Foreign Policy Analysis of the 9/11 and the U.S Invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 - Essay Example

?Chapter Foreign Policy Analysis of the 9/11 and the U.S Invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 Introduction After the 9/11 New York terrorist attacks, the US government made a resolve, in 2001, on going to war with the terrorists group linked to the attacks in an attempt to eliminate terrorism and secure her borders from future terror threat. The tenth amendment on the US constitution permits the government to use force while combating terrorism with the president as the absolute commander. The war, therefore, according to the terrorism policies drawn in the American constitution, was purely a terror combat mission geared towards capturing the head of the Al Qaeda terror group linked to the attacks. Until now, the move has been causing occasional intense terror threats on America calling for intensification of the fights. The whole process of countering terrorism was implemented through the US foreign policy that legitimised the invasion of Afghanistan. In this connection, Foreign Policy Analysis, as a method of analysis for international events, is important in determining exactly the basic factors and variables that prompted the US invasion of Afghanistan over terrorism acts and intentions against her. Most of the US Foreign Policy Actions, besides the claimed security mission, have been in existence long before the 9/11 attacks. The US long standing historical interests in acquiring the oil and natural gas resources in Afghanistan, one of the richest oil producing nations of the world, has been factual and antiquity (Walt, 2001, p. 64). This interest owes back to the long history of oil trade between America and the Middle Eastern nations, Afghanistan inclusive. We can, therefore, conclude that, the 9/11 terror attacks were not the solitary motivation for the U.S invasion over Afghanistan (Baumann, Volker & Wolfgang, 2001, p. 40). However, these events triggered extreme dramatic and rapid changes in the history of the US foreign policy on trade and international relations formally in place (Walt, 2001, p. 64). To shade extreme clarity on these facts, we can delineate both endogenous and exogenous factors in active play behind the US attacks over Afghanistan. The main endogenous variable that acted as a catalyst to Afghanistan’s invasion in 2001 was to counter terrorism. The facts behind this factor were applied as a form of leadership in relation to security. In addition, there were other exogenous variables that prompted the US- Afghanistan war other than terror fight. Such factors included the significance of oil as well as gas pipes across Central Asia which acted as exogenous variables. In this chapter we will determine why the FPA of the U.S. with regard to the Afghanistan attacks was based on a number of exogenous variables as opposed to purely anti- terror attacks as was initially depicted. Foreign policy analysis is important because it enables every state to improve her relations and coordination with other states around the globe (Hudson, 2005). The first part of this chapter will provide the definition of foreign policy analysis and its theoretical approach. This will be followed by a detailed discussion relating FPA to the hypothesis of this study. The research will also outline the events which surrounded the US 9/11 terror attacks and their contributions to foreign policy analysis. Understanding why and how the US invaded Afghanistan in relation to the FPA Approach is also of prime consideration in this research. Definition of Foreign Policy Analysis and Its Theoretical Approach Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) is a branch of political science that deals with the development of theory and empirical studies that are related to the processes and outcomes of foreign policy. It thus involves the processes through which a state makes its foreign policy (Baumann, Volker & Wolfgang, 2001, p. 40). In relation to the features of FPA delineated above, the method would be significant in describing a vivid insight relating the US foreign policy to the invasion of Afghanistan. In addition, FPA makes a complete analysis of the decision making process, and therefore involves the study of both international and domestic policies (Feng, 2007, p. 2). Accurate analysis of the US domestic and foreign policies will therefore help us understand the issues surrounding the US war against Afghanistan since 2001. FPA mainly focus on wars, diplomacy, intergovernmental organisations, and economic sanctions, which form the primary, focus of this research hence its relevance to the study. Each of the focus mentioned above defines the means through which a state can take part in and implement a foreign policy (Jean, 2003, p. 160). Understanding why and how the US invaded Afghanistan in relation to the FPA Approach is therefore an important point of consideration that bears essential significance to this study. Thus, the FPA Approach that is in play between nations outline personalities that participates in the process of decision making either singly or jointly to influence the operations in concerned nations (Hudson 2005, pp. 1-30). Personalities representing the foreign policy makers therefore are referred to as the actors while those nations influenced by these policies are the recipients (Baumann, Volker & Wolfgang, 2001, p. 40). In line with this, the US will be referred to as the actor and Afghanistan the recipient. Foreign Policy Analysis offers a significant contribution to International Relations in terms of its theoretical, substantive and methodological aspect. With respect to the theoretical form, it offers concepts on how foreign policy should be implemented between countries. On the other hand, substantive and methodological aspects review how concepts are divided and discussed between nations in order to adopt the best strategies