Foreign Policy Development in the 20th Century

Development of Foreign Policy in the 20th Century During the Cold War from 1946 to 1990 the United States established a policy called "containment policy" adopted by President Harry Truman. Containment policy is a doctrine of a military, economic and diplomatic cooperative strategy aimed at reversing communism and ensuring that the United States plays a leading role in world affairs. Many believe that if Franklin Roosevelt lives, he can solve the tension between the country and the Soviet Union.

Throughout the 20th century Americans have tried to figure out which method should lead the American foreign policy. The painful consequences of this fight are lack of moral clarity about division, contradiction, confusion, and how we end foreign policy and why. People's chaotic views on the ultimate goal of the Iraq war are a nice example of this tension. Is the purpose of the war to eliminate the threat to the security of the United States, or bring freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people? In this and many other recent examples, I saw the prolonged impact of progressiveism in American politics. Although the extent is varied, the elements of progressive foreign policy thinking are incorporated into almost all ways of today's foreign policy, from liberal internationalist to hawkish new conservativeists.

Some scholars tend to think that the essence of US foreign policy is reactive. Their common themes from their research and analysis is that the foreign policy of the United States in the 20th century is mainly a defensive response to the actions of other world powers. They insist that during the first few decades of independence the United States principally followed the isolationist policy and wanted to keep neutrality during the international political turmoil during this period. It is said that when the United States actively participated in international affairs, it was claimed that the foreign policy of the United States had never had hegemonic desire.