Comprehending US strategic and foreign policy goals
Opinion By| Farooq Ah Lone
The core fact of realism theory in international relations that “Power drives the behaviour and actions of a state” has proven right in all times. Nations act to seek power in every move. Whether it was Roman Empire or Ottoman Empire in the past and USA or Turkiye in the present every empire or state has sought power and prestige. Moral values often get sacrificed in the race for power and domination. The strong don’t respect international law or uphold moral values because they are strong while as the weak suffer because they are weak. All these facts throw a sharp light on the goals of every state on earthg.
Today the most strongest nation on this planet earth USA too has consistently depicted its motives to increase its power and dominate the world economically, culturally and through technology. Through various grand military strategies and diplomatic breakthroughs USA has for the past seven decades attempted to establish a global order which safeguards US interests under all circumstances. Being superior in military and economic might USA has often indulged in foreign interventions from Korea to Afghanistan. Using all soft and hard powers USA was successful to get access to rich resources of various nations in middle east, South Asia , Africa etc. In the pretext of bringing democracy to nations US achieved its various foreign policy and strategic goals. Containing hostile nations, getting access to precious resources and securing long term regional and global influence has always been among the dominant pillar of US foreign policy goals.
Besides power and domination, USA has also maintained the ideological superiority of western civilization by containing various ideologies like communism, political islam etc. After the dissolution of USSR it shifted its attention towards Islam and intervened in Iraq, Afghanistan and other muslim nations to prevent any possible resurgence of islam. Both the cold war and the war on terror can be seen as wars having ideological dimensions too besides immediate geopolitical motives. The lack of warm relations between China and USA is also due to difference in ideology and lifestyle of the respective nations. While USA supports liberal democracy, China is a socialist democracy and a people’s democratic dictatorship.
While it is much difficult to specify exactly the foreign policy and strategic goals of USA the above mentioned paras signal a lot about the ambitions of US. According to the Washington based think – tank, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) “PNAC explicitly wants an American Empire in which the USA alone has veto power and calls all the political shots. Such dominance precludes even advanced industrial nations from challenging US leadership or even aspiring to a larger regional or global role. ” The experts and policymakers of a nation have to keep in mind the broader US strategic ambitions to deal effectively with USA. Behaving not only positively but boldly too is the need of the hour to prevent US dominance in bilateral and multilateral forums.
Author: Farooq Ahmad Lone writes on global politics. He can be reached at lonefarooqahmad80@gmail.com.
