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Ap Us Foreign Policy Dbq Essay

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The 20th century would represent a great turning point in global affairs, greatly influencing US foreign policy. Both World War I and World War II were instrumental in the evolution of US foreign policy. Prior to WWI, the US was relatively uninvolved in global affairs at large, engaging in wars when necessary of course, but for the most part abided by George Washington’s famous warning against entangling foreign alliances. This isolationist stance would be apparent even through World War I and leading up to World War II, but various factors, such as the threat of the communist USSR, contributed to radically alter this isolationist stance to a much more involved foreign policy committed to the containment of communism. While US isolation was …show more content…

In the aftermath of WWII, the US stood as one of the few powers relatively unharmed, as well as the sole nation in possession of nuclear weapons. This afforded the US a great degree of power and leadership in the world. However the USSR was another great power that managed to avoid much destruction from the war, and besides being ideologically opposed, matters were complicated after the USSR developed nuclear weapons for itself. This prompted the formulation of a new foreign policy. Document 7 states that the US “must organize and enlist the energies and resources of the free world in a positive program for peace which will frustrate the Kremlin design for world domination.” Here a policy of containment was first implemented by the US, which would involve the use of foreign alliances and intervention of foreign affairs in order to prevent the spread of communism and the influence of the USSR. Document 7 is explicit in affirming that the US remains the best chance for peace in the world while the USSR seeks war, but as opposed to a policy of isolationism, the new US foreign policy accepted a position of global leadership in actually organizing the world against the threat of communism and the USSR. This would require a concentrated and sustained role in foreign affairs unlike the US or the world had ever experienced before. Indeed, Document 2 illustrates how after WWII, US defense spending remained at very high levels compared to other peace times throughout the 20th century. This demonstrates the high level of involvement the US would have in events around the

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