Declaration of Independence

1. Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” - Thomas Jefferson

2. DEVELOPMENT OF US FOREIGN POLICY I • Isolationism with regard to Europe (sometimes known as non-interventionism) • Lasted from the American Revolution until the early 20th century and WWI • Origins in colonialist thought • Thomas Paine, George Washington, etc.

3. George Washington: “the great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations, [and] to have with them as little political connections as possible.” (farewell address)

4. Thomas Jefferson (3rd president of the U.S.) in his inaugural address in March 1801: “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”

5. THE MONROE DOCTRINE 1823 “…A PRINCIPLE IN WHICH THE RIGHTS AND INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES ARE INVOLVED, THAT THE AMERICAN CONTINENTS, BY THE FREE AND INDEPENDENT CONDITION WHICH THEY HAVE ASSUMED AND MAINTAIN, ARE HENCEFORTH NOT TO BE CONSIDERED AS SUBJECTS FOR FUTURE COLONIZATION BY ANY EUROPEAN POWER”

6. 19th century is characterized by tremendous industrial development and economic growth, as well as territorial expansion: • Louisiana purchase 1803: 800,000 square miles for $15 million • 1819 obtain east Florida from Spain for $5 million

7. Monroe Doctrine challenged in 1898 with the Spanish-American War. • Conflict between Spain and the U.S. over Cuba and other Spanish territories • Cubans agitating for independence - opportunity to drive Spain out of US sphere • Cuba important to Spain – trade in Havana equivalent to Barcelona

8. Theodore Roosevelt was Asst. Sec. of Navy during the Spanish-American war and an expert on balance of power • He supported war with Spain, whose position was weakening • War fought and ended in Spanish surrender and Treaty of Paris 1898 (ratified by U.S. in 1899)

9. ROOSEVELT COROLLARY 1904 Background • Venezuela: President Cipriano Castro refused to pay foreign debts and damages owed to European powers • 1902 British, German and Italian naval blockade of Venezuela • Int’l court ruled in favor of 3 powers • U.S. disagreed, fearing other similar European interventions

10. Roosevelt Corollary (Theodore) • “All that this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous…in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States…in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power.” (1904)

11. Metamorphosis from isolationism to something else... Roosevelt was a realist. • Europeans must keep hands off, but U.S. has the right to intervene to ensure that Europeans stay out and to maintain stability and friendly relations with countries in its sphere. • In next 15-20 years, the U.S. intervenes militarily in L. America about a dozen times (Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Panama, etc.)

12. Roosevelt took a proactive approach to the US sphere of influence: • Helped Panama gain independence from Colombia, but only after establishing the Canal Zone under US sovereignty • 1905 U.S. makes the Dominican Republic a financial protectorate • 1906 American troops occupy Cuba Regional hegemony and America’s status as a world power becomes a reality

13. Panama Canal

14. TWO THREORIES OF IR • Realism (Morgenthau, Waltz, etc.) • Liberalism (Keohane, Nye, Wilson)

16. KEY PERIOD: TURN of the 20th CENTURY Henry Kissinger’s “hinge”: Roosevelt or Wilson • T. Roosevelt (president 1901 – 1909) • sophisticated analyst of balance of power, a realist who supported war with Spain • First strong proponent of America’s national interest • W. Wilson (president 1913 - 1921) - liberal idealist: America’s obligation to spread its principles of peace and democracy throughout the world

18. THE ROUGH RIDERS • 1,250 men, from all over the U.S. was mainly composed of cowboys, Indians, and other Wild West types, and Ivy League athletes and aristocratic sportsmen from the East. • They could ride and shoot and were in shape, and thus could be ready for war with little training. The regiment was assembled at San Antonio, Texas in May, and shipped out to Cuba from Tampa, Florida-minus the horses-on June 14, 1898.

20. Both men were president at critical moments when the U.S. was projected into world affairs. Two factors led to this: • rapidly expanding US power • gradual collapse of the Europe-centered international system

21. Roosevelt regarded Wilsonian liberal thought as naïve and wrong. He was against disarmament and “world government” (collective security) calling it “fantastic peace treaties, impossible promises and scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force”. • Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the peace settlement in Russo-Japanese war. He viewed Russia as a great threat.

22. Others supported continuing isolationist position vis a vis Europe, but Roosevelt already saw Germany as a threat to balance of power in 1906 and was for intervention early in WWI • Woodrow Wilson reluctant to enter WWI – although the U.S. provided big loans to allies and material

23. U.S. finally entered the war because of German submarine threat • Lusitania incident • Over 5 million Americans served

24. Wilsonian Liberalism • America’s perception of itself as an exceptional country, not like Europe • Foreign policy based on moral principles rather than morally neutral, expedient diplomacy or war to preserve the balance of power • In their thinking, the Americans were and remain different to a large extent

25. Henry Kissinger: “Whatever the realities and the lessons of power, the American people’s abiding conviction has been that its exceptional character resides in the practice and propagation of freedom.”

26. Wilson, a professor and intellectual from VA, was against entering WWI • Argued for “binding arbitration” rather than force • Supported “universal law and not equilibrium, national trustworthiness and not national self-assertion” as the foundations of international order. (sound familiar?) • Principle of self-determination of nations

27. Roosevelt as warrior-statesman, Wilson as prophet-priest • Wilson’s pitch prevailed throughout the 20th century, became a kind of crusade • Wilson’s rhetoric and thinking foreshadowed containment and the Bush crusade to install democracies in other states • Illustrates the ideological differences in the Republican-Democrat dichotomy

28. German submarines patrolling the “war zone” in the Atlantic. The German U20 sinks the U.S.S. Lusitania luxury cruise ship in Irish waters on May 17, 1915. • U.S. enters WWI in 1917 and is the driving force in the post-war settlement • Although the League of Nations is formed, it is not ratified by the U.S. Senate and Wilson’s hopes are dashed

29. The Treaty of Versailles and the aftermath of World War I gave birth to the modern international system as we know it today.