Hello again.
Welcome to 21st Century American Foreign Policy.
I'm Professor Bruce Jentleson at Duke University.
Today, we're recording from my office on the Duke campus.
and we're going to continue on, building on what we did in the first lecture.
we're doing the first unit of the class.
and last lecture, we did a welcome and provided you with a course overview.
Today, the session that we're calling
1B I want to give you a sampling of
the Foreign Policy Debate within the United States.
sort of big picture, overall strategy, not so much very specific issues with some
video and some discussion we'll have of some prominent figures in that debate.
and over succeeding lectures in this part of the course, as we
see here, we'll move on to talk about the four Ps, analytic framework.
and then some sessions on how
Foreign Policy is made, one on the roll of the President and
Congress, one on the Media and one on Interest Groups and Public Opinion.
for today, we really want to get a sampling
of what that debate is within the United States.
and we will be giving you some, some
presentations, and some views by three prominent leaders.
We'll start of course, with President Barack Obama.
and you know this, but just to quickly
summarize Barack Obama was elected President of the
United States in 2008 and reelected in 2012.
Our constitution allows two, four year terms.
that will go till 2016.
he was previously a senator from Illinois 2004 to 2008.
And he is the first African American to serve as US
president, which in itself was an historic event for our country.
For an African American to be elected president of the United States.
He's, of course a Democrat, as well.
the second video you'll see will be Senator John McCain.
Senator McCain is a Republican senator from the state of Arizona.
He served in that position since 1987.
A very prominent figure in the Republican
party and particularly on foreign policy issues.
indeed, he ran for President against Barack Obama in 2008
as the Republican candidate.
Obama won that election, McCain returned to the senate.
Part of McCain's prominence and significance for
Foreign Policy goes back to his service.
is a Naval officer who was taken prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.
And was held as a prisoner of war from 1967 to 1973.
our third video will be from another Senator,
Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky elected
in 2010.
Senator Paul is a member of the Republican Party but he is
a supporter of and he's supported by the so called Tea Party Movement.
you probably heard a bit about that.
It takes it's name from an event way back
in American colonial history called the Boston Tea Party.
When we were a colony and the colonialist were protesting extra
taxes by, by the British government that ruled us as colonies and
they threw crates of tea off ships in, in Boston harbor.
and so people who were sort of protesting government spending
and taxes began to call themselves the Tea Party.
They're not fully a party but they are
very active in the Republican party and senator Rand
Paul, right now, is seen as the most
prominent figure kind of conveying that point of view.
this is not the whole spectrum of the debate but in the context
of our course, it will give you a feel for things
that we'll come back to and build on as we go along.
As we look at the videos, there are three questions that I want you to
keep in mind for each video, and that's the way in which we'll analyze the video.
The first one, is what is each speaker's vision of
the role the United States should play in the world?
You'll get a sense, with the pieces of the
videos we have of different views on that question.
Secondly, what does each see as the principal
threats that the United States faces in today's world?
And third, what are the principle
strategies each emphasizes for US Foreign Policy?
that sort follow from the vision of the world and
deal with the threats as well as opportunities that we face.
so let's look at the video from President Barack Obama.
This comes from his inaugural address for
his second term as President in January 2013.
you've seen a little bit of this video before in our first class.
but let's take a look and we really focus in
on part of the speech that deals with foreign policy.
So take a look at the video, keep
those questions in mind while you're looking at it.
and we'll come back and analyze it in those terms.
>> We, the people, still believe that enduring security and
lasting peace do not require perpetual war.
[NOISE].
Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by
the flames of battle are unmatched in skill and courage.
>>
[NOISE].
>> Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have
lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty.
The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us
forever vigilant against those who would do us harm.
But we are also heirs to those who won the peace, and not just the war.
Who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends and
we must carry those lessons into this time, as well.
We will defend our people and uphold our
values through strength of arms and rule of law.
We will show the courage to try and
resolve our differences with other nations peacefully, not because
we are naive about the dangers we face, but
because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear.
>>
[NOISE]
>> America will remain the anchor of
strong alliances in every corner of the globe.
