Are we allowed to post this essay? AY 2011-2012 I Suspect My Government Will Not Do The Right Thing; I Hope They Protect Me. National Security Studies WILLIAM KURTZ DANIEL P CORBIN, NH-4, DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY SEMINAR 13 KELLY MORRIS, PRIMARY FACULTY ADVISOR The Industrial College of the Armed Forces National Defense University Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. 20319-5062 The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the National Defense University, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. Introduction I distrust my government and have a strong belief that, left to its own devices, it will not do the right thing. However, I believe more strongly in the system that authorizes me and my fellow citizens to check, influence, and remove that government either by voting or through means otherwise contemplated by the Founding Fathers and implicitly granted by the Constitution. Based on this distrust, can they protect me? The United States has become the most powerful nation in the world by most recognized measures. The strength of this country comes from... ... middle of paper ... ...tions the President believes necessary for the nation’s defense and security. The theory of our government is that the will of the people shall prevail over the power of the government; this is appropriate only if all participants know what they are doing. In balance, I believe the strengths outweigh the weaknesses. So can the government protect me? It can if I remain informed, engaged, and active in the government’s pursuit of the right thing. Works Cited Aaron L. Friedberg, In the Shadow of the Garrison State : America's Anti-Statism and its Cold War Grand Strategy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000), 63. Clinton Rossiter, ed., The Federalist Papers (New York: New American Library, 2003), 546. Jerel A. Rosati and James A. Scott, The Politics of United States Foreign Policy (Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2011) , 329-338.
You may think that the Constitution is your security - it is nothing but a piece of paper. You may think that the statutes are your security - they are nothing but words in a book. You may think that elaborate mechanism of government is your security - it is nothing at all, unless you have sound and uncorrupted public opinion to give life to your Constitution, to give vitality to your statutes, to make efficient your government machinery. (Brown)
Frieden, Jeffry A., David A. Lake, and Kenneth A. Schultz. World Politics. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2013. Print.
Presently, the United States places a high value on its military power and often boasts of its strength in the news. Not only does
...tee against arbitrary and malicious persecution of individuals by the state; by weakening those protections, the government has opened the doors to new encroachments on the liberties that all residents of the United States rightfully enjoy.
Hawley, C. (2003). U.S. foreign policy. Encyclopedia of American history: Expansion and reform, 1813-1855, 4, Retrieved August 14, 2008, from Facts on File: American History Online database.
Mingst, Karen A. Essentials of International Relations. New York : W.W. Norton & Co., 2008.
Viotti, P., & Kauppi, M. (2013). International Relations and World Politics. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.
Shiraev, Eric B., and Vladislav M. Zubok. International Relations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
As we approach the next Presidential election the topic of American foreign policy is once again in the spotlight. In this paper, I will examine four major objectives of U.S. foreign policy that have persisted throughout the twentieth century and will discuss the effect of each on our nation’s recent history, with particular focus on key leaders who espoused each objective at various times. In addition, I will relate the effects of American foreign policy objectives, with special attention to their impact on the American middle class. Most importantly, this paper will discuss America’s involvement in WWI, WWII, and the Cold War to the anticipated fulfillment of these objectives—democracy, manifest destiny, humanitarianism, and economic expansion.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”-Benjamin Franklin. We live in an age where governments invade the private lives of its citizens in the name of safety. Ironically, anyone who displaying a hint of paranoia when it comes to government surveillance or secrecy is automatically labeled a conspiracy theorist or a kook. It seems that in the U.S., it has become frowned upon to believe that our government would ever infringe on our rights, unintentionally or deliberately. After all, they can’t, it says so in the constitution! But, alas, it turns out “Big Brother” has been very busy the past decade. It seems as though every year new government scandals arise, from cover ups to spying on U.S. citizens. Law enforcement and government agencies are slowly finding “loopholes” through problematic areas of the constitution, with little regard for citizens’ rights. It is our duty as citizens, to not tolerate violations of the law that our nation was founded upon. By examining history and other countries’ policies regarding privacy and freedoms, it becomes clear that if these breaches of our rights are allowed to go on, we will be living in a country of fear and oppression.
Nye, Jr., Joseph S. “Hard and Soft Power in American Foreign Policy.” In Paradox of American Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. 4-17. Print.
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Eagle Rules? Foreign Policy and American Primacy in the Twenty-First Century. Ed. Robert J. Lieber. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002. 152-172.
Security and liberty cannot be separated; furthermore it is a fallacy to think you can give up one for the other.
Weber, Smith, Allan, Collins, Morgan and Entshami.2002. Foreign Policy in a transformed world. United Kingdom: Pearson Education Limited.