Sociological theory and US foreign policy in the 21st century

2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-144
Author(s):  
Timothy M Gill
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Michael Mann ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Future Work

In recent decades, several sociologists have moved beyond grand theories of international relations, and empirically examined the motivations of US foreign policy leading into the 21st century. This article discusses the work of three political sociologists who have examined US foreign policy from three prominent perspectives: Michael Mann, William Robinson, and Julian Go. Working from a neo-Weberian perspective, Mann highlights the rise of neoconservatism within the US government that has encouraged foreign expansion. From a neo-Marxist perspective, Robinson emphasizes the importance of transnational capitalist class interests, including the promotion of neoliberal policies, on US foreign policy. And working from a world-systems perspective, Go underscores how the US is a hegemon in decline attempting to regain its imperial footing through military aggression. While these researchers cover much ground and raise important questions, their perspectives also contain several blindspots that future work on issues of US foreign policy could address. Most importantly, these three theoretical perspectives have neglected the importance of ideology in making sense of contemporary US foreign policy, and this article argues that future work should more intensively examine how ideology influences foreign policymaking in the US.

Russia: facing west or east

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jude Woodward
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
East Asia ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
The West ◽  
Uncertain Outcome ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
The Us ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Post War

This chapter reviews US-China-Russia relations in the post-war period, and considers how recent developments affect prospects for the US ‘pivot’. It explains why those driving US foreign policy towards China see the confrontation with Russia in Ukraine as a dangerous and diversionary adventure, leading to Sino-Russian convergence, distracting US attention from East Asia and undermining confidence among the US’s Asian allies of its commitment to the region. It is argued that if the US is to maintain primacy in the 21st century, it must subordinate other foreign policy goals to the paramount objective of containing China’s rise. The US’s failure to do this, instead pitting itself against both Putin in the West and China in the East, means it has driven Russia and China together, quite possibly sacrificing its vital need to contain China for a lesser goal of uncertain outcome in Ukraine.

scholarly journals Christian zionism as a factor of US politics

2013 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 462-478
Author(s):  
Miroljub Jevtic
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Pressure ◽  
Christian Zionism ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
State Of Israel

One of the most important phenomena in US politics is Christian Zionism. The term Christian Zionism is related to unity of a large part of Protestant beliefs and the Zionists movement. The religious motives of US Protestants have coincided with the Jewish intention to go back to Palestine. In this way, Protestant religious motives could only be achieved by using political pressure on the US government. The goal of this pressure is to turn the foreign policy of Washington into a struggle for reconstruction and maintenance of the state of Israel. That is why many people wrongly believe that the US policy in Middle East is a product of the Jewish lobby. However, the US foreign policy in Middle East is a product of religious beliefs of Christian Zionists and the Jewish lobby is just using this fact for its own purposes.

Constraints and Adjustments in the US–Yemeni Relations

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-337
Author(s):  
Jacob Abadi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Democratic Parties

This article analyzes the course of US–Yemeni relations from the 1940s to the present and aims to explain the reasons for the twists and turns in bilateral relations. It argues that the US government never developed a unique “Yemen policy” and that its attitude toward that country was determined largely by its ties with Saudi Arabia. Yemen began to loom large in US foreign policy in the early 1960s when Egyptian President Gamal Abd al-Nasser intervened on behalf of the Republicans who staged a coup against the Royal imamate regime, which relied on Saudi support. The article shows that President John Kennedy looked favorably on the new Republican regime in Yemen despite the robust relations that existed between the United Statesand Saudi Arabia. In addition, it argues that despite the war in Yemen, which lasted from 1962 to 1970 and caused instability in this region, this country did not loom large in US foreign policy. This was largely due to the British presence in south Yemen and especially in the port of Aden, which lasted until 1967. The article shows how the British withdrawal from Aden increased Yemen’s value in the eyes of US policymakers, but even then, no effort was made to fashion a unique policy toward this country. In addition, the article demonstrates how Washington’s attitude changed in 1969 when the country was divided into North Yemen, which tended to regard the Soviet Union as its protector and South Yemen, which continued to rely on US aid. And lastly, the article traces US–Yemeni relations from 1990, when the country reunited, until the present. It demonstrates how the bilateral relations were affected by the superpowers’ rivalry during the Cold War, the fight against terrorism, and disagreement between the Republican and the Democratic parties in the United States.

