The role and power of the president in foreign policy Flashcards
(35 cards)
How many enumerated foreign policy powers did the constitution give to the president
2
What two enumerated foreign policy powers does the constitution grant to the president
- To act as commander in chief of the military
- To negotiate treaties
What are the two enumerated foreign policy powers invested in the president limited by?
The significant controls vested in congress
What is the president’s commander in chief power checked by?
Congress’ power to declare war and control the purse strings
Why are the checks congress has on the president’s commander in chief role limited?
- Congress has not declared war since 1941
- The power of purse is limited once troops have been deployed, as was the case when Bush deployed troops in Iraq
How is the presidents enumerated power of making appointments to the executive branch important in terms of foreign policy?
Many of these appointments will have foreign policy implications
List some examples of appointments that have foreign policy implications
Secretaries of state, defence and homeland security, director of the CIA and the national security advisor
Why is the fact that the president appoints ambassadors important in terms of foreign policy?
Because if the president appoints an ambassador to a country then he is formally recognising that government as legitimate
Why are all of these appointments, barring national security advisors, limited as a presidential power over foreign policy?
Because they have to be approved by the senate
How does the president set the tone of foreign policy?
Through set piece speeches, primarily their inaugural state of the union address
How did Bush set the tone of foreign policy after 9/11?
By talking about an ‘axis of evil’ in his 2002 state of the union address
Explain the idea of the Bush Doctrine
The events that the US had just lived through and the perceived threats it faced allowed Bush to create a new foreign policy - and this is referred to as the Bush Doctrine
What two fundamental claims was the Bush Doctrine based on?
- The virtue of American primacy
- The right of the US to wage pre-emptive wars with perceived threats
Explain the idea of American primacy
This was the idea that after defeating communism and fascism, the US had left the world with a single sustainable model for national success - freedom, democracy and free enterprise. The US would therefore seek to shape a balance of power that emphasises these qualities
Explain the idea that the US had the right to wage pre-emptive war
This would give the US the right to strike first upon those countries who wished to inflict immanent harm upon the US
What false premise was the Iraq War based upon?
That Iraq had WMDs, as it transpired they did not
What did Obama say that the US would return to after becoming president?
Soft power
How did Obama describe soft power?
‘The ability to get what you want by attraction not coercion’
What did Obama say his administration would revive?
Using diplomacy as the core element of foreign policy
Make the case that Obama failed to implement his soft power approach
- The promised closure of GB never happened
- The largest offensive of the coalition forces in Afghanistan occured in 2010, while Obama was president
- Obama signed a 4 year extension of the patriot act in 2011, which significantly increased the number of drone strikes
- 300 drone attacks happened in Obama’s first term compared to 50 in Bush’s second term
Make the case that Obama was successful in implementing his soft power approach
- Troops were withdrawn from Iraq in 2011
- A date was set of 2016 for troops to be removed from Afghanistan
- He was far more measured in his foreign policy than the reckless Bush administration
- The failure to close GB was based on the separation of the branches and divided government, rather than Obama’s weakness as a president
What was Trump’s foreign policy a combination of?
Hawkish aggression and erratic and unorthodox pragmatism
Give some examples of Trump displaying his hawkishness
- He bombed ISIS in Afghanistan
- He launched a missile attack against a Syrian government air base in 2017
- He cancelled Obama’s joint comprehensive plan of action with Iran
- He eliminated a top Iranian general in a 2020 airstrike
Give two examples of Trump being successful in his pragmatism
- He underwent diplomatic exchanges with NK that reduced tensions between the two countries
- He helped broker a deal with the UAE and Bahrain which caused them to recognise Israel, Trump hoped this would encourage other arab countries to do the same
