Puzzled by the disjunction between global trends and US foreign policy since the end of the Cold War, mostly American scholars of political science, law, and economics explore the causes and consequences of US ambivalence to multilateral cooperation. They consider such dimensions as the growing influence of domestic factors, US grand strategy, the chemical weapons convention, and the International Criminal Court. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
The long-standing, but unresolved debate of the virtues and values of multilateralism vs. unilateralism in American foreign policy is critically important in today's complicated world. To understand the history of each approach is to understand their opportunities and challenges for the future. The Best Laid Plans answers two central questions. First, why did the United States embrace the principles and practices of liberal multilateralism during World War II? Second, why did it cling to this vision of world order despite the outbreak of the Cold War in the late 1940s, as the 'One World' that had been anticipated by U.S. postwar planners split into two rival global camps? The book contends that neither the U.S. turn to liberal multilateralism nor the persistence of this orientation during the Cold War can be attributed solely or even primarily to the global power structure or crude considerations of material self interest. Rather, Stewart Patrick argues that a combination of enduring identity commitments and new ideas, based on the lessons of recent, cataclysmic events, shaped the policy preferences of American central decision-makers in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations. Although the book is steeped in history, its conclusions have tremendous relevance for the contemporary era, when the United States once again finds itself at the apex of world power, and debates are rife about the role of multilateral cooperation in the realization of U.S. foreign policy objectives.
This book examines the place of multilateralism in Russia’s foreign policy and Russia’s engagement with multilateral institutions. Throughout the post-Soviet period, both Yeltsin and Putin consistently professed a deep attachment to the principles of multilateralism. However, multilateralism as a value, concept, strategy or general phenomenon in Russian foreign policy has hitherto been neglected by scholars, seldom assessed in its own right or from a comparative perspective. This book fills that gap, combining wider conceptual perspectives on the place of multilateralism in Russian foreign policy thought and action with detailed empirical case studies of Russian engagement at the global, transatlantic and European levels, and also in Russia’s regional environment. It examines Russia’s role and relationship with the UN, NATO, G8, EU, OSCE, Arctic Council, Eurasian Economic Community, Commonwealth of Independent States, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Collective Security Treaty Organization, covering a wide range of issue areas including nuclear non-proliferation and trade. Throughout, it considers the political, economic and security interests that shape Russia’ foreign relations, conception of multilateralism and activity in multilateral settings. Overall, this book is an important resource for anyone interested in Russian foreign policy and its role in international relations more generally.
Examining fundamental economic, military and political causes of the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf crisis, Robert J. Pauly, Jr investigates to what extent these causes were internal and external in origin. He looks at the principal actors in the crisis and determines whether and how they have continued to drive unfolding events in the Persian Gulf ever since.
The pattern of multilateral engagement and unilateral retrenchment in American foreign policy from the Cold War through the Clinton, Bush, and Obama years presents a puzzle. What accounts for the unilateralist turn? Is it a passing aberration attributable to the neoconservative ideology of the Bush administration? What then of the disengagement evident earlier during Clinton’s presidency, or its continuation under Obama? Was the U.S. investment in multilateral institutions following World War II an anomaly? Or is the more recent retreat from international institutions the irregularity? Skidmore traces U.S. unilateralism to the structural effects of the end of the Cold War, both domestically and abroad, to argue that the United States was more hegemonic than multilateralist—a rule-maker, not a rule-taker. An "institutional bargain" existed under the Cold War threat from the Soviets, but absent those imperatives the United States has been less willing to provide collective goods through strong international institutions and other states are less willing to defer to U.S. exemptions. On the home front, the post-Cold War political environment has made it more difficult for presidents to resist the appeals of powerful interests who are threatened by multilateral commitments. This book demonstrates that American unilateralism has deeper roots and more resilience than many expect. The unilateral temptation can only be overcome through new political bargains domestically and internationally that permit multilateral engagement, even the absence of great power rivalry.
This edited volume offers a timely examination of one of the most crucial and controversial questions in international relations, namely should states adopt a unilateral or multilateral approach to contemporary security challenges?