scholarly journals HENRY A. KISSINGER’S ARTICLE ON TERRORISM: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Mokhamad Toha Rudin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
World Order ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Other World

The aim of this study is to conduct a critical analysis of Kissinger’s article “America’s Assignment” on Newsweek 2004, and to elaborate US foreign policy toward Islam world and Terrorism after the end if the Cold War, this article also tries to find the ideology or tradition of American foreign policy reflected in Kissinger’s article “America’s Assignment”, and how is Realism ideology reflected in the article. The study employs library research in which the data gathered from books, journals, magazines, and internet. The study also employs Van Dijk’s critical linguistic model for the critical analysis of Kissinger’s “America’s Assignment”.The result of the study shows that Kissinger’s “America’s Assignment” reflects both "multilateralistrealist” and “realist-idealist” perspectives for the US foreign policy that the US government should employ. He argues that no single superpower in the world could manage the world order alone without the participants of other world countries. He opposes W. Bush’s unilateral foreign policy toward Iraq though he agrees to “the move toward empire (terrorist) must be halted immediately”. He also argues that bringing democracy into the world, especially Iraq and Muslim worlds, is necessary in order to set up the new world order. The study also shows that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there is a new ideological and cultural conflict between Islam, especially the militant fundamentalist in the fringe of Islam, against the US (Western) globalization of democratization. The new conflict is also generated by the Western phobia toward Islam that can be traced back to the mid-century when the War of Crusade between Islam and Christianity happened.Keywords: US foreign policy, Realist, Idealist, Multilateralist, Unilateralist

scholarly journals US Leadership and the International Refugee Regime

Refuge ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan F. Martin ◽  
Elizabeth Ferris
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Strong Link ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
International Refugee Regime

This article examines the role of the United States in the international refugee regime. It argues that the United States generally leads in assistance and protection of refugees and displaced persons when three conditions are present: a strong link to US foreign policy; clear and highly visible humanitarian needs and important domestic constituencies in support of action; and strong congressional support. The United States manifests its leadership through its financial contributions, as the largest donor to the array of international organizations with responsibilities in this area; resettlement of the refugees; and the use of the convening power of the US government. Nevertheless, there are reasons to be cautious about US leadership. While it is unlikely that the United States will soon lose its status as principal donor and principal strategist on tackling displacement, its ability to generate new resettlement offers is less clear, as is its ability to increase its own resettlement levels. The asylum system still has significant gaps, making it difficult for the United States to lead by example.

scholarly journals INFLUENCE OF POWER NARRATIVES ON THE FORMATION OF THE US FOREIGN POLICY IDENTITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (43) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Iu. Tsyrfa
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The Us ◽  
Social Components

Since today the constructivist study of international relations puts the social components of their formation in the foreground, the foreign policy identity of a state becomes primary thing in determining its national interests and its foreign policy course. Accordingly, the goal of this article is to determine the complex influence of power narratives on the formation of the US foreign policy identity in the 21st century in the context of transformation of the domestic political matrix and redistribution of the influence between various political forces in this country. To achieve this goal, the author used the following research methods: the system analysis method, while determining the theoretical and methodological foundations for studying the phenomenon of foreign policy identity; the method of analogies and comparisons, while considering the power and political organization and institutionalization of the spatial structure of government in the United States; the method of comprehensive analysis, while establishing the main indicators of effectiveness of the influence of power narratives on the formation of the US foreign policy identity; the method of factor analysis, while substantiating the need to use individual approaches in building power narratives of the American politicians. As a result, the author determined that the US authorities form their narratives using an exclusive approach to the construction of collective identity of the society. However, such an algorithm is quite successful while forming stable foreign policy identity of the US.Key words: foreign policy identity, USA, power, narrative, G. Bush, B. Obama, War on Terror.

