The Presidency and Diplomacy Activity # GV215 Activity Introduction Hi there I m (Name). You know by now that our president has a bunch of responsibilities. In fact, one of the biggest duties of the president is representing the country abroad. In representing the country, the president has to maintain relationships with other nations He also has to enter into agreements with the heads of other nations When the United States is threatened by an outside entity, it is initially up to the president to decide how to respond to that threat. Using his powers as Chief Diplomat, the president has the opportunity to avoid war or other military action. Video 1 Introduction So with all this talk of diplomacy, you can see that Foreign policy is essential to U.S. politics. In this next video you ll want to keep the following in mind while you watch.
As the Chief Diplomat of the United States, the president uses several powers to interact in the global arena. Even though people disagree about how foreign relations should be carried out between the US and other countries, The fact remains that the president s ability to secure treaties and agreements with other countries is crucial to our safety and future. Video 1 Among the many hats that the President has to wear, one is that of Chief Diplomat of the United States. He sets foreign policy and represents the country to the rest of the world. The least costly in terms of both lives and money, and often the easiest way to achieve foreign policy goals is through diplomacy. Diplomacy is the careful negotiation with other countries. It demands tact and consideration if all parties are to feel that they have benefited from the process. A question arises when we consider diplomacy, and that is, are diplomacy and manipulation the same thing? Diplomacy is the art of compromise. This means no side in the negotiation gets everything it wants, but every side should get some of what it
wants. Diplomacy could be contrasted with a few other ways that countries deal with each other. Manipulation occurs when one leader tries to influence another leader with the intent to deceive or fool him. Coercion is pressuring those you are dealing with into accepting what you want. It takes manipulation to a whole new level. Coercion is usually accomplished through threats and often leads to a third way countries interact with each other, and that third way is military action. Diplomacy is also a complicated maneuver. Sometimes it seems more like junior high schoolers fighting over best friends rather than diplomats representing nations over life and death issues. So it's not uncommon in diplomacy for negotiators to withhold important information from the other side. In this way, the other side might, as part of a compromising offer, grant concession that the withholding side doesn't even ask for. A historical example of this is President Theodore Roosevelt, best known for his use of the phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." That said, he used a variety of diplomatic methods to negotiate a peace treaty to end the Russo-Japanese War. In 1904 and '05, Russia and Japan fought a war over which power was going to control Northern China. Russia entered the war confidently and expected a quick victory;
however, a series of military and naval triumphs by Japan soon gave them the upper hand. The Russian Tsar realized that peace negotiations would be the best way out of a worsening situation. The Japanese also wanted to press for peace while they were ahead and quietly asked Roosevelt if he would mediate a peace settlement. Roosevelt knew that all of the aspects of a peace negotiation required the utmost tact since national feelings were at stake, and took several diplomatic, and some might even say manipulative, steps right away. First, he sent an inquiry to Russia asking if it would be interested in a peace conference. Once both sides said yes, he offered to set up the meeting and suggested meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They both agreed. Roosevelt told the Japanese to drop its demands. If Russia said no, Japan would have to keep fighting, and they didn't want to do that. At the same time, he told Russia to pay Japan, and if they didn't they would have to keep fighting, which they didn't want to do. Japan dropped its demands and left Russia feeling ahead in the negotiations. In the end, both sides signed a treaty that Japan had won the war, but Russia was left with dignity. In helping end the Russo-Japanese War, Roosevelt used a skillful blend of straightforward diplomacy, helped along now and then by touches of manipulation. Roosevelt did not always use straightforward diplomacy. In his dealings with Columbia over the Panama Canal, Roosevelt secretly supported a Panamanian revolution when Columbia refused to negotiate with him. Can you guess the first country that Panama
made a deal with? That's right, the United States. After the Panamanian revolution, Teddy Roosevelt got his Panama Canal. Roosevelt was both a skilled diplomat and a willing manipulator. The reason for the difference may lie in the particular circumstances. He understood the need to act as a pure diplomat, as in the case of the Russo-Japanese War, and he also knew that if U.S. interests were threatened he could still use outright manipulation, threats and coercion to protect those interests as he did to gain the Panama Canal. Video 1 Recap So, once again As Chief Diplomat, the president uses diplomacy to interact with leaders from other countries. Now there are different levels of foreign interaction that leaders can use to obtain their goals. Diplomacy involves compromise and usually takes the form of leaders giving and conceding different things to come to an agreement.
Roosevelt exercised perfect diplomacy in his mediation between the Japanese and Russians. Sometimes, manipulation is used to get the upper hand, as leaders try to outwit and sometimes threaten or bully each other as a means to an end. Roosevelt used manipulative tactics to secure a treaty to build the Panama Canal. When neither straight diplomacy nor manipulation work, countries sometimes use military action as a forceful way for to secure their goals. Reading Passage 1- Introduction So, the Constitution of the United States gives the president four diplomatic powers. Two of those powers are specifically listed and two powers are implied. To better show you what I mean, check out this reading and I ll catch up with you after you re done. Reading Passage 1- Outro Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. So your mind just did about fifty pushups. Reading Passage 2- Introduction Now you know that enacting foreign affairs is no small task. Add this to the other responsibilities of the president and you can see clearly that the president can t do it all alone.
