Verified Document

U.S. Foreign Affairs The Causes Term Paper

Stephanie Power covers a period from 1915 to 2001 with the increasing capacity of U.S. response to genocide. While in 1915, nothing could be done about the Turkish genocide in Armenia, the U.S. role increased constantly to the ones played at the end of the 20th century in Yugoslavia and with the role in Saddam's Iraq. Perhaps such examples can help develop preemptive action towards genocide that can be acted upon in the future.

4. Between 1939 and 1941, Germany had started the war in Europe with its attack on Poland, on September 1, 1939, preceded by a series of aggressive actions such as the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia. With Great Britain and France declaring war on Germany, armed conflict proceeded in Europe with the rapid German victories over Poland, Norway and Denmark, Benelux and France. In 1940, the battle for Britain began, with the British and German air forces disputing air supremacy. In 1941, the British had managed to resist German attacks and, in June 1941, the attack on the Soviet Union began, with the launch of operation Barbarossa.

On the other hand, in the Far East, Japan had turned into a militarist state and had created a puppet state in China called Manchuko. Their war with China raged on and the Japanese expansionist power was already beginning to alarm the U.S. leadership.

Looking at this brief description of issues that might have led the U.S. To enter the war, one can emphasize on the spread of totalitarian governance and, further more, of aggression acts throughout Europe and the Far East. The presence of Nazi Germany in Europe and the acts it embarked upon could only force the United States out of its isolation. On the other hand, the submarine war that had begun in the Atlantic was also affecting American economy. The danger that American could use its traditional commercial partners in Europe and that it would need to deal with Nazi Germany ensured that winning the war in Europe became a national priority (historians have estimated that if the same attention was awarded...

With that moment, Japan declared war on the U.S., as well as Germany, which meant that the U.S. could now openly join its European partners in declaring war on Nazi Germany and militarist Japan.
5. Obviously, the main foreign policy event in Wilson's presidency terms was related to the American participation in World War I and the subsequent foreign policy issues that followed, including the Versailles Treaty.

While being able to keep the U.S. out of the European war from 1914 to 1917 and basing his reelection in 1916 mostly on the idea that he was the president who could keep the U.S. away from armed conflicts, Wilson declared the American entry in WWI in 1917. The main cause for this was deemed to be the unrestricted submarine warfare that the Germans had been using in the Atlantic and that included attacks on U.S. passengers ships, as the Lusitania. His declaration of war stipulated not only his commitment to defeating Germany, but also the desire to create a stable environment, a "war to end all wars" as he put it.

The Treaty of Versailles saw the creation of the League of Nations as the organization that would attempt to guarantee world peace. Wilson, however, could not convince the U.S. Senate to join the League of Nation, mainly because the Senate saw this as a limitation of U.S. right to declare war on other countries. Lack of support and U.S. non-adherence to the organization are possibly some of the low points of Wilson's foreign policy.

On the other hand, Wilson was also active in his attempts to establish solid democracies in Latin America and towards stabilizing these countries. U.S. interventions in Mexico, Nicaragua, Haiti or Panama marked the period of WWI as well.

Cushing, Lincoln. 1997. 1898-1998 Centennial of the Spanish - American War. On the Internet at http://www.zpub.com/cpp/saw.html.Last retrieved on August 16, 2007

Sources used in this document:
The Treaty of Versailles saw the creation of the League of Nations as the organization that would attempt to guarantee world peace. Wilson, however, could not convince the U.S. Senate to join the League of Nation, mainly because the Senate saw this as a limitation of U.S. right to declare war on other countries. Lack of support and U.S. non-adherence to the organization are possibly some of the low points of Wilson's foreign policy.

On the other hand, Wilson was also active in his attempts to establish solid democracies in Latin America and towards stabilizing these countries. U.S. interventions in Mexico, Nicaragua, Haiti or Panama marked the period of WWI as well.

Cushing, Lincoln. 1997. 1898-1998 Centennial of the Spanish - American War. On the Internet at http://www.zpub.com/cpp/saw.html.Last retrieved on August 16, 2007
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

U.S. Foreign Affairs Since 1898
Words: 3511 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

S. government chose not only to ignore the great humanitarian tragedy but even refused to condemn the killing. The American inaction on the Rwandan genocide places a big question mark on any subsequent action of its government overseas for humanitarian reasons. Besides being accused of using "humanitarianism" as a smokescreen for pursuing its own narrow national interests, the United States is also accused of undermining the United Nations and International Law

U.S. Foreign Affairs Since 1898
Words: 1021 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Proctor does not merely repeat of make empty allegations that horrific violations are occurring in Cuba upon the natives at the hands of the Spaniards. He has witnessed these abuses with is own eyes on an observational visit, where he went as a skeptic, with, in his own words, "a strong conviction that the picture had been overdrawn," regarding the terrible conditions of the Cuban populace. (Proctor, 1898) Proctor came

U.S. Foreign Affairs Since 1898
Words: 3090 Length: 8 Document Type: Thesis

President Johnson became even more fearful of a communist take-over. In 1964, when two American ships were attacked by the North Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin "the American Senate gave Johnson the power to give armed support to assist any country requesting help in defense of its freedom," effectively beginning the Vietnam War without a formal declaration of war (BBC 2009). The wide-scale bombing of the North in 'Operation

U.S. Foreign Policy and the
Words: 3110 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

They however fail to see the strategic linkage in the U.S. foreign policy. Israel is the most trusted ally of United States in the region. It has the same strategic interest as the United States and has a firm foundation of democratic support. The Arab governments on the other hand are unpopular, non-democratic and are in power due to the western interest in maintaining the status quo. Overthrow of the

U.S. Foreign Policy and the
Words: 1006 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

S. backed elitist regime refuses to follow the established rules (Jenson, 2004). Chavez won his Presidency by majority vote of the people. U.S. meddling in Venezuelan affairs represent a source of outrage for many of the citizens. Venezuela represents the most obvious example where the U.S. has backed elitist regimes that support its own interests, while ignoring the democratic process that is the right of the people. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia with

U.S. Foreign Policy: Pre and
Words: 4171 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

A long passage is quoted here by way of showing what all these various writers are concerned about: (Kane, 2003)May 2002 brought the odd spectacle of ex-President Jimmy Carter standing shoulder to shoulder in Havana with one of the U.S. government's oldest enemies, Cuban president Fidel Castro. Carter, on a mission to convey a message of friendship to the Cuban people and to seek some common ground between Cuba

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now