Afghanistan and the United States of America - Foreign Policy Essay Sample

The Foreign Policy

Afghanistan has been in the headlines of US foreign policy since the year 2001. The US then had military campaigns against Al Qaeda and the Taliban government that was supporting it, following a terror attack on the September eleventh of that same year. Since then, the US government has been trying all its efforts to bring down the war, but this has seemed a bit difficult.

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The efforts, however, seemed to pave the way in the early of 2019 as the US president Donald Trump intensified negotiations. The U.S. engaged in direct negotiations with the Taliban interlocutors concerning the issues of counterterrorism and the presence of their troops in Afghan. The talks aim to bring about peace and end the terror attacks.

Along with the government, the NATO-led mission established by the U.S. in Afghanistan to assist the Afghanistan government in training and advising their forces to combat operations (Jaeger & Siddique, 2018). Other counterterrorism forces have also joined to try combat the terror groups which, from the media are mostly Al Qaeda and Islamic State.

The 2019 negotiations came to the close of bringing a solution by as Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. negotiator in s press meeting said that nothing had been agreed on until all negotiations have been done (Wanis-St, 2019). This indicates that the struggle is still there and there is no surety as to whether it will be achieved or bring another disastrous toll.

The U.S has invested over $132 as an aid to the Afghanistan government to support its defense forces and improve its capacity. The charity also is used in the development of the country with the U.S government hoping that as the economy improves, even their political systems might develop and the long searched peace materialize.

However, these numerous efforts are seemingly discouraging to the U.S government as the effort to end the Taliban diplomatically seems not to bear fruits. Some of the U.S officials have advocated for the withdrawal of the U.S troops in Afghanistan and the government to leave the issue as it is a bit difficult to deal with terrorist. The recent threat is that soon the Afghanistan elections will be held and the incoming team may have a different view on the same.

President Trump stated however that they are not backing off. This is because the main aim of the U.S government as he says, was to help Afghanistan gain stability so that it can manage its affairs and also its internal security without assistance by foreign troops. The center goal for the efforts not to develop Afghanistan as some people speculate, but it was instead to eliminate Afghanistan as a haven for terrorists to stage attacks against the U.S. In doing so, the country will have achieved peace even if not entirely but at least it will be in control.

I agree with the posture that the US is taking since if the terrorist is given free space, they will have the opportunity to launch most of their plans. One clear thing is that, currently, stopping terror activities is something complicated and almost close to an impossibility. The best thing that any country can do is try to manage it and minimize its freedom, and that is what the US is precisely doing. Hopes should be held however that someday, peace will be obtained.

The Trade Policy

The 20th century was an awakening for the United States economy with the toll of the world war. While other countries fought, the U.S followed an independent course and established two programs namely the naval disarmament and refunding the German economy (Harrison, 2018). As the government operated out of the league, it acted as the dominant player in diplomatic affairs. The country became a financial capital for the other countries as they capitalized more on industrialization and trade. This did not take long before it started failing.

The government, therefore, adopted the trade policy which relied on high tariffs under the Republicans and also traded agreements under the Democrats (Lake, 2018). During this time, the U.S government began supporting the allies through financial support and equipping the war but did not send any troops to the war. This worked together with their trade policy, and at the end of the cold war, the U.S became a non-colonial economic power with significant influence in the world.

In my opinion, the approach that the US used as an optimal one. They took advantage of the war in developing its economy through the selling of weapons and equipment while other countries struggled with conflict and ignoring their economy. This gave them the opportunity to expand and grow, and as the outcome could tell, it was a significantly historical step for the economy of the United States.

The main aim for the U.S bringing about trade policy through agreements and tariffs was to bring back the industrialization economy which was failing by then. A different course of action had to be taken to ensure that the country's economy is still performing well. This significant step acted as a foundation for the Current U.S strong economy. While the other nations struggled to collect their economic pieces together after the war, the U.S was economically flourishing, explaining its current top position in economic development.

References

Harrison, L. E. (2018). The Pan-American dream: do Latin America's cultural values discourage true partnership with the United States and Canada? Routledge.

Jaeger, D. A., & Siddique, Z. (2018). Are drone strikes effective in Afghanistan and Pakistan? On the dynamics of violence between the United States and the Taliban. CESifo Economic Studies, 64(4), 667-697.

Lake, D. A. (2018). Power, protection, and free trade: International sources of US commercial strategy, 1887-1939. Cornell University Press.

Wanis-St John, A. (2019). Fumbling abdication: Make America diplomatic again. Negotiation Journal, 35(1), 107-110.