A nation’s foreign policy encompasses all the actions that a government takes to manage its relationships with other nations, unions and international organizations. It involves using hard and soft tools to achieve national goals, from leveraging the strength of a powerful military to influencing global affairs through culture, trade, aid and public diplomacy.
Managing relationships and addressing global challenges is not easy. It requires building trust and fostering an environment of cooperation and stability. It requires enlisting reluctant allies, negotiating with intransigent adversaries and concluding complex economic agreements. It often requires addressing human rights violations, promoting democracy and fighting back against extremism. It also involves fighting off the spread of anti-Americanism abroad, which undermines our ability to promote freedom and prosperity around the world.
With the world’s largest economy and most powerful military, America has unique influence on global affairs. As such, foreign policy decisions have far-reaching consequences – impacting people thousands of miles away. The United States must continue to lead in international affairs, guiding the rules that govern global trade and responding to natural disasters and humanitarian crises.
Our diplomats and their dedicated colleagues work tirelessly in Washington and at our overseas missions to make our nation’s foreign policy happen. In this time of growing threats to peace and security, we need to sustain our engagement with the 190 countries we call our allies, as well as with the many other international organizations we support. We must continue to embrace diplomatic measures to curb Iran’s defiance of international norms, prevent further regional escalation and finally arrive at an irrevocable path to a two-state solution for Palestine.
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