for implementing foreign policies. As indicated by Mingst and Arreguin-Toft (2011), foreign policy analysis incorporates the study of the main processes, effects, causes or outputs of the decision making process in foreign policies. As such, the fundamental foci of the FPA analysis are the changes that an actor causes within the international politics and policies. The theoretical approaches to FPA are derived from the major schools of thought found in international relations such as neorealist, constructivists and utilitarian liberal approaches. Although these approaches differ significantly from each other, there are a number of overlaps drawing a deep connection between them. They mainly play an important role in implicating states on the account of their foreign policies that are not flawed metatheoretically (Hollis & Smith, 1990). Depending on the policy approaches adopted by an actor in relation to her foreign policy actions, the outcome is different in each case. The difference is revealed in the fundamental distinctions between the three approaches. In regard to this, the main difference between the three theoretical approaches, neorealist, constructivists and utilitarian liberal approaches, is based on their thematic foci. While some of them base their arguments on the underlying actor model, others focus much on the assumption of the logic of their action. In this sense, the neorealists and utilitarian liberalists support the homo economus model in the course of their study of foreign policy whereas the constructivists supports the homo sociologicus argument in developing their accounts on foreign policy (Baumann, Volker & Wolfgang, 2001, p. 40). The homo economous model outlines human race as rational individuals that can make decisions towards improving foreign policy (Mintz & DeRouen, 2010, p. 68). On the other hand,homo sociologicus outlines human race as people governed by social norms in implementing their foreign policies (Binmore, 1998 p. 35). Therefore, the former are categorized under the political atmospheres characterizing the rational political relationships of various nations of the world, also known as rational theories. The later however, is more leaned on the observance of the social dimensions of the society as a means of developing their foreign policy accounts (Baumann, Volker & Wolfgang, 2001, p. 40). In regard to this, the American foreign policy accounts can be envisioned on the two fronts deriving a complex need for acute analysis of her operations around the globe. Her waging of war against Afghanistan is seen to dwindle around the twin applications, driven by the need to guard the global social and ethical considerations (homo sociologicus) as well as establish her political and economic foundations in the world (homo economus). The main desire of the actors in relation to FPA is often displayed clearly in her exogenous attractions as opposed to the endogenous factors behind her operations in a foreign nation. This is better explained by the way that they are thought to be majorly part of their explanan than they are of its explanandam. In such a case, the actors are usually described to be acting in a manner that defines the logic of consequentiality. This implies that a number of conclusions are drawn from existing policies in order to analyse the patterns used in implementing foreign policies (March & Olsen, 1989, p. 89). However, as depicted by Hollis and Smith (1990, pp. 143-150), the theories of FPA do not only disagree with the way actors conceive and determine their main interests in the international realms, but also study the foreign policy of different states from varied angles to establish a firm foundation for the same. FPA depends on the different conceptions that are respectively related to the theories. These tend to answer many different questions that provide explanations for the foreign policy performance of varied states (Rittberger, 2001, p. 299). Relation of the FPA with the Hypothesis The events surrounding the US attacks against Afghanistan are of great interest to foreign policy analysts. The US- Afghan war presents twin foci regarding the driving factors behind its occurrence. Both endogenous and exogenous forces drove the occurrence of the war based on both internal as well as foreign interests. Analysis of a nation’s interests in another independent nation is the central focus of FPA. Considering the facts surrounding the occurrence of the US- Afghan war, it can be concluded that the main agenda behind the US invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks is in agreement with that of the neorealists and utilitarian liberals. Operating under the cover of fighting to end terrorism around the globe, a critical analysis of the US Foreign policy indicate that the US invasion over Afghanistan would help her gain a higher level of economic and political benefit from the oil and gas reserves in the region (Boekle, Volker & Wolfgang, 2001, p. 110). These facts are highlighted on the long historical interests the actor had invested on the region’s precious resources even before the attacks. In the case of the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, it can be said that the US performed the foreign policy action out of self-interest or generally basically because of their orientation on a particular goal, which is usually the more general aspect. According to Pauly (2013, p. 27), the main target of the United States during the invasion was to come up with a behaviour that would result to the validated calculation of benefits and costs. The main target of the United States during the invasion was evident through a combination of endogenous and exogenous factors that affected the US decisions regarding the war. The endogenous variables were on the basis of countering terrorism, whereas exogenous variables that attracted US to Afghanistan were the significance of oil as well as gas pipes across Central Asia. Such