Chapter 1: The United States in a Turbulent World

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Chapter Summary

This chapter introduces the paradox of U.S. foreign policy by questioning how long the United States can retain its primacy in the world system when faced with increasing domestic and international constraints. The United States' predominance in the areas of defense, security, economic production, and trade illustrate its global primacy. Through the Internet, the media, and the globalizing economy, the United States also holds the key to cultural and value-oriented "soft" power throughout the world. Yet the United States faces challenges as the unipolar power, challenges that are rooted in the nation's history, culture, domestic institutions, and involvement in a turbulent and competitive world system.

This chapter discusses the difficulties of retaining power when the costs of dominance increase and the rates of return on power decrease, such as the increasing costs of national defense and the large U.S. trade deficit. The United States also faces backlash against its power from a fierce antiglobalization movement, which rejects the increased free-market and expansionary efforts of the United States and other developed countries. The most prevalent and direct challenge to U.S. power stems from terrorist actions, both at home and abroad, driven by a multitude of factors including religious, political, and ideological movements. In direct response to terrorism and challenges to primacy, the United Stated has followed the "Bush Doctrine" calling for preventive action against perceived threats. The United States finds itself committed to a mission in Iraq, rebuilding a deeply divided society after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The challenges facing the United States are not all international and are in fact manifested in the culture, institutional design, and civil society that make up the country's foreign-policy process. Culturally, the United States has a foreign policy that is considered both moralistic and self-interested, stemming from geographical factors and colonial history. Moralism and national interests are often in conflict with each other, which frequently makes U.S. foreign policy seem schizophrenic. The domestic institutions involved in making U.S. foreign policy are often considered flawed by design; the Founders' plan for a system of shared and overlapping powers makes conflict between departments, agencies, and other actors inevitable. Foreign-policy making from this perspective is difficult and often incremental because the actors are unsure where the true power or sovereignty of U.S. foreign affairs rests. The U.S. political system is also permeable, as it allows international and domestic groups to influence policy actors through lobbying, exchanges, and donations. In such a transnational society, the media, interest groups, think tanks, and international organizations can all constrain U.S. foreign-policy actions.