that could create substantial impacts on other states. This further implies that the United States together with its foreign policy is creating a social dominant force for its own advantage at some point. The human rights and social policy are interrelated. Social policy is designed by the United States for the purpose of integrating it with citizenship provisions, internal security, institutional reform and more (Harrison, 1994). The United States has no other intention when it comes to social policy but to alleviate its basic stand on international human rights. Normally this includes provision of the basic and vital needs in life (Wronka, 1998). The advantages of this on the part of the United States is towards its ability to integrate in its policy and procedures with respect to providing for its people their basic needs as associated with political and economic advantage of the country (Gowa, 1988). The United States has long been having greater influence when it comes to its political and economic power. This brings forward to its capacity to demand for the best of its country especially on its state and society centered approaches that aim to give liberal trade policy and protection. In the case of its needs for the basic needs for its people, it is important for the United States to have sufficient supplies which actually cannot be produced all by the country. It is therefore important to create basic policy that will eventually address this specific social concern. The United States has effectively established foreign policy in which the bottom line is to promote liberal trade and protection which the bottom line is protecting its national interest. Due to transparency of this procedure, the United States is always open to international scrutiny which at some point is another complex process to face prior to the implementation of its foreign policy. The United States is freely viewed to be creating trade policy as a product of domestic interest group politics which usually result as part of trade barriers and protectionism (Lake, 1988). For over a long period of time, the United States has to face this issue straightforwardly in order to create a level of trust within the international context. Technology Analysis As a highly developed country in the world, the United States is always viewed to be the leader in technological innovation. It is part of its political and economic advantage to integrate in its entire foreign policy the level of its technological advancement. There are different aspects in the United States that benefit the inclusion of technology in its foreign affairs and these include commercial, social and military-strategic values (Nau, 1976). It is not by surprise that science and technology created important impacts on man’s physical and social environment (Skolnikoff, 1967). In this case, it is not also by surprise that technology has become one of the generic advantages used by the United States in order to protect its commercial, social and military strategic values. Technology therefore creates political and economic sustainability on the part of the United States. Thus, it is important on its part to protect this level of competitive advantage. The Considering that each nation rises against each other and are competing when it comes to reaching competitive advantage, technology is not by far one of the most important tools used in order to create a counterpart against the level of success that the United States has attained so far. This resulted for the United States to stay off from isolationism and embrace international system (Kaufman, 2006). It is important for the United States to associate and integrate its strategic moves with the prevailing trend in the international system. Thus, it is clear in its foreign policy when it comes to integrating its technology the associated importance of environmental issue in order to create an international appeal. This is a sort of complication on the part of the United States but the bottom line would still recognize the importance of this in its national interest as significantly viewed on its people’s standard quality of life. Conclusion The United States and its foreign policy-making process is interesting subject to be understood because this creates remarkable significance to the other states or countries in the world. The United States as powerful nation in the world has specific level of influence when it comes to its socio-political and economic stand. In addition, its technological concerns are embodied in the context of standard quality of life for its people, society, organizations and other concerns. Thus, the United States is making significant move just to reach a certain level of national interest through its foreign policy-making process. However, the process itself contains weaknesses and strengths that need to be scrutinized in detail in order to come up with foreign policy that needs not be self-centered but is to share international impacts as benchmark for other countries. After all, the United States is very influential and it is not hard for it to create a model for other countries in order to come up with foreign policies that will truly benefit the international system. References Gowa, J. (1988) ‘Public Goods and Political Institutions: Trade and Monetary Policy Processes in the United States.’ International Organization, Vol. 42 (1): 15-32. Harrison, G. J. (1994) Europe and the United States: competition & cooperation in the 1990s : a study submitted to the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade and the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives. USA: M. E. Sharpe. Hill, C. (2002) The changing politics of foreign policy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Ikenberry, G. J., Lake, D. A., and Mastanduno, M. (1988) ‘Approaches to Explaining American Foreign Economic Policy.’ International Organization, Vol. 42 (1): 1-14. Kaufman, J. P. 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