United States foreign policies in the middle east
The United States has been at the forefront in its policies governing foreign affairs. Most of the presidential candidates make efforts to be appealing to the citizens by having foreign policies that are appealing to them and also negating the threats posed by the enemies. The US is one of the superpowers in the globe and the main funders of humanitarian projects. They also engage in affairs of other countries by trying to stop wars, for example, affairs in Iraq, affairs of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and, most recently, Libya. It is important to note that some presidents in the US had managed to implement foreign policies that were attractive and made them popular because if their success. Presidents used their powers as chiefs if armed forces to implement and invade into other countries where there were a lot of lives lost and unimaginable destructions. Some of the presidents that have been in the global scenario for their efforts and roles in the implementation of foreign policies include John F Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and Dwight Eisenhower who are ranked among the best in their policies and influences while some are rank among the worst including Jimmy Carter, Harry S. Truman, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and Woodrow Wilson.
President Ronald Reagan
President reign ruled the US from 1981-1989 as the 40th president. in the modern conservatism, president Reagan was most vocal. He had previously served as a California governor in 1967-1975.The president was best known in his effort to negate and prevent the spread and usage of nuclear weapons by foreign states and which was seen as a means to counter the soviet threats. During his leadership tenure, Pakistan was emerging in nuclear weapon development (Fischer, 2013). The policies he adopted were aimed at creating a missile export control organization, and he acted too late since the Pakistani had already stared at the development. The Pakistani collaborated by granting the US military assistance and were able to leverage the support. Pakistan and the US were able to work hand in hand in supporting the rebels who were anti-Soviet in Afghanistan. Via presidents Reagan leadership and administration, they managed to leverage into waivers of proliferation repercussions, and the US army assisted the Pakistan government.He sought a guarantee that they would not intend to enrich themselves via nuclear weapons from uranium.His policies enable the peace treaties to be signed among countries that were in the war in the middle east. He managed to negate the effect of nuclear development and eased the impacts of cold wars based on nuclear usage. During his tenure, there was peace in the middle east.
President Lyndon B Johnson
President Johnson was born in 1908 and died in 1973.he was the US president from 1963 -1969 as the 36th president. He took the reign after the president John F Kennedy was assassinated. He was a democrat politician who hailed from Texas. He had served as a majority leader in the Senate and was also a member of the US representatives. He had served in all the four federal elected posts. President Johnson was committed president in his aim of containing the effects of the communist’s expansion. He is considered to have lacked the knowledge if he and Kennedy were not enthusiastic in most of his foreign policies. He put more emphasis on domestic issues and initiatives more than he did for foreign affairs. During his presidency, American was trying to control the issues in Vietnam and also to deal with domestic matters. He is regarded as the best in domestic policies, and he is considered by many analysts as a failure in the role he played in Vietnam (Colman,2010).There are many criterion and policies that had become more popular in the US leadership since they have been aiming at maintaining their status as superpowers and the four presidents policies were in line with some five essential policies they had for both the domestic and foreign countries especially in the Arab world, Africa and Asia. During the Lyndon Johnson era, Americans believed that they had the capacity to muscles to fulfill their internal and external commitments. He assigned and expenditure amounting to$ 58.3 billion dollars in a fiscal year. This budget was intended to make them military stronger and be able to maintain their defense strength. Most analysts believed that this amount of budget caused enemies to fear their military power, and there were minimal or even declining provocations. The countries supported in the middle east faced little external disturbances. Setting aside such a huge budget serves to intimidate the perpetrators of the cold war on nuclear, especially Afghanistan and the Pakistanis. In the control of global peace, the president did his level best to control and eliminating modern engines of destruction. He pursued the existing policies and proposals to the letter. The government did not stop coming with other new policies that sort to deal with the spread of nuclear weapons (Colman, 2010). The president in his policies believed that if the nuclear weapons felt in the wrong hands of a rogue terrorist, it was capable of causing big damages; hence there was a need to control. In the Arab world, especially in countries of the middle east, there is a likelihood of using nuclear and chemical weapons. In his policies for the counties in the middle east, he managed to stop the spread of chemical and nuclear weapons, which did not go well with the Vietnamese. In his foreign policies, he managed to build strong and effective associations with some countries that allowed an effective reflection of opportunities evident in the current and modern world. They made defenses stronger and enabled economic growth by stimulating global commerce. under his leadership, he had to meet the high new hopes to enable the globe to flourish. Also, in the policies, he intended to improve human life. He proposed new programs and directions for foreign assistance to assist the countries that wanted to help themselves. The president also was in support of many nations and states independence. Despite the analysts saying that he had failed, I can say that he was among the best in the implementation of US foreign policies, despite lacking the elements present in his predecessor.
Barrack Obama
Barrack Obama is an American politician who served as the US president for two terms between 2009 and 2017. He was the 44th president and a member of the democrat’s party. He is regarded as the first African -American president in the US and was previously an Illinois senator for three tears between 2005 to 2008 and Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.
President Barrack Obama was more concerned about the foreign affairs in his administration. He made a better deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to reduce the nuclear arms via mutual agreement. He removed the US troops and decreased the number from 170000 to 1000 in Iraq. He also reduced the number of troops in Afghanistan from 100000 to 10000. His policies were significantly affected by the civil war and the emergence of the Islamic State in Syria, and he remained powerless in the volatile Middle East. He had minimal effort and wasn’t influential like the emirates, Qatar, and Saudi, who would have given more assistance to their neighbors. Among the success in his foreign policies is that he limited Iran’s nuclear efforts and recognized Cuba as a state.The president managed to make the peacekeeping missions stronger.
Obama succeeded in helping in ousting hostile governments, also going into Libya to remove a dictatorial leadership of Muammar Qaddafi and also going onto Syria with other European colleagues. Obamas foreign policies came to the conclusion that he should remain true in his decision making, which he learned from the Syrian decision. He remained committed to his crucial beliefs and never listened to the inside and outside opinions. He opted to look at Syria and Russia via the prism of cold wars. The president had no afterthoughts in bombing the Islamic State, and the Sunni in Iraq, the use of violence was not the last option, and critics thought that there were other ways that were less violent (Indyk, Lieberthal, OHanlon, 2012).He made use of serious and competent partners by talking to Iran and Russia on how to deal with the Islamic State and Syria. The policies Obama adopted fir foreign affairs is that he lacked flexibility in Russia dealing with Ukraine and its economic interest .some of the sanctions orders by Obama are of good intention to Ukrainians since in his policies he did not allow economic assistance in Ukraine until the parliament passes vital acts in devolution and allowing self-governance to the south and east.His policies were a success, especially in Iran’s nuclear success.Obama left the office when the world was better than he found it. He strives to ensure peace prevail and fundamental human rights observed.I can say Barrack Obama proved a success in his foreign policies, especially in the middle east.
References
Colman, J. (2010). The foreign policy of Lyndon B. Johnson: The United States and the world, 1963-1969: The United States and the world, 1963-1969. Edinburgh University Press.
Fischer, B. A. (2013). The Reagan Reversal: Foreign policy and the end of the Cold War. University of Missouri Press.
Indyk, M., Lieberthal, K., & O’Hanlon, M. E. (2012). Bending history: Barack Obama’s foreign policy. Brookings Institution Press.
McCormick, J. M. (2012). The domestic sources of American foreign policy: Insights and evidence. Rowman & Littlefield.