Foreign Policy Idealism

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What does the word “foreign policy” mean? Foreign policy is the government 's strategy in dealing with nations around them whether those other nations are hurting/benefitting each other. Was US foreign policy during the 1800s motivated more by realism or idealism? I believe that the US’s foreign policy was motivated by realism. While idealism suggests that Americans were forming or pursuing ideals, especially unrealistic ideas, like when George Bush claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, most Americans took realist approach because America is a powerful country and the idea of hurting the US is most likely unrealistic, but however if the government believed that Iraq had nuclear weapons then something had to be done. One way that …show more content…

The US was recovering from its civil war and the ideas of a big company/industries were being developed. I believe that after the civil war, people were interested in owning a business and making a lot of money. According to ushistory.org, “In 1790, Samuel Slater built the first factory in America, based on the secrets of textile manufacturing he brought from England. He built a cotton-spinning mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, soon run by water-power. Over the next decade textiles was the dominant industry in the country, with hundreds of companies created.” This relates to realism because when Samuel created the first factory, he seeked out the idea that through the usage of a factory that he built, he can make money off of that. However, none of these business/companies could have been made without the usage of workers. According to my notes, the potato famine during the mid 1800s brought many Irish immigrants to American shores. Those irish immigrants needed jobs and a job that they had was a factory worker. Is the idea of imperialism identified by realism or idealism? I believe that the idea of imperialism can be categorized under realism. This is because the phrase, “the bigger, the better” means a lot to the government. This is technically true because with more land, more resources can be acquired. According to Study.com, “America has or has tried to imperialize Hawaii,China, and the Philippines”. I was not surprised at my finding because in the 19th century, more and more immigrants were coming to the U.S. Through the usage of imperialism, the acquisition of land can be used for housing and

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