Preserving Global Stability: An Analysis of Hard and Soft Power Strategies

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2005

Abstract

In order for the United States to maintain global stability and its hegemonial title, it must balance its hard and soft strategies through the scope of foreign policy. By overemphasizing military intervention, unilateralism, and hard power strategies, the United States, and specifically the Bush administration, runs the risk of overextending American resources. Instead, the United States must treat international regimes as the framework for developing and enforcing norms that facilitate intergovernmental cooperation if it wishes to preserve its position as the stabilizer of the global political and economical order. This thesis will examine the ideological clash between neoliberals and neoconservatives in its quest to provide foreign policy implications that serve American interests best. Empirically, the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq are provided as case studies to demonstrate that the balance of hard and soft power strategies is much needed in U.S. foreign policymaking and more importantly, the preservation of global stability.

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