And we will renew those Institutions that
extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad.
For no one has a greater stake in
a peaceful world than it's most powerful nation.
We'll support democracy from Asia to Africa.
From the Americas to the Middle East because our interests
and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of
those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the
poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice.
Not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time
requires the constant advance of those
principles that our common creed describes.
Tolerance and opportunity, human
dignity and justice. >> Okay.
There's a sense of, of President Barack Obama's view of the world.
The inaugural address is a very important speech.
He tries to give a sense of what he wants to do in his second term as president.
So what's his, what is his view, about the US role in the world.
Well let's take a couple of quotes that come from the speech.
One is he talks about us as an, Anchor of strong alliances
in every corner of the globe.
the notion that the United States does have alliances in Europe in, in Asia.
in Africa, in Latin America, in the Middle East
in every corner of the globe as he puts it.
And his conception of the US role is very much as anchor of those al, aliances.
That we're not the only ones but we're
looked to because of our military power our diplomatic
standing and sort of, the historical role
we play to really anchor those different alliances.
Another point he makes about US role in the world.
He talks about renewing those institutions that are
ex, extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad.
And here I think he's differentiating
himself from say, the previous Bush administration.
Which was seen as very unilateral, the United
States making its own decisions, going its own way,
largely deciding on its own to go to war in Iraq, as an example.
an institutions he refers to,
[UNKNOWN]
one is the United Nations, but it's not the only institution.
There are the economic ones, like the International Monetary Fund.
there are ones that deal with
global health, like the World Health Organization.
and his notion is that these institutions
extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad.
In other words, they add to American power
and influence, they don't take away from it.
That you can't do all these things on your own.
You really require institutions that bring together the countries in the world.
And renew that, which is his way of saying we
have problems and we've got to try to fix them.
Support democracy from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East.
As you go through this course we'll, we'll ask the
question, I mean some of you are probably asking it
now, weather how true is the United States indeed the
Obama foreign policy to these objectives that he talks about?
we'll come to that question.
It's important that we make evaluations of those.
We don't just accept it at face value.
But today, I'm just trying to give you a sense
for how the President says what the roles should be.
not necessarily whether, whether we fulfill that.
and talks about democracy in all parts of the world, and source of hope.
The idea that the United States can be an
inspiration, he himself, as, as an African American elected
president, but he really sees this notion that we can
play a role in the world as a source of hope.
What about the threats?
another quote from the speech is, forever
vigilant against those who would do us harm.
He doesn't really specify in this speech.
He does in others.
Clearly part of what's implied are terrorist
groups like Al Qaeda, and other terrorist groups.
and the notion that you have to be
[SOUND]
fore, forever vigilant that, that, that you really have
to, that there are those that would do pe, the
American people and American interests and American allies harm in
the world and you have to be vigilant out there.
The same time it, go back to the, to one of his other quote.
He says, we need to try to resolve our differences with other nations peacefully.
that he really doesn't see any threats in
today's world from other nations that necessarily require war.
it does not eliminate that as we'll see in a
second but the commitment to try and resolve differences peacefully.
Strategies, so what are his main strategies, at
least as, you know, reflected in his speech?
He talks about both Force and Diplomacy, strength
of arms, and rule of law, resolve differences peacefully.
in an earlier speech that you may want to go back and
find on the internet, when he was given the Nobel Peace Prize
in 2009, very interesting speech.
that you can find at white house.gov or,
or going to the, to the Nobel Prize website.
we talked about the ways in which, and sometimes,
in the world, it is necessary to use force.
that he believes he would use force less
than some other American presidents, or less willfully.
but bo, you both need force and diplomacy in the world as part of your strategies.
And that goes back to the earlier
statements about alliances, international institutions and supporting democracy.
supporting democracy is
[INAUDIBLE]
another strategy and also fighting poverty.
The poverty is it's own problem.
it could ruin the lives of millions of people still around the world.
and it also can be one of those things
which leads to terrorism and war and the like.
