US Foreign Policy in the 1990s

304 Pages·1991·27.255 MB·English

by  Greg Schmergel (eds.)

US FOREIGN POLICY IN THE 1990s
US Foreign Policy
in the 1990s
Edited by
Greg Schmergel
Senior Editor
Harvard International Review
Foreword by Derek Bok
President, Harvard University
Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN 978-1-349-11222-7 ISBN 978-1-349-11220-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-11220-3
©Harvard International Review, 1991
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1991
All rights reserved. For information write:
Scholarly and Reference Division,
St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
First published in the United States of America in 1991
ISBN 978-0-312-05366-6
Libaray of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
US foreign policy in the 1990s I edited by Greg Schmergel.
p. em.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-312-05366-6
I. United States-Foreign relations-1089- 2. United States
-Foreign relations-1081-1989. I. Schmergel. Greg, 1959--
11. Title: US foreign policy.
E881.U2 1991
327.73---dc20
90-43367
CIP
Contents
Foreword ix
Preface x
Acknowledgements xii
Notes on the Contributors xiii
List of Usages xvt
Part I Meeting Global Challenges 1
1 The Ecology of International Change 3
George P. Shultz
2 Learning from the Past without Repeating it: Advice for
the New President 14
Dante B. Fascell
3 The Challenges to American Leadership 34
Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
4 An Agenda for the 1990s and Beyond 47
W. W. Rostow
5 America's Role in the World: A Congressional
Perspective 58
Lee H. Hamilton
Part II Perspectives from World Leaders 81
6 The Path of Maturity in Brazilian-American Relations 83
Jose Sarney
Part III Thinking about National Security 95
7 Realism, Cohesion, and Strength: Ideas for a New Era in
International Security 97
Frank C. Carlucci
8 Security, Arms, and Arms Control 104
Raymond L. Garthoff
9 President Bush's Arms Control Challenge 117
Paul Doty
v
vi Contents
10 Toward a Grand Strategy 129
David M. Abshire
Part IV Superpower Relations 137
11 Soviet-American Relations in the Reagan Years 139
Adam B. Ulam
12 A New Era in Us-Soviet Relations 150
Claiborne Pel/
Part V America and the Global Economy 157
13 An Appraisal of Trade Policy during the Reagan
Administration 159
Richard N. Cooper
14 Trade, the Dollar, and the Decline of America 169
Rudiger Dornbusch
15 Whither Protectionism? 179
Robert B. Reich
Part VI Covert Operations and Foreign Policy 185
16 Covert Action and American Foreign Policy 187
David L. Boren
17 Covert Action and Congressional Oversight 194
John W. Warner
18 Covert Military Operations and American Foreign
Policy 203
Nestor D. Sanchez
Part VII Issues around the World 213
19 Science, Technology, and Policy in the 1980s 215
Edward Teller
20 American Foreign Policy: A Turkish View 226
Adnan Kahveci
21 Stalemate and Opportunity in Latin America 231
Robert A. Pastor
22 The End of American Hegemony and the Future of
Us-Japan Relations 243
Chalmers Johnson
Contents vii
23 US Policy toward Africa in the 1990s: Challenges,
Changes, and Constraints 254
Henry F. Jackson
24 New Challenges and Opportunities in Sino-American
Relations 263
Michel Oksenberg
Index 275
Foreword
The concerns addressed by the distinguished authors in this collection
of essays have been subjects of study at Harvard for many years.
Faculty and students have long sought to understand the complexities
of foreign relations and national security. The search for stability and
peace in the nuclear age, the emergence of third-world countries, the
agenda to bolster a faltering economy and strengthen trading policies
all are concerns that demand our closest scrutiny. In the cogent essays
in this issue we are fortunate to have guidance on these issues from
highly knowledgeable and experienced authors.
With ever-increasing global interdependence, universities have an
unprecedented opportunity to contribute to the pursuit of security in
an insecure world. In fostering programs and projects that can lead to
better understanding of other nations and cultures, universities lay the
groundwork for a more peaceful world. Centers for area studies and
for international affairs and research on international problems in all
of the professional schools can expand the knowledge of readers
everywhere about issues of importance to all comers of the globe.
In trying to prepare students for lives that will be affected
profoundly by other countries and cultures, faculties can develop
curricula with more international, less parochial perspective. Yet
courses alone will not suffice to make students more cosmopolitan or
more aware of issues beyond America's borders. The presence of
students from many other countries can likewise help in vivid ways to
achieve this goal. So can opportunities to travel, study, and work
abroad. University programs can also make a contribution. That is
why we support the publication of the International Review and
congratulate those who edit it. By their work, they educate others, but
most of all, they educate themselves about a range of problems of
