Selected Questions for Midterm Study Guide

The “four P’s” framework refers to four over-riding principles that have formed the core of foreign policy scholarship. The “four P’s” refer to power, peace, prestige, and principles.

Power aligns itself most closely to realism, as it focuses on maximizing the strength of the United States in the world.
Peace refers to maintaining relationships in order to prevent war. It aligns itself most closely with constructivism.
Prestige refers to maintaining the impression of the United States as a dominant and powerful power.
Principles refer to the core values of democratic governance and human rights that form the basis of American idealism.

- power of purse?

Congress is given the “power of purse”. In other words, it controls the budget, and the president therefore can be checked by Congress. An example of this was in the Congress’ refusal to continue to fund the war effort in Vietnam despite President Ford’s objections.

-Groupthink?  Example?

Groupthink occurs when an environment is created in which disagreement is discouraged, causing people who otherwise might disagree to remain silent for fear of being called un-cooperative. A classic example of groupthink can be found in the decisions that led to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

- Role of Media? Cheerleaders or Critics?  Examples

The role of the media as cheerleaders or critics is clearly shown in their coverage of the Vietnam War. Early on, coverage of the Vietnam War was mostly favorable, with the media acting as cheerleaders for the war effort. As the war dragged on, however, and the possibility of a victory became less and less likely, the media turned, and became critics of the war, as could be seen in Walter Cronkite’s reporting of the Tet Offensive in 1968, where, even though the offensive was a loss for the North Vietnamese, the media saw it as a sign of the foolhardy nature of the US presence. This critical role of the media continued through the end of US involvement in Vietnam and into the late 1970s.

- what was George Washington’s farewell speech about?

George Washington’s “Farewell Address” warned Americans to avoid entanglements in foreign affairs, especially ones that dealt with European affairs. From this address came the origins of isolationism, which would unofficially remain the guiding principle of US foreign policy until the end of the Second World War.

- War of Mexico, 1846-8?

The Mexican American War was based on the concept of manifest destiny, in which it was believed that America was “destined” to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and to that end, the Mexican American War was fought. At its end, Mexico was forced to cede almost 40% of its territory to the United States. However, the new territories meant that the slavery issue started up again, increasing tensions that ultimately further intensified the trend toward civil war.

- “Good neighbor’ policy? who initiated it? Why?

The “good neighbor” policy was instituted by FDR as part of an attempt to try and make the United States’ presence more amenable to the countries of the Caribbean and Central and South America. In it, the United States started to see them more as equals. The policy, however, did not last for very long.

- What does ‘Appeasement’ mean? It links to which political event in 1938?

Appeasement refers to giving in to another side’s demands in the hopes of pacifying that side. The most famous (or infamous) case of appeasement refers to France and Britain allowing Hitler to take over the Sudetenland in the hopes of averting a world war. Chamberlain declared that the deal would bring “peace in our time”. It wasn’t very long, however, before Hitler broke the terms, and a year later, Europe fell under war once more.

- When exactly WWI ended? When Atomic bomb dropped on Japan?

The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, followed by the second atomic bomb on 9 August 1945. Ultimately, Emperor Hirohito stated Japan’s intent to surrender on the 15 August 1945. With the signing of the Instrument of Surrender on the 2 September 1945, the Second World War drew to a close.

- Origins of the Cold War: two different views? Orthodox? revisionists?

The orthodox view places the blame for the Cold War squarely at the feet of Joseph Stalin, arguing that there was no possibility for the two sides to get along so long as the Soviets sought to export communism, whereas the revisionist view, though acknowledging that Stalin committed some terrible actions, places more of the blame on the United States, arguing that the United States had, through actions like the intervention in Siberia of 1918-1919 in support of the Whites during the Russian Civil War, engaged in hostile acts and therefore reduced the possibility of any sort of cooperative action between themselves and the USSR.