The Secretary of State is the head of the State Department. He or she informs and advises the president in matters of foreign relations so the president can make good decisions concerning U.S. foreign policy. Reading Passage 2- Outro Now that you ve read the passage Video 2- Introduction Diplomacy can often take a threatening tone in foreign affairs. The president has a responsibility to protect U.S. interests and the U.S. itself. While military action is sometimes required, the president generally tries to manage conflict through words and diplomacy before conflict escalates to war. How he balances his roles as Chief Diplomat, Commander in Chief, and Chief of State depends on the president himself and the situation. Video 2 From the President's perspective, international disputes can be divided into two types, those that directly involve the Unites States and all others. In dealing with international disputes, the President draws on several of his roles, Chief of State, Chief Diplomat and
Commander in Chief. So what is the role of the President in these international disputes? There are several courses of action available to the President. If the Unites States is attacked, the President, as Commander in Chief, will send in the armed forces to strike back against those that have attacked us. If a dispute is between other countries and it threatens a national security interest in the U.S., the President, as Chief Diplomat, may act as mediator between the warring sides. If the U.S. supports one side over another in a conflict, the President, acting as Chief of State, can supply the favored country with arms, military training, money and economic support. Understand, these preferences can change. For example, the United States supported Afghanistan when it was fighting the Soviet Union from 1979 to 1989. This included a boycott of the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow. The Unites States then attacked Afghanistan in 2001 in wake of the 911 attacks. Let's take a deeper look at how the U.S. has dealt with international disputes. In 1959, Fidel Castro led a group of communist revolutionaries in the overthrow of the government of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Castro allied Cuba with the Soviet Union, the world's leading Communist power, and the main opponent of the Unites States during the Cold War. In April 1961, President John Kennedy authorized U.S. military support of Cuban exiles seeking to invade the island and oust Castro. This
mission was called The Bay of Pigs. It was a failure. In response, Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader, ordered a wall to be built between East and West Berlin. Though urged to retaliate, Kennedy did not, recognizing that the Soviets had a right to wall off the city. Kennedy continued to try and get rid of Castro, but by covert nonmilitary means. In the summer of 1962, the Soviet Union began arming Cuba with missiles, supposedly to prevent a U.S. invasion. In fact, photos taken from spy planes revealed that the missiles were offensive, not defensive, and had a range of 1100 miles. This would have allowed them to hit major U.S. cities, including the Capitol, Washington D.C. In September, Kennedy publicly warned Khrushchev not to put missiles in Cuba. The Soviet leader denied that he was doing anything, and by mid-october, photos showed that the missile launchers were almost finished. A full-fledged missile crisis was about to begin. Kennedy convened a committee of his top national security experts, and for 13 days this group worked around the clock to come up with the best response to the Soviet threat. Then, on October 22, in a dramatic live television address during prime time, Kennedy announced to Khrushchev and the world that the United States would impose a naval
quarantine on further shipments of Soviet military equipment to Cuba. He was careful not to use the word blockade, because by law a blockade is an act of war. Any ships that defied the quarantine could be fired on. Air strikes could also be used, but most importantly, any Soviet missile strike anywhere in the Western Hemisphere would provoke a full retaliatory response by the U.S., which would have meant nuclear war. Needless to say, following the announcement people around the world were terrified that this was the end of mankind. Meanwhile, Soviet ships bound for Cuba continued on their way. For the first time, full-scale nuclear war seemed likely. The world, the President, his advisors, all waited to see what the Soviet ships would do. On Khrushchev's orders, freighters carrying munitions turned around. Soviet ships not carrying weapons agreed to be stopped and searched. According to the U.S. Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, we were eyeball to eyeball and the other fellow just blinked. The initial confrontation was over, but the crisis was not resolved. Construction continued. Kennedy demanded that all missiles be removed. Khrushchev finally agreed if the U.S. called off the quarantine and promised not to invade Cuba. Kennedy also agreed, but again did so publicly, putting pressure on Khrushchev to follow his word. One of the outcomes of this was in 1963 Kennedy and Khrushchev established the hotline, a direct
phone link between Washington D.C. and Moscow to eliminate the chance of nuclear war, so that communication could be more direct. Kennedy showed leadership through the crisis by making the announcements on television. He also made a nonnegotiable statement that the U.S. meant business and to call Khrushchev out in public to meet those ideals. All in all, Kennedy's goal was to achieve U.S. objectives through diplomacy, rather than war. This goal not only served the interest of the United States, but of the entire world. Video 2- Recap Now, once again From the president's perspective, international disputes can be divided into those that directly involve the United States and all others. The president can respond to international disputes through military action, subsidies and support to one country in an outside conflict, or through diplomatic action. Diplomatic action can take the form of a threat, but gives the opponent the opportunity to change course.
President Kennedy utilized these tactics during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He threatened the Soviet Union publically, and in doing so, raised the stakes of the game. He also gave the Soviets one more opportunity to disengage from the conflict. The Soviets backed down, and in doing so, provided Kennedy and Khrushchev the chance to come to a diplomatic agreement. What the Class Thinks And now, let s check in with What the Class Thinks.. Student 1 Hey Mrs. Jones. Do you have a second please? I have a quick question about my project on Diplomacy and the President. Teacher Sure. How can I help you? Student 1 Well, I wanna demonstrate how the diplomatic powers of the president can steer foreign affairs. I thought I d bring up the four main diplomatic powers of the president, you
know, treaties, executive agreements, appointing ambassadors, and the power of recognition. Teacher I like where you re going with this. Student 1 I also thought I d discuss the difference between straight diplomacy or compromise and manipulation to secure goals. With all of this, would I fully cover diplomatic powers of the president? Teacher Sounds like you have a good grasp on the material. You might want to add a section about using diplomacy to avert military conflict, like Kennedy did during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Student 1 Oh. Okay. Thanks. I ll do that. I appreciate the tip. See you Monday. That s it for this episode. Thanks for tuning in. Now that s what I call food for thought! Did you reach some of the same conclusions?
Generic Activity Exit Well, that s all for now, see you later!