University Of Texas. GOV 312L /GOV 312L Midterm Exam 1 Review. Latest 2020/21. GRADED A

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University Of Texas. GOV 312L /GOV 312L Midterm Exam 1 Review. Latest 2020/21. GRADED A.Review Sheet, First Midterm Exam, GOV 312L: U.S. Foreign Policy Module 1: The US Foreign Policy Apparatus and t... he National Interest 1. What is foreign policy? What are the aspects of foreign policy? What are its targets? What is it designed to influence?  FP is actions (often statements) undertaken by the US federal government directed toward some foreign audience  Targets are private citizens or organizations outside of the US (sometimes statements will be directed to the population of a country directly rather than the government)  Influences/ shapes beliefs, capabilities, interests, actions (behavior) 2. What are the main foreign policy actors within the executive branch? What are the main responsibilities of each foreign policy department within the executive branch?  State (diplomats): day to day interaction of US and foreign countries  Defense (armed forces): headed by civilian (not a general); responsible for military force  Treasury: handles monetary relations with foreign states and has domestic responsibilities (taxes/ borrowing foreign policy)  Other organizations: NSC, UN, CIA, DNI o CIA and DNI primarily gather intelligence 3. What is the national interest? What are the arenas in which the U.S. has important national interests? What dimensions help to determine preferences over outcomes?  National interests emerge from and define the collective identity of Americans  The US promotes ideals of democracy, free trade, and basic human rights/ dignities  Dimensions of interests: security, economic, ideational (values) 4. What were the central elements of President George W. Bush’s 2002 national security strategy (assigned reading for this module)? How did this foreign policy statement capture the changes inherent in the post-Cold War world after 9/11? What were the major threats to U.S. national security identified in this document?  Bush promoted freedom, democracy, and free enterprise  We should use military strength and influence to create balance that supports human freedom  Terrorists abuse technology; we must stop them  Our biggest danger is when radicalism meets technology  terrorism  We will actively work to promote our ideals universally  Poverty, weak institutions, and corruption make states vulnerable to terrorists  No nation can build a better world alone  NATO, UN, WTO, OAS Module 2: Ethics in US Foreign Policy 1. What are the five frameworks for approaching practical ethics? What are the principal metrics by which each framework deems a decision to be ethical?  Utilitarianism (Bentham and Mill): defined as providing the most good for the most amount of people. The definition of community is global and includes EVERYONE; weighing benefits vs. harm  Common good: emphasizes the collective good of the community but depends on what you define as your community and what its scope is (can be similar to utilitarianism if the definition of community is global)  Virtue: tied to self image/ how you view yourself or your ideal self and promotes ethical habits  Fairness: everyone should be treated exactly the same in a given situation  Rights: each person has unalienable rights and not even a single person’s rights can be violated 2. Give some examples of values that come into conflict. How does this complicate ethical decision-making?  Common good vs. utilitarianism come into conflict when it comes to their definition of what their community is ex. Ebola crisis- is your community global (utilitarianism)? or is it just your country (common good)?  Individual vs. community  Loyalty vs. truth  Justice vs. mercy  Short term vs. long term 3. How are different ethics frameworks used to analyze the practical ethics related to the Ebola crisis?  The utilitarian framework and the common good framework have conflicting solutions and each one provides certain pros and cons  The fairness framework has major drawbacks in how practical it will be if resources are scarce ex. Who will get the treatment first? Americans vs. Africans, young vs. old, etc.  Should government be allowed to impose a 21-day quarantine on health care workers who may have been exposed to and even contracted the Ebola virus when working in Africa? Module 3: Grand Strategy I and Isolationism 1. What is grand strategy? How does grand strategy intersect with domestic partisanship? How do the differences between Republican politicians John McCain and Rand Paul illustrate the differences between grand strategy and domestic partisanship?  Grand strategy is a set of over arching ideas that guide the conduct of FP; intellectual architecture or world view that provides the foundation for foreign policy  Bipartisan government may occasionally correlate with certain grand strategies but they do not necessarily strictly parallel them (meaning even if most republicans support primacy, a good amount of republicans can still support isolationism)  Rand Paul and John McCain are both republican but Paul supports isolationism [Show More]

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