resources- based interests would not be easy to attain given the intense resistance the actor received from the region’s rebel groups such as the Al Qaeda and the Taliban. War, therefore, remained the best option for gaining access through eliminating these terror groups and the 9/11 attacks presented a needed chance. The whole process of US invasion of Afghanistan implies the existence of earlier plans made by the US to install itself at the centre of Central Asia so as to have overall control of the general political and economic development that were potentially in their interest. This would in turn give the state an economically advantaged position over the other countries in the globe (Pauly, 2013, p. 27). As the actors in this case, the US government aimed to pursue economic and political gains at the lowest possible cost. That is why they hid under the pretext of antiterrorism attacks as the main reason for their foreign policy on Afghanistan after the 9/11. Self-seeking goals, where cost-effective means are selected have been associated with the invasion of Afghanistan by the US. In this case, the implementation of foreign policy can be described as homo economicus and not homo sociologicus as it was initially intended to portray. It is thus the opposite of the social context of security measures against terrorists with which the US used during their invasion. Outline of 9/11 Attacks and Why they Matter Tuesday, September 11, 2001 marks the exact date when the people of America were attacked in act of terrorism. The 9/11 attack involved the city of New York and Washington DC in the signature structures of the World Trade Centre Complex and the Pentagon respectively. The two chambers are very significant to the American people and economy bearing the rich historical heritage and economic big pin for the US. Their collapse therefore evoked serious reactions against terrorism by the American government. The attack was under the control of the Al-Qaeda based in Afghanistan through 4 planes directed by Atta and Omari (National Commission On Terrorist Attacks, 2010. p. 2). The people of New York City witnessed a low rumble reverberating through Manhattan as a passenger jet slammed into the tallest building in a city of towering structures in the north tower of the World Trade Centre. Other planes crashed in the southern tower, the Pentagon and a farmer’s field in Pennsylvania, the latest one originally was meant to crash into the White House (Bodden, 2007, p, 5). The four terror planes were targeted at bringing down the four most important resource pins and historical centres symbols of the US causing extreme pain and anger to the American populace. The attacks, besides succeeding in bringing down most of the target points, also caused the death of more than 2, 977 persons from over 59 nations around the globe. The effects of the terror were therefore not only a cause for alarm to the people and government of America alone but also to the rest of the world. These facts explain the enormous reinforcement the US army received from the NATO and Afghan liberal forces in accomplishing the mission of conquering the Al Qaeda terror group and the world wide applause to the US government for her stern move to combat terrorism. FPA is concerned with the in- depth analysis of the relationship between one nation with another nation (Pauly, 2013, p. 27). The US response towards the 9/11 attacks had effects on the entire globe thus of key interest in foreign policy analysis. The events of 9/11 had a powerful effect on the foreign policies of President Bush’s administration. President George W. Bush assumed office at the time when terror heat was at its peak against America. The US, during this period was engaged in serious cold wars with most of the Muslim nations such as Iraq and Iran over claims of crimes against humanity committed by the leaders of these nations besides the invention of serious dangerous weapons of mass destruction (Bush, 2005, p. 21). The Bush administration therefore had a great task of securing the US borders against external and internal terrorism attacks. The 9/11 attacks were therefore seen as the initial test to Bush administration with regard to the protection of the US populace against terror. This was the main reason why Bush’s administration turned to focus much on the Afghan war and the policies concerning the combat on terrorism. Also, it reinforced the conviction that the government needed strong presidential leadership and sense of mission in implementing their foreign policy. The government resolved in creating an antiterrorism coalition that could overthrow the regime in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, among the top agenda in the response to the 9/11 was the deployment of army officers to Afghanistan through a campaign dubbed “war on terror”. This was a form of retaliation by the US-led forces to swiftly oust the leadership of the Taliban group (Bush, 2005, p. 3). The Taliban and Al Qaeda are renowned terror groups in the Middle Eastern nations bearing a long standing historical influence connected to the protection of the petroleum resources in the region against external forgeries. Political betrayal through democratic ruling is often linked to resources squander and under- protection by opening the borders of a nation to external exploitation (Baumann, Volker & Wolfgang, 2001, p. 45). The Al Qaeda and the Taliban groups have been in the forefront in protecting the region’s resources by organizing rebellious means to democracy in the region with an aim or barring external resources forgeries. It is for this lack of democracy and long term, intense, armed resistance that the US has found it hard to penetrate most of these regions for resources plunder and exploitation. The attacks therefore presented a good platform for America to fight the Al Qaeda and Taliban’s resistance in a justified manner. In accomplishing this, the US military forces