So that's a little, that's a, that's a good framework of some of the
role in the world, threats, and strategies
from the viewpoint of President Barack Obama.
now what about Senator John McCain?
this video is from his speech to the 2012 Republican National Convention.
Not the Convention that nominated him in 2008, the
one that nominated Governor Romney to run against President Obama.
but Senator McCain was invited as one of the main speakers in testimony to his
leadership of their party on foreign policy and
to having been the previous candidate for president.
So let's watch
Senator McCain's video.
>> This is what makes America an exceptional nation.
It's not just a matter of who were are. It's a record of what we have done.
It is the responsibility.
The generation after generations of
Americans has affirmed and carried forward.
>>
[NOISE]
>> We are now being tested by an array of threats that are more complex, more
numerous and just as deeply and deadly as I can recall in my lifetime.
We face a consequential choice and make no mistake, it is a choice.
We can choose to follow a declining path,
toward a future that is dimmer and more dangerous
than our past.
Or we can choose to reform our failing government, revitalize our ailing
economy and renew the foundations of our power and leadership in the world.
>>
[NOISE]
>> The demand for our leadership in the world has never been greater.
People don't want less of America, they want more.
Everywhere I go in the world, people tell me that they still have faith in America.
What they want to know is whether we still have faith in ourselves.
>> there's a sense of Senator John McCain's view.
let's ask the same three questions about Senator McCain.
US role in the World.
He talks about America as what he calls an exceptional nation.
[SOUND]
This notion of American exceptionalism is used a great deal.
And again it's another one of those where you want to ask two questions.
What do people who, who say it mean by it?
And how true has American foreign policy been to it?
They're two separate but interrelated questions.
In Senator McCain's view it's this notion that more than other countries
we, we pursue values and principles
and democracy not just powered interests around
the world. And that make us an exceptional nation.
He goes on to say, it's not just a matter of who we are.
But the record of what we have done. the record we played, Senator McCain
[INAUDIBLE]
in World War Two, and in the Cold War.
defending countries against Communism and the like.
he also says that the demand for our leadership has never been greater.
The world has changed it's not the Cold War,
but in Senator McCain's view that the world, countries
many of your countries for people who are in
this class are demanding our leadership, it's never been greater.
Again, I keep want to coming back to say you may not agree or not and, and
that's part of our conversation, but this is, this is, this point of view.
Everywhere I go in the world, Senator McCain says people tell me,
that they have faith in America very much along the same lines.
Threats.
In a array of threats that are more complex, more numerous,
and just as deeply deadly as I can recall in my lifetime.
So somebody who'd been a prisoner of war, who, to who fought war, in
Vietnam.
and who had lived through the Cold War, and
the threat of nuclear war and, and things like that.
And he is saying that different threats today are just
as deeply deadly as he can recall in his lifetime.
In other words, he's trying to say, that the threats are, that they may
be different, but they're not any less
than they've been in other historical eras.
Strategy.
He talks about what he says getting off this
declining path and he says much of the strategy is in America's own hands.
We need to reform our government, revitalize the
economy renew the foundations of power and leadership
[SOUND]
in the world.
this is key to US leadership in McCain's view.
What we do for ourselves at home and he
poses the question do we have faith in ourselves?
Go back what he said earlier that peoples in his view around the world are calling
for American leadership and he's wondering whether we
have faith in our own ability to do that.
Okay, and you can see some similarities but a
whole lot of differences with the views for president Obama.
What about Senator Rand Paul?
Let's take a look at this video.
This is from a speech that he gave in 2013 to the Heritage
Foundation, a conservative think tank lobbying group in Washington DC.
So, here's some excerpts, it's a longer speech,
but here's some excerpts from Senator Paul's video.
>> I would argue that a more restrained
foreign policy is the true conservative foreign policy.
As it includes
two basic tenants of true conservatism.
Respect for the constitution and and fiscal discipline.
I am convinced that we need, what we need
is a foreign policy that works within these two contraints.
A foreign policy that works within the confines of the constitution.
And the realities of our fiscal crisis.
It's time for all Americans, and especially conservatives, to become
as critical and reflective when examining foreign policy, as we
are when examining domestic policy.
