Yesterday, we reviewed our knowledge about United States foreign policy by filling out a graphic organizer. The table was divided into two sections: one to hold evidence of the US acting as a "good neighbor" and the other to hold evidence of the US acting as an "imperial power." We each found information to support our views on the Monroe Doctrine, the Platt Amendment, the Roosevelt Corollary, and Dollar and Moral Diplomacy. I believe the United States was acting as an imperial power in most of these policies. Most allowed the United States to enter other countries and interfere with their governments, while at the same time depriving smaller nations of their independence and forcing them to follow an American lifestyle.
Today, we continued studying US foreign policy as an imperial power by having a debate about the Bush Doctrine. The Doctrine was created to limit terrorism by allowing the US to attack a country if threatened with weapons of mass destruction, to fight alone without allies, and to spread freedom and human rights across the world. My position in the debate was as a judge, so I listened to my groups ideas about the Doctrine, then discussed the pros and cons of the Doctrine with the other judges. I decided that the Doctrine should not be allowed as foreign policy. Based on the information I was presented with, the Doctrine seems to allow the US to interfere with other countries, sometime without a good reason. Learning about US foreign policy has helped me to understand more about our country and allowed me to question why various government policies were chosen.
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