Realism Vs Liberalism in Us Foreign Policy

Realism vs Liberalism in US Foreign Policy

After studying the two theories realism and liberalism I am convinced that the driving theory used by US Foreign Policy should be Liberalism. I believe that Liberalism should be the theory used to create US foreign Policy. To me it is the most rational theory in the sense that states and people building alliances both politically and economically in turn create better business between nations. A good example of this would be the United States and China. China is an industrialized nation that develops products that are in turn purchased and used by the United States. Without the purchasing power of the United States, China wouldn’t nearly be as powerful as they are economically and politically. This alliance has developed into what many would consider the two most powerful and crucial nations in the world.

War is essentially bad for business and a negative way to go about solving economic and political matters. Although World War II did help The United State’s economy bounce back from the “Great Depression”, it was at the expense of hundreds of thousands of U.S citizens. The United Nations was created after World War II and is an organization that promotes the liberalist view of cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace and is a driving force in politics. With a struggling international economy and threats to peace and world order, a liberalist view on Foreign Policy could promote a co-existing world in which all countries could prosper through cooperation.