together with the coalition of the NATO council and the experts in the UN civilian sought to come up with efforts to safeguard Afghan nation from the Taliban group. This was under the Operation Enduring Freedom (Vulliamy, 2001). In 2002, Governor Thomas Keen instituted the official statement by the National Commission on Terrorist attacks upon the United States. This statement by the National Commission on Terrorist matters in this perspective because it is considered as the main reason why the US thought of invading Afghanistan in 2001. The US was drawn back to past events such as the terrorism attack of 9/11 to end terrorism acts across the globe. At the same time, the US Foreign policy showed that the invasion of Afghanistan would help the US gain a high level of economic and political benefit from the oil and gas reserves in the region. Such exogenous variables led to the toppling of the Taliban regime that had been in operation and rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. The US and the NATO forces launched two major military actions on Afghanistan with a bid to root out the Islamic terror groups behind the 9/11 attacks. It also initiated a series of freeform policies and innovations across the government. However, the Afghanistan invasion has been highly associated with some level of imperialism, which has been embedded in the practice of the U.S foreign policy development (Peimani, 2003, p. 80). Besides the Al-Qaeda issue in Afghanistan, there had also been the issue of security threats posed by Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction that had been discredited. The moral debate over the use of military force against Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq begun in 2002/ the arguments behind these operations were based upon Iraq’s possession of chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. The vice president Richard Cheney and secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld gave statements relating to the nuclear weapons on efforts to justify pre-emptive military action of removing Saddam Hussein from the regime. The two leaders believed that Saddam Hussein manufactured the weapons of mass destruction in order to sustain terrorism activities against the United States. President Bush re- echoed the statements given by Cheney and Rumsfeld against weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in his speech on September 12 to the UN General Assembly (Holland, 2012, p. 21). The President emphasized that the outlaw regime in Iraq was supplying terrorists with technologies to kill on a massive scale, violation of the agreement that ended the Gulf war in 1991 and Security Council resolutions of defending Kuwait from Iraq aggressions. These statements were directed to Saddam Hussein systematic oppression of the people of Iraq, torture, assassinations and chemical warfare against his enemies. The points justified US military force attack on Saddam Hussein’s regime. Therefore, the United States had to move swiftly to stop the production of nuclear weapons (Johnson, 2005. p. 46). Understanding why and how the US invaded Afghanistan in Relation to the FPA Approach Different analysts have put forward different views in relation to the U.S attacks over Afghanistan. As shown by Harvey (2007), besides the main anti terrorist policy, there are other endogenous and exogenous variables related to the invasion. In this case, the exogenous variables reveal that the US was using the neorealists and utilitarian liberalism approach of theoretical FPA in order to achieve her mission in Afghanistan. This is seen in her long quest for global super superiority focused on attaining “power and plenty” to achieve autonomy and influence respectively (Ryan, 2000). The US is standing tall in the world as the most powerful nation in terms of economic, military as well as political sovereignty since the end of the WWII. In connection to this, her influence in the global arena has been far fetched and stretched far and wide. As the world super power the US is entitled to maintaining the word peace by combating terrorism and other crimes against humanity. In a bid to accomplish these missions and maintain her position as the global super power, much resources are required some of which are present outside the US borders. Thus, the reasoning behind the US being involved in the war in Iraq has been a contentious issue. The humanitarian involvement and motives for the deployment have additionally been questionable to some extent (Holland, 2012) given her quest for more resources to contain and maintain her position as the global leading nation. She has waged was against nations trying to outmatch her in war such as Iraq and other middle eastern nations, with a bid to maintain her global military dominance. Moreover, acquiring resources from non- democratic nations such as Afghanistan has proved impossible calling for military actions. As such, FPA helps to give a better understanding of why and how the US invaded Afghanistan by outlining the endogenous variables and factors behind the 9/11terrorism as push factors for US invasion of Afghanistan. This is in relation to exogenous variables such as the economic position of central Asia’s oil and gas, which the United States wanted to take full control over as energy resources, the strategic, historical and moral reasons that include deep humanitarian interests (Freund & Volker, 2001, p.100). It is important to have a general understanding of what motivated the war against terrorism in terms of combined several US foreign policy factors like the desire to “combat evil”, contain “rogue state” and “hunt down Osama” (Chossudovsky, 2005, p. 15). Positioning herself as the world super power, the US security was threatened by such terror acts and the need to contain and maintain her status in the global sphere by remaining unperturbed by terror threats. Exercising her authority over the world populace through