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Chapter 4: Foreign Policy and International Politics

Foreign Policy
Derived from latin word polissociety/community
How to run?
o Domestic (e.g. schools, taxation, healthcare)
o Foreign: how should we relate to other countries?
Enemies, trading partners
Pursuit of power
Ability to get what you want
Hard
o Bullets and Bucks
o Military force and economic strength
o More effective in the short term
Soft
o Spread of our culture
o Political influence(agree w/ your values)
o Long term
Note: Most empires used hard at first and moved on to soft




(Left to right):
Great Powers
USA, China, Russia, UK/France
o Permanent members of UNSC
~Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia
Have both hard and soft techniques
Rivalsalpha dog competition
Global impact on decisions
Unilateralist in approach to foreign policy
o Uni: one; lateral: side
o One-sided policy
o Dont pursue w/ other countries; protect own interests
Can seem quite uncooperative


Middle Powers
Between great and small
Weak military, strong economy
Minimal cultural impact
Work together: multilateralist
o Many sided
Intl law and intl orgs, e.g. UN
E.g. Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Singapore
??Japan and Germany??
o After WWII decided to have slow down on military
Small Powers
Not hard or soft power
Intl not much impact
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Majority of countries in the world
Complex foreign policies
o Leveragepower
Rogue Regimes
Pirate/outlaw
o Dont follow intl law
o Thought of as harmful, disruptive problem generators
Complete unilateralists
Militarily strong, economically weak (natural resources)
E.g. North Korea, Iran
Chomskyfeels US is a rogue regime (similar characteristics)
Pose problems to international community
o Military threat
Do we contain this threat, if so, how? Or do we confront this threat?
Depends on situation (if especially dangerous, try to containCold War USSR)
Failed States
Govt doesnt function
o Doesnt deliver what we look for in a state
o Protection from invasion, criminals; healthcare; education;
E.g. Somalia
o Since 1988 been w/o govt
o Barren part of world
Problem:
o How to rebuild failed state?
o Help with development


Emerging vs. Declining Powers
Emerging
China, Germany, India and Pakistan, Canada (?), UK (?)
Power on the rise
China, America, EU as a whole generally accepted as largest economies
o Statistics in China problems: not fully public, not entirely true
A country that saves moregoes up, Saudi Arabia
China
o What will they do with the power?
o Doesnt like to go on aggressive wars with other countries
o Historically more civil wars
o Not much of a political ambition; culturally insular
o Will its economic wealth change that?
Germany
o Created EU
o Cause of EU
o Not much of a military b/c of historical reasons (WWII)
Canada
o Natural resources (oil, forestry)
o
Declining
Russia, Japan, USA (?)
Country that spends/debts moregoes down, US
USA
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o Nowhere to go but down
o Economic problems, biggest level of public debt
o Public schools are terrible
Russia
o Horribly governed, bad mismanagement
o Substance abuse, militarily weaker
Japan
o China has taken/will take over in high-tech manufacturing
o Aging population

Dark coloured countries (pg. 104)
o Arc of Asia (emerging part of the world)
West will diminish in influence, rise of Asia



Foreign Policy
How to interact w/ foreign countries?
Means
Diplomacy
Economic Incentives
Sanctions
Force

Goals
Realism and Idealism

Realism
Realists believe: countries pursuing power
o Looking out for no. 1
o Realism: form of selfishness for every country
To get as much hard and soft power as you can
Assurance Problem
o In international relations, countries cant trust each other
o Have different cultures, agendas
o Cant trust other countrys always going to be on your side
o Due to lack of trustevery country should be realist
Unconstrained realist: country completely open about how selfish they are
Constrained realists: wants to hide its selfishness, pretend to be agreeable and cooperative
National security

Idealism
Should use resources that we have to care about other people and rest of the world
o Dont have to treat other govts, but people
Want to make world a better place
Multilateralism
Human Security
o Healthcare

Generally countries either take a realist or idealist strain
o Some countries (Canada) try to use both
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Clich/Conventional View of US Foreign Policy
US as Unconstrained Realist:
Totally selfish
Obsessed w/ power & wealth
Throws around its military force, and unleashes its free market greed, all over the world
Trying at least, to get as much as it can for American people; at most, to re-shape the world in US image
Global hegemon; US Empire; Globo-cop; Uncle Sam Wants You

But strains of Idealism:
Strain of idealizing moralism part of US character
E.g. Wilson getting USA into WWI, when no substantial US interests were of stake: War 4 Democracy
(spread of ideals)
USA created League of Nations and United Nations, first-ever global governance institutions
USA generously re-built arch-enemies Germany & Japan after WWII
USA gives most aid and development money; strongest promoter of human rights values internationally


Clich/Conventional View of Canadian Foreign Policy
Canada as Idealist Middle Power:
Tries to do what it can to make the world a better place
Invented peace-keeping, prefers such to US pro-war
Supports international law, cooperation in foreign affairs, antema player, ardent supporter of UN
Keeps its head down, tries to improve the globe; one of the worlds most admired countries as a result

But strains of Realism:
Overwhelming % of CDN foreign policy resources go t enhancing CDAs power & influence w/ USA (our
only neighbour, our #1 trading partner, accounting for @ 30% of Canadas GDP)
o Ties into multi-lateralism
As often as weve been a peace keeper, weve fought in wars, on one side seeking victory: always on side
of England, France, USA (our colonial overlords/closest trading partners)
Canada not very generous re: aid & development funding
Recently, Canada out-of-step w/ global environment treaties (maximizing oil & gas reserves) and muting
our criticism of Chinas HR record (to get trade deals and sell oil)