critical importance to their future and ours.
DEREK BOK
President, Harvard University
ix
Preface
President George Bush has long been involved in American foreign
policy. He represented the United States as head ofthe Liaison Office in
Beijing and as US representative at the UN in New York, directed the
CIA in Langley, Virginia, and as Vice President undertook numerous
foreign policy assignments. His strong interest in foreign policy bodes
well for the nation as it seeks to adapt to the dynamic process of change
that is presently occurring throughout the world, since the United States
will need strong and committed leadership to successfully maintain its
position in the world order. Bush's foreign policy team is similarly
experienced- most have already served in top-level posts in previous
administrations. Nevertheless, many of the foreign policy questions of
the 1990s are newly arisen and will require new approaches and creative
thinking; staying the course may not be enough.
Foremost on the agenda is the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev has
displayed a flair for public relations unprecedented among Soviet
leaders - some European opinion polls show him to be more popular
than Ronald Reagan - and has made glasnost and perestroika
household words in Europe and America. European commentators
question whether or not Gorbachev has removed NATO's common
enemy, with some responding in the affirmative. His recent speech at
the UN epitomizes the challenge presented to the United States.
American policymakers must decide how much is simply propaganda
and how much is true, substantive change that could result in
permanent shifts in the us-soviet relationship.
America is not alone in actively assessing the changes Gorbachev is
bringing to the Soviet Union and to international relations; the allies
are reaching their own conclusions, often conclusions much more
optimistic than the typical American ones. In this disparity lies a
potentially grave challenge to the NATO alliance. NATO was founded
primarily to defend Europe against Soviet invasion or intimidation - if
Gorbachev succeeds in creating the perception that the Soviet Union is
no longer a threat, then NATO's foundation could erode. Soviet
international relations analysts are forecasting an end to both NATO
and the Warsaw Pact within a few decades. Maintaining alliance
solidarity in the face of this and other actual and potential challenges,
such as the dispute over "burden-sharing" and the disagreements
concerning allied support for US initiatives outside of Europe, will
surely require a great deal of effort.
X
Preface xi
One facet of the Us-Soviet relationship, arms control, is especially
promising. The recently concluded INF Treaty contains important
precedents such as on-site inspection and asymmetrical reductions
which will facilitate subsequent negotiations. The improved atmo
sphere in East-West relations and the Soviet new thinking on the value
of force should also result in accelerated progress in the START and
MBFR negotiations. And if East-West tensions subside over coming
years, arms control can both contribute to and benefit from that
relaxation.
Economic issues have risen to the top of the foreign policy agenda.
Paul Kennedy sparked a nationwide debate on the implications and
severity of America's relative economic decline with his book, The Rise
and Fall of the Great Powers, with some analysts urging immediate
action to remedy "imperial overstretch" and others expressing doubt
that such a phenomenon applies to today's United States. Few,
however, doubt that economic issues should receive greater attention in
American foreign policy; America's trade deficit alone makes them
difficult to ignore or even deemphasize. Since World War II the United
States has pursued the goal of freer trade in the global economy; today
America's falling competitiveness is creating domestic pressures for
protectionism and "fair trade" instead of free trade. Resisting these
pressures and continuing the drive to open markets around the world
at the same time that he strives to improve America's position in
international trade is an imperative for President Bush.
A number of other issues will be competing for President Bush's
attention: What is to be the role of covert action after the Iran-contra
affair? How is the US to relate to the UN? How will the US foster the
cause of democracy in Latin America? How can politicians and
scientists work together to quicken the pace of scientific research and
the development of new technologies? How can the US and the new
economic superpower, Japan, work together in the world economy and
in world politics? Will the the African continent receive more attention
than it has in the past? What new directions are there for Sino
American relations in the 1990s? What are American interests and how
can they best be achieved?
All the above questions are addressed in this collection of essays,
which seeks both to commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of the
Harvard International Review and to contribute to the national debate
on the best course for American foreign policy in the 1990s.
GREG SCHMERGEL