Elif Okan
POL 245 American Foreign Policy
Professor Shirk
16 March 2017
Article on the United States and Russia's Relations
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-cold-war-russia-u-s-relations-lowest-point-1970s-n660126
This article talked about how there might be a new cold war between the USA and Russia since our relationship together has been at its lowest since the last cold war in the 1970s. Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, has denied the claim that we might be in another cold war saying that a "Real Cold War is when we're investing enormous resources in order to prepare seriously for a nuclear war against each other. This is not the case now." while retired Admiral James Stavridis from the United States said that "The trend lines are very bad. We're not in a new Cold War, but we're edging close to one". This article also talked a lot about American undercover spies, Russia hacking the United States, and how some of the United States officials with diplomatic passports were attacked when they went to Russia. The article talked about how Russia currently is economically weak and how also "Russia is making mischief precisely because it is weak and without friends" making it harder to have a global influence compared to the United States.
Our textbook reading talked about how President Obama was able to "reset" our relations with Russia since there were no major confrontations between the two so they could work together on a logical and practical basis even though the problem of the sleeper spies from Russia in the United States that were arrested in 2010.The textbook also talked about how Russia has a hard time finding allies from around them and from Europe itself. Even though the article did not talk about this much, it did say that Russia does not have many allies which show that even though the textbox was written in 2011, the article and current events shows more of a trend demonstrated by the textbook than a change. The fact that Russia still tried to hack the United States also shows a trend since Russia has sent spies to the United States before that have been caught. This shows their pattern of trying to keep spying and gaining more information about the United States. Also even though the United States knows about this, they have not done much to try to stop it from what I could from both the article and textbook. Also like the textbook said our relationship could change at pretty much any moment with Russia. The article showed the change from 2012 when the textbook was written to 2016 when the article was written
Thursday, March 16, 2017
U.S. Influence in NATO
(Link at bottom)
Kosovo's president seeks NATO support for creating army
On March 14th,
the President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, announced his nation’s plans to increase
their security force to a full-fledged army with heavy weaponry and equipment.
NATO, as well as rival Serbia, are against this move. Kosovo’s constitution
only allows for the security force, and an amendment is needed to change this
through their parliament. However, some of their parliament is made up of Serb
minority, who have boycotted parliament over the poor relationship Kosovo
maintains with Serbia. If the increase is made without full parliamentary
procedure, NATO and the United States may decide to withhold international and
agency cooperation. President Thaci went on to say that establishing the
security force as an actual military would help pave the way towards becoming a
member of NATO, and that Serbia did not support the move (or recognize Kosovo
as a sovereign state) since they are backed by Russia.
In relation to the
reading, this article discusses how the United States reacts to a nation
building up its military strength in a region which has seen much instability
over the last 2 decades. On page 246 of the reading, Kosovo is mentioned as a
rebellious province in the former Republic of Yugoslavia, during the late 1990’s,
in which violence was occurring. NATO peacekeepers went in to relieve the
situation, and this aided the American hope of bringing in new states from the
former USSR to be allies of NATO nations, and eventually (in the case of Romania,
Bulgaria Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, and the Baltic states) members
themselves. Bringing these nations closer to the U.S. gave them more regional
power, and weakened the Russian’s chance of maintaining a large sphere of
influence. With Kosovo currently hoping to join the NATO alliance, this would
be a further hit to the possibility of Russia holding a strong area where they
have the most influence. The article states that the United States would pull
aid to Kosovo if they did not follow a proper route to creating an army, which
demonstrates the Americans’ power in helping determine international affairs. The
increase of NATO nations and the United States’ power and influence in
determining events within the organization shows how the trend of America’s
leadership in NATO is continuing.
NATO
Kevin
Liptak in his article, “Trump Salutes NATO with Vow of Strong Support” provides
an update on Trumps current stance on NATO. Throughout his campaign trump
questioned the relevance of NATO and held varying opinions. He said that it was
unable to protect against modern day threats. Now upon entering into office
Trump proclaims his support for the organization. His main concern at this time is that all
member countries pay their full dues. Many countries are not doing so right
now. Only five of the 28 countries have met the necessary 2% of their gross
domestic products on defense payment towards the alliance. In his support for
the organization Trump vows to provide new equipment to better ensure global
security.
The
text spends a lot of time discussing NATO expansion. As of March 1999, only 19
countries held membership in the organization. President Clinton sought the
enlargement of the alliance in order to protect US interests. Current events
suggest the expected change from events portrayed in the text. NATO is now 28
countries strong. Trump also held differing views on the importance of NATO
during his campaign in contrast to Clinton’s stressed importance on the
organization. Clinton viewed NATO as crucial to supporting the US, However, Trump portrayed the view while campaigning that it was out of date and nonessential.
