The United States uses a variety of tactics to achieve the security and
stability it seeks at home and abroad. Sometimes Washington acts as mediator to
resolve disputes, such as when Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton worked to
restore peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Other times, the United States
relies on trade because many policymakers believe that high levels of trade reduce
the likelihood of militarized conflict. Finally, the United States has assumed the
role of world policeman a number of times, sending troops on humanitarian missions
or to punish rogue states that do not adhere to international codes of
conduct.
The Middle East
Much of American foreign policy in the last three decades has centered
around the Middle East, the swath of territory on the eastern Mediterranean
where Europe, Asia, and Africa intersect. The region is also the birthplace of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. What happens in the Middle East is vital to
American interests. The Middle East is rich in oil, which drives the American
economy; without oil, none of America’s cars, planes, trains, ships, or
industrial machinery would work.
Many rulers of oil-rich countries rely on the wealth generated by oil to
sustain their undemocratic regimes and conservative theocracies, which, in turn,
fuels dissatisfaction among the people. Some people express their frustration
through sectarian violence against neighboring peoples of other faiths, and a
minority of people even turn to terrorism to express their anger. Some
theocratic regimes have supported the people’s use of violence in the name of
religious fanaticism. Peace and stability in the Middle East, therefore, would
not only reduce violence in the region but would also curb terrorism abroad and
stabilize the global economy.
Israel/Palestine
The key to stabilizing the Middle East lies in the resolution of the
conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, an ethnic group currently
under Israeli rule that seeks to carve out territory to establish its own
country. Many neighboring Arab countries have declared their support for the
Palestinians, and several have used the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to
declare wars and holy wars against Israel. Some presidents, such as Jimmy
Carter and Bill Clinton, have used their influence to help resolve these
disputes peacefully. Other presidents’ peace plans have been less
successful. Many believe that peace will be harder to achieve in the wake of
Israel’s failure to destroy the Islamist group Hamas in 2006.
Iraq
Iraq has been at the center of American foreign policy since the Gulf
War of the early 1990s, when the United States and its Allies liberated the
oil-rich nation of Kuwait from its Iraqi occupiers. Rather than oust Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein from power, the United States merely removed Iraqi
forces from Kuwait and forced Hussein to end all his nuclear, chemical, and
biological weapons programs. In 2003, President George W. Bush believed he
had proof that these programs were still operational and therefore ordered
the military to invade Iraq, remove Hussein from power, and establish a
pro-American democratic government.
Poor management of the war, a shortage of troops, accusations of
corruption, human rights violations, rampant sectarian and anti-American
violence, and the lack of any weapons of mass destruction have all turned
Iraq into a quagmire. Some Americans and foreign policymakers argue that the
United States should pull out of Iraq immediately, whereas others say that
the United States must remain and stabilize the country in order to keep
Iraq from becoming a safe haven for terrorists.