military actions is the sure way of demonstrating outstanding military protection to the global nations. The imperialist actions of the US after the 9/11 attacks have echoed some of the imperialist ambitions that had been established by former regimes. The US monopolistic military power has helped her attain her imperialist position with regard to the control of the various resources in the international realms. Able to trade with any nation of the world and her people free to move to any nation, the US borders are restricted to movements and her market restricted from foreign penetration for trade portraying the worst history of imperialism. The classic case of the mechanism of imperial vulnerability was witnessed in 1990’s in the erosion of the U.S political base in the Islamic countries. However, the effects of 9/11 had the effects of recommitting US to act against the Islamic worlds since the ambitions were highly linked to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 (Fouskas & Gokay, 2005, p. 6). According to Negri & Hardt (2000, p. 397), the imperialistic trajectory of the US foreign policy was evident even before the 9/11 attacks as was witnessed during the cold war. With this, a number of parallels are revealed with the imperialistic policy witnessed after the attacks. It is shown that before the 9/11 attacks, the US had been involved in three major shifts of foreign policy. One of these was the focus on the Middle East, which became the central area for the US foreign policy focus towards the end of the cold war. This was primarily as a result of Israel, oil and terrorism (Negri & Hardt, 2000, p. 397). In addition, during the cold war the US had been interested in the development of a link with international institutions so as to maintain control over regions that were subordinated. This action was greatly linked to the previously highlighted aspect (Todd, 2004, p. 227). Due to the bipolarity of politics at this time, the US foreign policy makers got the chance to portray the conflict as universal “zero-sum” and claim that it was all encompassing in the sense that it was important for the provision and maintenance of global security (Ryan, 2000). It is with this, that the US took the advantage to protect economic zones that they perceived to be economically strategic. These include Central Asia, which they invaded in 2001 under the claim that they were more focused on providing security against terrorism attacks. As indicated by Harvey (2007, p. 179), they were able to use this to control the economic regions while they prevented the establishment of new models that prevented neo-liberalisation. The US foreign policies measures are mended in the US houses of policy and law making including; the house of the senates and that of the congress composed of members from the two major political parties in the region, the democrats and the republicans. The events of the 9/11 attacks took place when the republican party under the leadership of president George W. Bush was the ruling party with the democrats in the opposition. The contribution of the two party members is of great importance in decision making especially over such tangible issues as those regarding the occurrence of wars (Hess & Orthman, 2011, p. 383). The democrats’ decision into the matters of military war, economic factors as well as political matters was by then acutely significant to the US’s operations in Afghanistan. Most of the leaders in the US and especially the Democrats in the house of Congress voted almost unanimously to authorise the Military force to be used against terrorism in Afghanistan. With the adoption of USA Patriot act, the democrats have succeeded in imposing punishments for possessing biological weapons and any act of terrorism against a mass transit system (Hess & Orthman, 2011, p. 396). This was a sign to show their support for NATO invasion in Afghanistan. Most parts of the Middle Eastern nations have for along time been under the control of the European power. The NATO nations therefore have great influence on the Middle East’s economic as well as political developments. Moreover, the European nations, led by Britain are as well of great military influence across the world. Their support in the war was therefore of great importance to the American government in achieving their mission in the Afghanistan. However, some of them have raised their concerns about some of the resources being drawn away from the presence of Afghanistan. As opposed to the leadership, the major public opinion about the Taliban was not entirely negative since they had been able to crack down the high levels of corruption that had been rampant before they started their rule (Bajoria & Laub, 2013, p. 5). Most part Conclusion After the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, the government made a plan to invade Afghanistan to stop global terrorist threats and attacks. However, the mission and invasion by the US into Afghanistan is the only venture in which the military were involved that is highly misunderstood in terms of its cause and purpose. It is because of this that Foreign Policy Analysis of the US invasion on Afghanistan was necessary. The exogenous variables such as oil and gas were pull factors that attracted the US into Afghanistan besides endogenous factors like leadership. Although the main target of the US was to take the opportunity to eliminate terrorism they also took advantage of the financially potent resources that were available in the region. Thus as opposed to the sole provision of security measures for the country as well as the entire globe it was mainly focused towards the economic and political gains in terms of taking control. With this, the foreign policy is completely different from what was indicated and expected. As such, it was just an extension of the foreign policy that they had initially developed before the 9/11 attacks during the cold war. Words: 3151 Read More