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Foreign relations of the United States

(foreignrelationstheunitedstates,foreign relations the united states,foreignrelations the united states,foreign relationsthe united states,foreign relations theunited states,foreign relations the unitedstates)





The United States of America have vast economical, political andmilitary influence on a global scale, which makes the concepts and details of their foreign policies a subject of great interest and discussion around the world.

Goals of US foreign policy recurringly mentioned and emphasized by U.S. officials are:

  • Protecting the safety and freedoms of all American citizens, both within the United States and abroad
  • Promotion of peace , freedom , (mostnotably of speech and enterprise) and democracy in all regions of the world
  • Furthering free trade , unencumbered by tariffs , interdictions and other economic barriers, and furthering capitalism in order to foster economic growth andthus improve living conditions everywhere
  • Bringing developmental and humanitarian aid toforeign peoples in need
Contents

Diplomatic Relations

The United States has one of the largest diplomatic presences of any nation on earth. Almost every country in the world hasboth a U.S. embassy and an embassy of their own in Washington, DC . Only a few nations do not have formal diplomatic relations with the United States.They are:

In pratical terms however, these lack of formal relations do not impede the US' communication with these nations. Inthe cases where no US diplomatic post exists, American relations are usually conducted via Canada , the United Kingdom , or another friendlythird-party. In the case of the Republic of China, de facto relations are conducted through the American Institute in Taiwan .

The U.S. maintains a Normal Trade Relations list andseveral countries are excluded from it, which means that their exports to the States are significantly more taxed.

Allies

The United States is the founder of NATO , the world's largest military alliance. The26-nation alliance consists of Canada and much of Europe . Under the NATO charter, the United States is compelled to defend any NATO state that is attacked by aforeign power.

The United States also has several "Major Non-NATO allies" which is a distinction given to certain states which are unable tojoin NATO for geographic reasons. Each non-NATO allied state has a unique relationship with the United States, involving variousmilitary and economic partnerships and alliances. The designated Major Non-NATO allies are:

Criticism and responses

Critics of U.S. foreign policy tend to respond that these goalscommonly regarded as noble were often overstated and point out contradictions between foreign policy rhetoric and actions:

  • The mention of peace as opposed to the long list of U.S. military involvements
  • The mention of freedom and democracy as opposed to the many former and current dictatorships that receive(d) U.S. financial or military support.
  • The mention of free trade as opposed to U.S. import tariffs (to protect local industries from global competition) on foreigngoods like wood and steel.
  • The mention of U.S. generosity as opposed to the low spendings on foreign developmental aid (measured as percentage of GDP )

Cold War policies

Today, both much of the criticism and justification for many actions of U.S. foreign policy was formulated during the Cold War . Following World War II thegovernment of the United States grew increasingly worried - some say paranoid - of the expansionist actions of the Soviet Union , and its support for Communist revolutions in the third world and beyond. Foreignpolicy makers of that time are usually quick to point out that this atmosphere of conflict with the Soviets created manysituations in which the United States was apparently forced to compromise on some of the ideological policy objectives statedabove. For example, American support for certain dictatorships was frequently condemned by critics as an apparent violation ofthe U.S.'s Wilsonian principles. However, policy makers would justify suchsupport by stating that supporting a certain dictator was often necessary when he was the only stable ruler of a unstablecountry, or when the alternative to his rule would be a Soviet-sponsored Communist dictatorship. This was often dubbed the lesser of two evils principle .

Economic critics

So-called globalization critics, like the Attac movement, also oppose the notion, most notably spread by US politicians, and international economicorganizations closely related to the USA, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the WorldBank , that selling state industries to private investors ( privatization ) would necessarily improve quality and lower prices of the goods produced by these industries,arguing that certain industries must remain publicly-owned to avoid abuse of private monopolies , and that certain countries had already seen an erosion in price-to-value ratio as the result ofprivatizations. It is also argued that the sale of public property often includespotentially massive corruption , e.g. underpriced "sell-out" of public assets inreturn of personal or political favors.

International disputes

Illicit drugs

See also: War on Drugs

Military aid

The United States provides military aid through many different channels. Counting the items that appear in the budget as 'ForeignMilitary Financing' and ' Plan Colombia ', the U.S. spent approximately$4.5 billion in military aid in 2001, of which $2 billion went to Israel , $1.3 billionwent to Egypt , and $1 billion went to Colombia .

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