472 CHAPTER 15|FOREIGN POLICY
in the president’s willingness to continue these activities after the confl ict.^8 With
the war almost over, President Woodrow Wilson off ered a peace plan, the Four-
teen Points, which proposed (1) reshaping the borders of European countries in
order to mitigate future confl ict, (2) taking measures to encourage free trade and
democracy, and (3) establishing an international organization that would prevent
future confl icts.^9 American diplomats participated in the negotiations that culmi-
nated in the Treaty of Versailles, which offi cially ended the war.^10 The treaty cre-
ated the Leag ue of Nations, an organization similar to the modern United Nations;
but the U.S. Senate rejected the treaty, with the result that the United States never
joined the League of Nations.^11 (Again, this example illustrates the confl icts that
have marked American foreign policy over the last 200 years.)THE RISE OF INTERNATIONALISM
A great transition in American foreign policy occurred during World War II
(1939–45). The United States did not become directly involved in the confl ict until
December 8, 1941, declaring war on Japan the day after Japanese air attacks on
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and American bases in the Philippines. Germany subse-
quently declared war on the United States on December 11. However, prior to the
United States’ offi cial involvement, the U.S. military had been supplying Great
Britain and its allies with arms, ships, and other supplies in return for payments
and long-term leases on British military bases throughout the world. (All these
actions had narrowly escaped a congressional veto—yet another illustration that
making foreign policy is confl ictual.)
During World War II, the Allied Powers—the United States, Great Britain,
the Soviet Union, and other countries—fought as a formal alliance, forming joint
plans and sharing military hardware and intelligence. After World War II, though,
American politicians and scholars felt that the United States should be a central
actor in world aff airs. This new policy was justifi ed on the basis of realist argu-
ments, such as the need to deter future confl icts and the desire for economic bene-
fi ts through trade with other nations.^12 Yet idealists argued for the same policies on
the grounds that America had a moral obligation to preserve world peace.^13 How-
ever, the nation’s shift toward internationalism only increased the amount of con-
fl ict in American foreign policy, as actors disagreed on where the United States
should get involved; what the goals should be; whether intervention should involve
military force, foreign aid, diplomacy, or some other policy tool; and whether the
United States should act alone or in concert with other nations.THE COLD WAR
Soon after World War II ended, the Cold War (1945–91) began as the victori-
ous Allies disagreed over the reconstruction of Germany and the reformation of
Eastern European countries that Germany had occupied during the war. In a 1946
speech, former British prime minister Winston Churchill referred to an “iron cur-
tain” that had split Eastern and Western Europe, leaving the East under Soviet
domination with few political freedoms.^14 The American diplomat George Kennan
argued for containment, the idea that America should use diplomatic, economic,
and military means to prevent the Soviet Union from expanding the set of coun-
tries that it controlled or was allied with.^15 This policy constituted the Truman
Doctrine, which served as a guiding principle for American foreign policy over the
next generation.^16Cold War The period of tension
and arms competition between the
United States and the Soviet Union
that lasted from 1945 until 1991.
containment An important
feature of American Cold War policy
in which the United States used
diplomatic, economic, and military
strategies in an effort to prevent
the Soviet Union from expanding its
infl uence.