World Policy Journal

US policy toward China should be one of balancing rather than containment. This policy calls for the maintenance of good relations and willingness to participate in trade negotiations without necessarily linking trade issues with military or human rights concerns. As balancer, the US must strengthen the balance of power in East Asia by showing its commitment to peace and stability. This balancing policy must be tempered with morality in the light of human rights and intellectual rights violat...

A democratic foreign policy.

US citizens should force its political system to formulate a truly democratic foreign policy that serves national interests. This is done by identifying their common values and converting them into a definite set of political policies. The goals of a liberal republican foreign policy include worldwide peace stability, worker-oriented free trade, stoppage of government secret overseas activities and regulation of arms flow worldwide.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells stories, runs errands, and has a dream.

Writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez acts as messenger for Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in the hope of achieving Simon Bolivar's vision of a united Latin America. This dream has motivated him to negotiate and establish, in Castro's behalf, communication lines among Latin American political figures and groups. Despite alliance with Castro, he admits he is not against the US and expresses gratitude for North America's influence on his literary life.

India, Pakistan, and the United States: the zero-sum case.

The India-Pakistan conflict over the Kashmir Valley remains unresolved due to US intervention and their own refusal to negotiate. Both of them have the capacity to make and deploy nuclear weapons and missiles. They also advocate the use of force in resolving the dispute. However, the conflict seems to aggravate with US involvement particularly in the 1995 Indian nuclear test and the Brown Amendment, a law lifting sanctions against Pakistan.

Restarting the Marxist clock?: the economic fragility of the West.

Russia's transformation into a capitalist country could revive Marxism. With the collapse of the Soviet empire, Western capitalism lost its unintended protector since unbridled capitalism generates excesses such as economic conflicts, cartels and blocs that will ultimately lead to its self-destruction. The strong market participation of Europe and Japan in contrast to US decline conforms to Marxist forecasts on the reduction of workers' bargaining leverage in capitalist countries due to a hug...

Rival internationalisms: Lodge, Wilson, and the two Roosevelts.

The ambiguity of US policy on internationalism or isolationism evolved from political rivalry in the late 19th century. Henry Cabot Lodge was both an expansionist and isolationist with his support of the Monroe Doctrine and rejection of ventures outside the West. Theodore Roosevelt advocated internationalism as he hoped for greater US world role. Woodrow Wilson's internationalist policy was generally limited to the league of nations.

Saint Augustine's rules: Norman Augustine and the future of the American defense industry.

Chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin CEO Norman R. Augustine exerts enormous political influence as head of the world's largest weapons manufacturing conglomerate. He lobbied and received $1.8 billion in government subsidy for defense contractor mergers even before the Lockheed-Martin Marietta merger was made public. He had also clinched a sweetheart deal for the construction of the Crusader, a state-of-the-art artillery system for the US army.

Testaments Betrayed.

The new American hegemony.

US foreign policy has evolved into a new economically oriented form of internationalism. Amidst demands for isolationism by an anti-foreign aid and anti-immigration public, the US has extended its economic and defense duties worldwide. It remains the world's largest exporter and the most dominant military force worldwide. However, Russian nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism may pose serious threats to US interests.

The new dynamics of security: the United Nations and Africa.

Africa's influence in the UN has declined as UN leverage over Africa has increased. Eastern European countries usually sided with Africa in world affairs so that with the Soviet collapse, Africa's voting power which was its main strength, was considerably reduced. In contrast, UN influence in African affairs has been strengthened with the downfall of many African states such as Somalia, Rwanda and Liberia.

Whose internationalism, whose isolationism?

US foreign policy has shifted from internationalism to isolationism after the collapse of the Soviet Union. From being international peacekeeper during the Cold War era, the US now seems intent in focusing its attention to its domestic affairs. This change is attributed to the current identity crisis resulting from the disappearance of international consensus and the ongoing spiritual crisis caused by the breakdown of Protestant structures.