University Of Texas. GOV 312L /GOV 312L Midterm Exam 1 Review. Latest 2020/21. GRADED A.Review Sheet, First Midterm Exam, GOV 312L: U.S. Foreign
... [Show More] Policy
Module 1: The US Foreign Policy Apparatus and the National Interest
1. What is foreign policy? What are the aspects of foreign policy? What are its
targets? What is it designed to influence?
FP is actions (often statements) undertaken by the US federal government directed
toward some foreign audience
Targets are private citizens or organizations outside of the US (sometimes
statements will be directed to the population of a country directly rather than the
government)
Influences/ shapes beliefs, capabilities, interests, actions (behavior)
2. What are the main foreign policy actors within the executive branch? What are
the main responsibilities of each foreign policy department within the executive
branch?
State (diplomats): day to day interaction of US and foreign countries
Defense (armed forces): headed by civilian (not a general); responsible for
military force
Treasury: handles monetary relations with foreign states and has domestic
responsibilities (taxes/ borrowing foreign policy)
Other organizations: NSC, UN, CIA, DNI
o CIA and DNI primarily gather intelligence
3. What is the national interest? What are the arenas in which the U.S. has
important national interests? What dimensions help to determine preferences over
outcomes?
National interests emerge from and define the collective identity of Americans
The US promotes ideals of democracy, free trade, and basic human rights/
dignities
Dimensions of interests: security, economic, ideational (values)
4. What were the central elements of President George W. Bush’s 2002 national
security strategy (assigned reading for this module)? How did this foreign policy
statement capture the changes inherent in the post-Cold War world after 9/11?
What were the major threats to U.S. national security identified in this document?
Bush promoted freedom, democracy, and free enterprise
We should use military strength and influence to create balance that supports
human freedom
Terrorists abuse technology; we must stop them
Our biggest danger is when radicalism meets technology terrorism
We will actively work to promote our ideals universally
Poverty, weak institutions, and corruption make states vulnerable to terrorists
No nation can build a better world alone NATO, UN, WTO, OAS
Module 2: Ethics in US Foreign Policy
1. What are the five frameworks for approaching practical ethics? What are the
principal metrics by which each framework deems a decision to be ethical?
Utilitarianism (Bentham and Mill): defined as providing the most good for the
most amount of people. The definition of community is global and includes
EVERYONE; weighing benefits vs. harm
Common good: emphasizes the collective good of the community but depends on
what you define as your community and what its scope is (can be similar to
utilitarianism if the definition of community is global)
Virtue: tied to self image/ how you view yourself or your ideal self and promotes
ethical habits
Fairness: everyone should be treated exactly the same in a given situation
Rights: each person has unalienable rights and not even a single person’s rights
can be violated
2. Give some examples of values that come into conflict. How does this complicate
ethical decision-making?
Common good vs. utilitarianism come into conflict when it comes to their
definition of what their community is ex. Ebola crisis- is your community global
(utilitarianism)? or is it just your country (common good)?
Individual vs. community
Loyalty vs. truth
Justice vs. mercy
Short term vs. long term
3. How are different ethics frameworks used to analyze the practical ethics related
to the Ebola crisis?
The utilitarian framework and the common good framework have conflicting
solutions and each one provides certain pros and cons
The fairness framework has major drawbacks in how practical it will be if
resources are scarce ex. Who will get the treatment first? Americans vs. Africans,
young vs. old, etc.
Should government be allowed to impose a 21-day quarantine on health care
workers who may have been exposed to and even contracted the Ebola virus when
working in Africa?
Module 3: Grand Strategy I and Isolationism
1. What is grand strategy? How does grand strategy intersect with domestic
partisanship? How do the differences between Republican politicians John McCain
and Rand Paul illustrate the differences between grand strategy and domestic
partisanship?
Grand strategy is a set of over arching ideas that guide the conduct of FP;
intellectual architecture or world view that provides the foundation for foreign
policy
Bipartisan government may occasionally correlate with certain grand strategies
but they do not necessarily strictly parallel them (meaning even if most
republicans support primacy, a good amount of republicans can still support
isolationism)
Rand Paul and John McCain are both republican but Paul supports isolationism [Show Less]