Exam 18: Making Foreign and Defense Policy

Correct Answer:

Verified

An ideal response will:
1.Define idealism as the worldview that believes that countries seek to work together to address conflict and promote peace.Idealism believes that the goal of foreign policy is to achieve common good and to promote democracy.
2.Explain the critique of idealism offered by realists,who believe the countries are out to further their own self-interest.This worldview believes that countries use their foreign policy to strengthen themselves economically,politically,and socially.
3.Explain that a country's foreign policy can be driven by idealism in some realms and idealism in other realms.
4.Provide an example of a George W.Bush administration foreign policy that was driven by idealism,such as the desire to promote democracy in the Middle East.
5.Provide an example of a George W.Bush administration foreign policy that was driven by realism,such as using the military to remove Saddam Hussein from power instead of using diplomacy.
6.Provide an example of a Barack Obama administration foreign policy that was driven by idealism,such as the attempts to repair strained relations with our allies after the Bush administration.
7.Provide an example of a Barack Obama administration foreign policy that was driven by realism,such as using the military to kill Osama bin Laden.
8.Argue in favor of a worldview that is more idealist or realist.Idealists may argue that people are inherently empathetic and that everyone desires peace.Realists may argue that people are inherently competitive and driven by self-interest.