Tools of Foreign Policy: Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Students will be able to explain the basic tools of foreign policy.
- Students will be able to understand the factors behind how countries select their foreign policy tools.
Materials
Homework Due
- Students should complete Parts 1+2 of the guided reading handout in advance of class. These two sections will give the background on what tools can be used in foreign policy and give a working definition of diplomacy.
Class One
- (5 Minutes) Think-Pair-Share: Students will brainstorm with their neighbor what they think foreign policy means. What are some examples of U.S. Foreign Policy that students have seen in the news recently? Tell students that over the next couple of days students will look at the variety of options foreign policy makers can choose.
- (30 Minutes) Notes: Take notes for Part 3+4 of the guided reading handout.
- Read: What is Armed Force?
- Watch: Military Options Available to U.S. Policy Makers | Model Diplomacy (4:02)
- Watch: How U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Japan Changed Over the Past 100 Years (7:29)
- (5 Minutes) Debrief: Ask students to share key takeaways about foreign policy. What did they learn? What surprised them? What had they not thought of before?
- (5 Minutes) Assign Homework: Students will use homework time to prep for a jigsaw activity by looking at NINE different types of foreign policy tools.
Homework
Each student should read over and take notes on ONE tool listed below. They will then be combined in groups during the next class based on their overarching type. Students may take their own notes or you can choose to have then use the corresponding section of the guided reading handout.
- Economic Tools Group
- What are Economic Sanctions?
- What is Economic Statecraft?
- What is Trade Policy?
- Military Tools Group
- What is Deterrence?
- What is Arms Control?
- What is Nation-Building?
- Other Tools Groups
- What is Peacekeeping?
- What is Intelligence?
- What is Soft Power?
Class Two
- (5 Minutes) Check-In/ Form Tools Groups based on what students read for homework.
- Economic Tools Group
- What are Economic Sanctions?
- What is Economic Statecraft?
- What is Trade Policy?
- Military Tools Group
- What is Deterrence?
- What is Arms Control?
- What is Nation-Building?
- Other Tools Groups
- What is Peacekeeping?
- What is Intelligence?
- What is Soft Power?
- Economic Tools Group
- (20 Minutes) Share Out/ Create Defense: Each group will prepare a 3-5 minute presentation arguing that their tool group is the best for foreign policy ( i.e. Economic tools are the best).
- (20 Minutes) Present/ Debrief: Groups give their presentations about their foreign policy tool. After groups have shared, do a whiparound with the class with each student stating which tool they think is best and why.
Homework
- Use a Model Diplomacy mini-simulation to put students’ foreign policy knowledge to the test. For this homework, we recommend using the A Threat To Taiwan mini-simulation.
- Students should read the Overview, the Situation, and Policy Options.
- Policy Options for A Threat to Taiwan include:
- Do nothing, signaling to China that the United States will not intervene. Given the strength of the Chinese military, this option would likely result in China taking control of Taiwan. The United States could lose an important partner in the region, its allies could come to question America’s reliability and become strategically autonomous, China’s military reach and economic might could expand significantly, and a democracy could be crushed with 24 million people forced to live under the CCP’s rule. By opting not to intervene, however, the United States would avoid involvement in what could be a deadly and expensive military conflict.
- Impose economic and diplomatic sanctions on China. This option would isolate China on the world stage and stifle its economy, though it would have economic repercussions for the United States and China’s other trading partners as well. Such pressure could dissuade China from invading Taiwan and so avoid entangling U.S. forces in a conflict. China, however, could determine that any economic and diplomatic pain is worth it and invade Taiwan anyway.
- Position the U.S. military to defend Taiwan. This option would make it clear that the United States will defend Taiwan if China invades. The guarantee of U.S. involvement could dissuade China from attacking Taiwan. However, if China still goes forward with an invasion, the United States would find itself in a war with China.
- Students MAY also consider another option-based on the tools discussed in class.
- Students should write a one-page memo that states their recommended policy option/ tool with a defense of why it is the best course of action.
Vocabulary
- alliance
an official partnership between two or more parties based on cooperation in pursuit of a common goal, generally involving security or defense.
- amnesty
a type of pardon offered by a government that forgives a person or group of people suspected or found guilty of a crime. The word “amnesty” shares a root with “amnesia,” suggesting that the person’s actions will be legally forgotten.
- arms control agreement
an agreement between two or more countries to limit or reduce the number or capabilities of weapons and related systems. A nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union was a defining element of the Cold War.
- arms race
a competition between rival parties to develop and accumulate weapons. A nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union was a defining element of the Cold War.
- cyberattack
an intentional and malicious encroachment by an outside actor on computer networks, websites, or other cyber infrastructure.
- deterrence
a strategy used to discourage an enemy from attacking by threatening retaliation before the attack occurs. The possession of nuclear weapons is often considered a deterrent, especially if the weapons are physically capable of surviving an initial attack and being used to retaliate.
- disarmament
the renunciation of given weapons, or all weapons, by states or other entities that possess them. One provision of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) calls for countries with nuclear weapons to take steps “in the direction of nuclear disarmament,” or the elimination of their nuclear arsenals.
- drone
an unmanned, remotely piloted vehicle generally used for reconnaissance and combat. Also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
- economic liberalization
a term describing the reduction or elimination of government restrictions and regulations on the economy, including via privatization.
- endemic
typically prevalent within a defined geographic location or among a specific group of people.
- extended deterrence
a variant of deterrence in which a country uses its military capabilities to deter attacks not on itself, but on its allies. The United States has long exercised this strategy by promising to come to the aid of allies if they are attacked. This is called a security guarantee, or a nuclear umbrella since the U.S. force capable of responding to any attack includes nuclear weapons.
- foreign intervention
when one country interferes in the affairs of another, often referring to military operations.
- gross domestic product
a measure of a country’s economic output determined by the value of goods and services it produces in a given year.
- multilateral
undertaken among three or more entities, usually countries. The term frequently describes organizations such as the United Nations (UN).
- mutually assured destruction
the idea that two powerful countries with large nuclear arsenals would destroy each other completely in any nuclear conflict.
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
a military alliance among thirty-two countries on both sides of the Atlantic. Article 5 of the treaty that created NATO establishes its core principle of collective defense,” which commits member countries to defend each other if attacked.
- norm
commonly accepted standard of behavior. Because international law is not always binding, international relations is highly influenced by norms.
- pandemic
disease outbreak that has reached at least several countries, affecting a large group of people.
- responsibility to protect (R2P)
a nonbinding norm holding that outside powers have a responsibility to intervene in response to a government’s failure to protect its population from mass atrocities such as genocide, even though this violates the government’s sovereignty.
- rule of law
the idea that laws established through proper processes, not the arbitrary decisions of rulers, should govern a society.
- sanction
a tool of statecraft, frequently involving economic measures such as asset freezes and trade restrictions, used to exact a certain behavior or outcome from another party.