scholarly journals A Política Externa dos Estados Unidos para a Venezuela: Mudanças e Continuidades entre os Governos Bush e Obama

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Dorneles Ferreira da Costa
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
United States Foreign Policy ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
The Us ◽  
Historical Pattern ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Hugo Chavez

Diante do desafio representado aos EUA pela ascensão de Hugo Chávez à presidência da Venezuela, analisa-se o histórico da política externa dos Estados Unidos da América (EUA) para a Venezuela desde o início dos anos 2000. O objetivo é verificar as mudanças e as continuidades da política externa dos EUA para a Venezuela conforme as mudanças de governo estadunidense e o contexto político venezuelano no período recente. Para tanto, a análise compreende os governos de George W. Bush (2001-2009) e Barack H. Obama (2009-2017). Nesse ínterim, o trabalho situa a política dos respectivos governos a três conjunturas venezuelanas: a tentativa de golpe de Estado contra Hugo Chávez em 2002, a consolidação do discurso antiestadunidense do governo chavista e a eclosão da crise generalizada instaurada na Venezuela após a morte de Chávez em 2013.Palavras-chave: Estados Unidos, Política Externa, Venezuela. ABSTRACTIn face of the challenge posed to the US by the rise of Hugo Chávez to Venezuela's presidency, this study aims to analyze the historical pattern of US foreign policy toward Venezuela since early 2000s. It seeks to verify shifts and continuities of US foreign policy toward Venezuela considering US government changes and Venezuelan political context. Therefore, the analysis comprises George W. Bush’s (2001-2009) and Barack H. Obama’s (2009-2017) administrations. Through this period, the research encompasses three different Venezuelan contexts: the Coup D’état attempt in 2002, the consolidation of Chávez’s government and his anti-American discourse e the outbreak of the crisis after Chávez’s death in 2013.Keywords: United States, Foreign Policy, Venezuela. Recebido em: 14 jan. 2020 | Aceito em: 23 jan. 2020.

scholarly journals US Foreign Policy and Iconization of A Terrorist Through Hollywood Films: A Content Analysis of Afghan and Iraq War in Pre & Post 9/11 Movies (1995 To 2015)

2021 ◽  
Vol volume 05 (issue 2) ◽  
pp. 86-99
Author(s):  
Hafiz Azhar Hussain ◽  
Muhammad Majid Hamid Nasir ◽  
Muhammad Rawaha Saleem
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Iraq War ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Family Roles ◽  
Hollywood Films ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government

The study is about the cinematic representation of war on terror and explores the relationship between Hollywood productions and US foreign policy. It includes 14 Hollywood productions for cinema screen regarding Afghan and Iraq war during the era of 1995 to 2015. Content analysis of selected movies is done to find out how the ‘Other’ characters are presented on screen. The observation concludes that the Hollywood has hand in gloves with Washington to propagate the state agenda throughout the world. The image of enemy on cinematic screen is shaped and reshaped following the patterns which suit the US government as obvious in the case of Afghan and Iraq war. It is also found that the terrorist Middle Eastern and Afghan Muslim characters are mostly non-uniformed, covered head, armed, veiled, wearing upper/ jackets and wear in formal dresses. Moreover, they are iconized as animalistic, uncivilized, aggressor and have no family roles. On the contrary, the ‘Other’ characters which are supportive to American army are mostly presented as un-barbaric, civilized, defender and having family roles and they are mostly uniformed.

Too polemical or too critical? Chomsky on the study of the news media and US foreign policy

2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Herring ◽  
Piers Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
News Media ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Corporate Power ◽  
Noam Chomsky ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government

Noam Chomsky argues that, while the US news media are adversarial towards the US government on foreign policy, institutional filters operate to ensure that the criticisms made generally stay within narrow bounds set by the US political elite. Chomsky's research in this area is largely ignored even by academics who agree with this conclusion. The institutional tendency to filter out anti-elite perspectives applies not only to the news media but also to academia. Consequently, Chomsky's work is marginalised due to its emphasis on corporate power, principled opposition to US foreign policy and the role of academia in buttressing elite power.

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