Should our military be defending this
nation, or constantly building other nations?
What constitutes our actual national defense?
And what parts of our foreign policy are more like an irrational offense.
It's the soldiers job to do his duty,
but it's the citizens job to question their government.
Particularly when it comes to putting soldiers in harms way.
And of course, the questions
are, fo, that are forced on us today, are can we afford this?
>> Senator Paul on US role in the world.
the key expression here is a more restrained foreign policy.
That's the key word right there, restrained.
different then the same political party, but very different that John McCain
sees a very broad view for the United States around the world.
and, and, and, and Senator Paul says no.
We need to be much more restrained.
In other words we need to do less in the world.
which is, you could say that Senator Obama sorry
[LAUGH]
President Obama is not saying less. He's saying we need to do a lot.
Maybe not as much as John McCain, but different than McCain.
And here's Ron Paul saying we need to do less.
threats from Senator Paul's perspective.
It's less about the threats from others to the United States,
than threats US foreign policy causes to the US domestic system.
in the months after this, speech Senator Paul is
very outspoken some of the controversies over the revelations
by Edward Snowden, about the National Security Agency and
data it was gathering on average Americans and, the like.
He was very concerned about this in terms of
civil liberties, even though he conc, was concerned about terrorism.
So he's really worried about the ways in which
foreign policy, can cause problems for our own domestic system.
He says we're not working, quote, within the confines of the Constitution.
As well as what he calls the realities
of our fiscal crisis.
Can we afford all of the commitments around the world?
and so those
[LAUGH]
are really the threats that Senator Paul emphasizes, that are really
[SOUND]
more from home than from abroad.
And strategy, can a more restrained foreign policy do less?
Be as critical and reflective when examining
foreign policy as we are with domestic policy.
the notion that sometimes we accept foreign policy at face value and
go out and do things without as much debate as on domestic.
he questions the scope of US
commitments and he directly questions defense spending.
Can we afford this, is the question that he asks.
So that's a sense of, of three voices in the debate on foreign policy.
Again, there are more, and we'll talk about specific issues as we go along.
but I think now, let's take a look at these, and as a helpful exercise.
let me post three questions for you as a quiz to help
you sort of digest and comprehend what we've just been looking at.
So here's the first one.
Which leader most believes in a limited global role for the United States?
Now take a second and think about this, go back
and look at the video if you want to look
at some notes you may have taken, but which leader
most believes in a global role for the United States?
[SOUND]
The answer on that one, is Senator Rand Paul.
Again, that more restrained foreign policy, limited global role.
much more than President Obama or Senator McCain.
Second question.
Which leader gives the greatest emphasis to
the United States working with its allies?
It's not that the others don't, acknowledge it.
But which one gives the greatest emphasis to the US working with its allies,
President Obama, Senator McCain or Senator Paul?
Second question answer, President Barack Obama.
The anchor of alliances line and a number
of other things that you saw from that speech.
And the third question.
Which leader most believes in American exceptionalism,
President Obama, Senator McCain or Senator Paul?
Not that the others don't but which one gives it the most emphasis in this
conception of who the United States is and what role it should play in the world.
Right. Senator McCain.
so that's a sense I think that you get of all of the, of,
of gives you a little bit of a sense of what we've been talking about.
in terms of a flavor for the debate.
we will in the following units.
Units 2 through 6, we'll talk about every region in the world.
we'll give a flavor, not only of US,
but also people and leaders in those countries.
that have views on what role the United States should be playing in the world.
and we'll move on to those in, in future weeks.
But our next class for this week, what we call Unit
1C, is we're going to talk about the concept of the national interest.
What is the national interest?
It's a term everybody throws around a whole lot.
What does it really mean?
How useful is it?
And I'll introduce to you something called the 4
Ps Analytic Framework as a way of thinking about that.
So we'll move on that, to that in our next session.
I hope this was helpful.
And go back and look at parts if that's helpful to reinforce it.
but take care, and, and I'll see you shortly for, for the next session.
Bye bye.