Foreign policy is the set of strategies that a nation employs to advance its interests in the world. It encompasses all efforts to shape international relationships, from negotiating trade agreements with foreign governments to deploying troops in conflict zones around the globe. Working in this field requires a deep understanding of the complexities of international law and an ability to understand broad and complex scenarios.
The United States is the dominant power in the world, and its foreign policies should reflect this fact. Americanists stress the importance of ensuring that the United States can use its dominance to advance its own interests, and they caution against believing that cooperation will always be sufficient in a changing world.
Globalists, on the other hand, believe that America is not invulnerable and that some crucial problems – such as global warming – defy unilateral U.S. solutions.
The foreign policy makers of today must deal with a wide range of challenges that threaten the security, prosperity and well-being of billions around the globe – and millions of Americans at home. These include human-caused climate change that exacerbates humanitarian crisis and conflict; adversaries seeking to expand their influence and exert power; autocrats who seek to undermine democracy from within; and new technologies that amplify existing threats while creating new ones. These challenges require the United States to maintain its position as an arbiter of peace, guarantor of security and force for stability in the world, while promoting the rule of law and advancing economic freedom.