Essay on America Global Position and Foreign Policy

How Does Public Opinion Influence US Foreign Policy? When Do You Think the Public Opinion in America Becomes More Crucial in Shaping US Foreign Policy? What Should Be the Relation Between Public Opinion and Foreign Policy? More or Less Influence? Why and Why Not?

The public opinion is very crucial when it comes to matters of national concern. In particular, they are crucial on matters concerning peace and war. So, sentiments from citizens should be considered with a lot of seriousness since they provide a recipe towards making of the foreign policies. It is noteworthy that as much as the government enacts some of these policies, they do so in order to protect the interests of the American people. Importantly, the opinions of people can be used constructively to affect the way the U.S. deals with others all over the world. As Mearsheimer states in his article, the American government should consider realism kind of policy in dealing with other nations instead of liberal hegemony because the latter seemingly has failed considerably in the Arab territories where the U.S. government would want to spread democracy (par. 4-7). This information is one feasible example of how the public conceives the impacts of the state’s policies. Therefore, it would be practical to say that public opinions are weighty and should be consulted every time on matters of concern to the nation.

In a case of when I think the opinions of people should be crucial, I would say that it matters all the time whenever the government is involved in matters that may pose a security threat to the country. In other words, public opinions should be consulted and taken into consideration when a step should be taken that may interfere with citizens. As Walt put it, abandoning realism ideologies has caused America more harm than good (par. 2). So, when such views are considered during the times when the U.S. has security threats with Arab-based nations where the need to spread the democracy has hit the wall, then I think the policymakers may stand a chance of making the right decisions on matters of war and security of America. Therefore, when the government is making crucial foreign policies, I believe that they should consult extensively the public opinion in order to have the interests of citizens at heart.

In terms of discussing the relationship, public opinion should be more influential and very important when making foreign policies. This aspect is because, in a democratic country, the citizens are the main power source. So, the leaders in the elective positions should strive at making people happy and that they should be made to feel as if they are part of the policy-making process. Another reason is that sentiments from the citizens hold weight because these policies affect them directly. In particular, when there is a war threat, people often get affected directly, and it is they who lose. Noteworthy, when people think that America is not doing well in terms of controlling other nations, such as Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, among others, it is an issue of great concern because the mightiness of America depends immensely on the perception. So, it is feasible to consider public opinion more influential than anything else in order to reconstruct how Americans can perceive America positively.

Is America Declining? Is it Losing its Hegemonic Position in the International System? If Yes, Why? And if No, Why Not? (Depending on Your Response in the First Part of the Question) How this May Impact the Future of US Foreign Policy? What Kind of Foreign Policy US Should Have in the Next Decade?

It is feasible to say that America is declining and that it is losing its hegemonic position in the international system. This conclusion arises because the U.S. has seemingly lost a significant number of wars in quelling ever rising conflicts, especially in the Gulf regions. According to Kanat, since the use of chemical gas in Syria on August 21, 2013, in a civil war, the influence of the U.S. on a global scene has decreased significantly (par. 1). Of noteworthy is that the American citizens as well feel this decline in hegemonic position. They perceive that the country is losing its superpower stature since they are unable to quell wrongdoings currently occurring in the world, especially in the Arab territories. So, according to many people, the country should retreat from indulging much in the Middle East wars, and instead embark on creating realism policy that can work for the interest of America. Having noted this ideology of the public, I notice that the country would be losing its mandate to be the superpower with a bestowed mandate of a global leadership role.

The decline in America’s hegemonic position would mean that its foreign policies are outdated, and so, there is a need to strategize a new working one in order to make America strong again. It is noteworthy that the American citizens are also proposing the fact that the U.S. should withdraw its global leadership role (“The Jungle Grows Back: A Case for American Leadership”). This concept is an example of public opinion, which should be considered crucial when enacting foreign policies. The concept of why America is losing its international control is that the more they try to end rising militant groups in the Middle East the more other groups emerge and conflicts escalate. For example, Al Qaeda has been one major problem, and now a new one, ISIS group is another one. So, the increasing emergent of such terrorist groups only portrays the failure of the U.S. government in defeating terror in the Arab nations.

Concerning the right policy, I think that realist foreign policy is the best option that the U.S. should adopt. The liberal hegemony has brought more harm not only to the U.S. but also to the affected Middle East nations greatly. In particular, Mearsheimer denotes that the U.S. should reconsider using realism as the chief foreign policy in order to instigate the balance of power in the world (par. 7). So, the madness of regime-change business that America is busy promoting in the Gulf region should be abandoned, as well as the elimination of military presence in the Middle East-based countries.

Works Cited

“The Jungle Grows Back: A Case for American Leadership.” The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 9 October 2018, www.thechicagocouncil.org/event/jungle-grows-back-case-american-leadership. Accessed 1 May 2019.

Kanat, B. Kilic. “The Syrian Crisis and American Decline (by Choice). SETA, 20 Sept., 2013, www.setav.org/en/the-syrian-crisis-and-american-decline-by-choice/. Accessed 1 May 2019.

Mearsheimer, John. “Donald Trump Should Embrace a Realist Foreign Policy.” Nationalinterest.org, 27 Nov. 2016, https://nationalinterest.org/feature/donald-trump-should-embrace-realist-foreign-policy-18502. Accessed 1 May 2019.

Walt, Stephen. “The End of Hubris.” Foreign Affairs, June 2019, www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2019-04-16/end-hubris. Accessed 1 May 2019.