Trump in his demands that countries pay up also goes against the idea of
enlargement of NATO. It is clear that support and strength of NATO has
developed and changed overtime from the section in the text book and current
events.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
US Russia Relations Blog Post
Orlando Manfredi
POL 245
Professor Shirk
Article on US Russia Relations
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/russian-military-massive-weapons-upgrade-article-1.2979056
According to the article I found in the NY Daily News, over the course of 2016 the Russian military purchased 41 ICBMs in a widespread modernization project of the armed forces. This effort to modernize has lead to 905 new tanks, 17 new ships and 170 new aircraft. Despite the recent peaceful ties with the United States, Russia claims that it needs a more capable and modern military to deal with global threats and also contend with land disputes with Japan regarding various Pacific islands that were seized by Russia at the end of World War Two.
This article relates directly to the readings as each of those is in regards to Russian nuclear capabilities and how those capabilities relate to those of the United States. This article also touches on the philosophical differences between the US and Russian military that is also talked about in the given readings. Russia as a nation has always relied on overwhelming force of numbers to defeat enemies and these weapons have very rapid turnover rate. This is in stark contrast to the arms doctrine of the United States where the military equipment is built to last for decades and those few pieces of military hardware are destructive enough on their own to carry the day.
Overall as of right now the trend has seemingly reversed in US government where previously during the Obama administration, Democrats were very open and willing to do a "reset" of relations with Russia and Republicans were the ones to remind Americans that Russia is still a country not to be treated as a close friend or ally. But now with the Trump administration and the seemingly close ties Russia has with Trump and many of his appointees and cabinet members it is the Democrats who are against close friendly relations with Russia and some Trump allied Republicans are advocating for a turning of a new leaf with the country.
Despite the change of administration Russia-US ties are stronger and more cooperative than ever and unless some truly catastrophic even happens the US and Russia will likely continue to see greater cooperation despite many the many differences between the two.
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Memorandum on the US policy on the Cold War
Memorandum on the US policy on the Cold War
To: President Truman
From: Elif Okan
Date: September 10, 1947
Subject: Containment of the Soviet Union in the Cold War
World War II recently ended, and now another war may start between the Soviet Union and us. The United States and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II, but our alliance is starting to fray after we helped to defeated Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. The United States want to spread democracy while the Soviet Union wants to spread communism. We can not let the Soviet Union spread communism to the rest of the world so we can no longer be there allies and should stop what little may remain. The best way to deal with the Soviet Union is though containment which has worked pretty well so far.
Currently, we are the world's superpower and are the least hurt from War World II since the war took place away from our home. We are stronger than the Soviet Union currently so we can afford to use containment and wait it out. With the current state the Soviet Union is in, it will not take long for them to fall on their own which may seem crazy to us as of now but it is possible. There is no need to send in troops to the Soviet Union and fight a real war with them. The best thing we can do is use containment to stop the spread of communism from the Soviet Union to the other countries that the Soviet Union may or may not be trying to affect and change. If we do nothing to stop the Soviet Union's spread of communism than the Domino Theory may come true. Like dominos after the Soviet Union has successfully stayed communism and spread communism to another country like China as an example turning them into communists as well then they will spread to another country like Korea and keep going until the whole world ends up being turned into communists. If one country falls and becomes communists like the Soviet Union, then the whole world can.
The Soviet Union's aggression and the way they keep trying to expand shows that they should be contained before something bad like the Domino Theory happens or something worse happens. We have to contain our enemies so they cannot do anything bad to us or the rest of the world since everyone looks to us as a leading example. Even though we may have more than one enemy at a time and other countries may be trying to become communists like China, we have to look at our worst enemy and deal with them first instead of trying to deal with more than one at a time which can make us weaker. The Soviet Union is the second strongest country after us which is why we need to focus a lot of our energy to contain them and to make it so they cannot spread communism. If the Soviet Union fails and stops being communists than other smaller countries like China would also fail and most likely cease to be Communists.
It is important to keep in mind that we dropped the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. It is important because it means that we currently have nuclear weapons. If the Soviet Union got nuclear bombs or any nuclear weapons as well and we both used them it would be terrible not just for the Soviet Union and us but the rest of the world as well. The nuclear weapons could destroy the world so they should never be used again, especially not over something like our fight with the Soviet Union. On top of the containment of the Soviet Union, we as the United States and the world's super power that everyone looks to as an example should give aid to European countries. We should give the European countries aid since the European economy is in shambles right now because of World War II. Giving them aid is not just because it is the right thing to do or because we are the world's superpower but also because our sphere of influence would largely increase and it would give us access to the market as well as military bases. Not only would this make the European countries like us more but it will most likely keep the other European countries from turning to the Soviet Union and communism to find relief from their current state.