When should the United States cooperate with others in confronting global problems? Why is the U.S. often ambivalent about multilateral cooperation? What are the costs of acting alone? These are some of the timely questions addressed in this examination of the role of multilateralism in U.S. foreign policy. The authors isolate a number of factors that help to explain U.S. reluctance to commit to multilateral cooperation. They then analyze recent policy in specific areas--e.g., the use of force, peacekeeping, arms control, human rights, the United Nations, sanctions, international trade, environmental protection--probing the causes and consequences of U.S. decisions to act alone or opt out of multilateral initiatives. A concluding chapter underscores the point that increasingly pressing transnational problems may require the U.S. to reform its policymaking structures and to reconsider longstanding assumptions about national sovereignty and freedom of action.
This Book tells an exciting, and intriguing story of my training, experiences, and relationships, as a U S Army Ranger in the Vietnam War during 1969 to 1971 while performing recon-missions Behind Enemy Lines. The story takes you on a journey from the physical war in Vietnam to the spiritual warfare that goes on daily for your soul. The spiritual uplifting message within its pages ignites your faith into a blazing fire. You come alive. To survive in Vietnam and come home alive required elite training, strong belief in our training, mental and physical repetition of the training, and real true relationships. If we got distracted, failed to pay attention, disobeyed, ignored, or forgot what we were there to do; our percentage of surviving was greatly reduce. There were many things to distract us. Our minds and bodies got hooked up to drugs, alcohol, sex, and the thrill of living on the edge. These are but a few of the distractions available to us, before we even went on a mission to face what our enemies had for us, or the snakes, diseases, and animals of the jungle. This book tells a very interesting and intriguing story of my experiences and relationships performing reconnaissance missions Behind Enemy Lines in the mountainous jungle region of South Vietnam and near the Cambodian border. When I arrived, in Vietnam the first thing I needed to do was de-program myself of most of the training I had received from the Army while being trained in the Sates, prior to arriving in Vietnam. For example; I had been taught to always ambush from the high ground; that high ground determined the actual site selection for an ambush. It sounded good and worked in World War II and Korea, but this was guerilla warfare. My mentor, Tad taught us first to monitor a trail by observing how the enemy was traveling on the trail and when we had determined the direction of travel, then always set our ambush on the right hand side of the trail according to the enemy's route of March, regardless of the height of the terrain. The reason is that most people, over 90 %, are right handed and the enemy's weapons would be pointed away from you as you set off the ambush. After a few hours, any soldier running missions in the hot jungles of Southeast Asia would have their attention span, focus, alertness, and weapons positions drop off measurably, especially while they traveled through what they perceived as their own safe territory. When you ambush to the right of the trail, five Rangers would fire a full 20 round magazine from an M-16 rifle in 2.3 seconds. That's 100 bullets into a kill zone while the enemy freezes up for a second in shock from all the firing. Once they realize what is happening, they fall to the ground turning their weapons from the left to the right and try to locate where the firing is coming from. That just took 2.8 seconds and our hands are on the detonators of five claymore mines. Each mine has hundreds of shrapnel like bee bees packed into them and about a pound of C-4 explosive. The enemy's rifle hasn't even gotten to their shoulder yet to fire before we detonate the claymore mines, if needed, and the enemy; well that's why it's called an ambush. The sixth person, a Ranger radio operator, was behind us guarding our back with the radio and already our choppers and support were coming. This story takes you from physical warfare to Spiritual warfare in such a way that your faith will be renewed. My prayer is that it sheds light on the battle between good (God) and evil (Satan) that goes on daily for our souls. Sit back and enjoy this short, powerful story. This books mission is; when you reach the end of this book you will have an understanding of why Jesus did what He did and why you need a relationship with Him. He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you, one that will change you from who you are, to a brand new person. You are the Soul, purpose of this book. Author Danny Clifford
World politics in the post-Cold War world has become increasingly institutionalized. However, the role of international organizations has been overlooked in much of the literature on international regimes. Now in paperback, The United States and Multilateral Institutions examines United States policy in areas ranging from international trade to human rights, and in institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), GATT and the World Health Organization.