Overall we should look to contain the Soviet Union to stop them from spreading communism and look into helping the European countries that need it since we can afford to and it would greatly benefit us.
Memorandum on Cold War Policy
Memorandum
From: Matthew Macy
To: President Nixon
Date: 5-21-70
Subject: United States
Foreign Policy & Communist States
In
the years since its implementation, our containment policy has been able to
hold the
spread of communism in
check. However, what is been important to note is that the states under
Soviet-style communism
which have attempted to kick out their communist governments have
seen brutal
repercussions. The Hungarian revolution in 1956 and Prague Spring in 1968
witnessed violent
retribution against those who wanted to replace communism in the Soviet
sphere of influence. The
NSC-68 report, combined with the lack of human rights in the
repression of
anti-communist sentiments in the Warsaw Pact nations of eastern Europe, could
provide a springboard
from which to chip away at the USSR’s power and influence.
The
Soviets aim is to extend their communist influence across the world, and ours
is to
spread democracy. During
the aforementioned popular movements against communist regimes, it
would be in our interest
to extend covert aid to groups which are in opposition to the local
government. Providing
more than just military aid would be preferable, considering that the use
of military force has
shown mixed results in the fight to contain communism. The support of
these revolts against
communist governments in eastern Europe would show the people there that
the United States has
their best interests in mind. During these uprisings, the Soviets have
responded with tanks and
military force to quickly extinguish the rebellion and those involved.
Giving whatever aid these
people may need would be vital to helping overthrow communism. It
could trigger a reverse
domino effect, whereby communism begins to fall across the region as
well.
By
giving aid to the anti-communist groups, we can help prevent the spread of
communism while simultaneously
beginning its demise. If just one of these groups succeeds in
removing the communists
and inserting a new democratic government, we will have a small
foothold in the region
from which to start promoting democracy, capitalism, and universal
freedoms in eastern Europe.
Many of the people in these repressed nations who do not want to
live under communism
cannot freely express their beliefs or desires. Often, they are oppressed
and their human rights
are not fully recognized. Therefore, it is our duty to remove the
chains of communist
oppression and help them achieve the free democracy that they so deserve.
Cold War Memo
Memorandum
Topic: Memorandum on US
policy in Cold War
To: President Truman
From: Caitlin Melaugh
Date: September 1, 1947
Subject: Containment and
Capitalism in the Cold War
With the end of World War II the world does not remain struggle
free. It is important to recognize conflict between our nation and the USSR. We
are no longer allies and are therefore enemies. If the Soviet Union has their
say communism will spread and pose a serious threat to the United States. A proposition
to consider in efforts to protect freedom of democracy is the strategy of
containment along with the promotion of capitalism. The containment strategy
works to ensure that the Soviet’s aggressive expansion of communism stops as it
is now. The promotion of capitalism will allow US ideals to spread and beneficial
economic gains. With the breakdown of many European institutions following the
war it is important that we gain the upper hand in promoting more democratic
friendly influence. This assistance will benefit the US in the future.
The United States is the top world power at the moment
and can afford to play the long game in defeating the Soviet power. By containing
the spread of communism as it is now it will not directly threaten United
States, and fewer conflicts could arise in the future. In containment however, I
suggest you do not too aggressively and eagerly use US troops in other nations.
There is a fine and dangerous line between military intervention and
containment. At times, it will be necessary to use US troops but extreme
thought must be put into it. With containment, we are playing the long game and
must be able to remain powerful throughout the time it takes to bleed the
Soviet Nation dry. Patience and lasting US power is necessary in this long
game. The Soviets will eventually collapse upon themselves.
In containing the USSR in its current state
the United States will seek economic advantages within western Europe. Europe’s
economic state is shaky following the war. It is necessary to promote capitalism
and American ideals in the form of aid to the struggling countries. This will
not only help to prevent communist expansion, but will benefit the American
economy as well. If we offer aid to European countries in need we will be able
to gain influence and access. Not only in trade, but in potential foreign
military bases as well.
The
bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki displayed the United States as a world power.
With the release of this modern technology however, the Soviets can seek
replication. This is something that must be kept in mind throughout the
struggle between nations. If the USSR achieves the creation of an atomic bomb
both countries, and the entire world could go up in ruins. The Cold War will be
a long, lasting struggle. Containment plays the long game, and it is likely that
the USSR will achieve atomic bomb technology. Therefore, containment and
creating influence through capitalism will remain crucial to support the US and
the safety of our people against the threats of the USSR and communist nations.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)