Essay On Offshore Balancing

Improved Essays
The global issue raised in this article is whether or not offshore balancing can be used in today’s world and be an effective practice that the UNited States should readopt. The practice of offshore balancing is a strategic international relation where a great power uses a favorable country to check the rise in power in a non favorable hostile country. Mearsheimer states that “offshore balancing, the United States would calibrate its military posture according to the distribution of power in the three key regions. If there is no potential hegemon in sight in Europe, Northeast Asia, or the Gulf then there is no reason to deploy ground or air forces there and little need for a large military establishment at home” which shows how offshore balancing …show more content…
If the economy is being stimulated then the country will be growing its gross domestic product and the power of influence is has on other countries without being onshore. This domestic use of money will promote the peace of the citizens and control the resentment due to the citizens not agreeing with the intervening and use of tax dollars in foreign affairs. The United States is known for trying to police the world which is a very costly and expensive practice. Mearsheimer shows this by stating “To restore the regional balance of power, the George H. W. Bush administration sent an expeditionary force to liberate Kuwait and smash Saddam’s military machine” and also “Tellingly, when U.S. policymakers deviated from that strategy—as they did in Vietnam, where the United States had no vital interests—the result was a costly failure”. Due to that these conflicts with Saddam and Vietnam were very costly promotes the idea of offshore balancing to be more effective if you truly remain offshore. The author uses a realist perspective due to using past events to gauge how and what outcomes will be most likely to occur in the future. Mearsheimer uses facts and past events to predict the future instead of hopes and feelings to predict future

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In his article “Why Has America Stopped Winning Wars,” Dominic Tierney incorrectly asserts that the United States is in a period of unwinnable wars and that, as such, the United States should plan for battlefield failure and “losing the right way. ”1 He uses multiple fallacies to build his argument, including appeals to emotion, appeals to questionable authority, explaining by naming, and searching for a perfect solution. This leads to the conclusion that the US position as a superpower is a weakness in terms of military engagement. This shortsighted position fails to encompass a holistic view that military engagements do not have to rise to the level of total victory to contribute to overall strategy.…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This book is best recommended for those interested in how power is distributed and going to the military, further pushing the idea of the military-industrial complex. Maddow does a great job showing the change in militaristic power from the Jeffersonian era in the early 19th century to Reagan’s presidency. The book pushes discussions past President Reagan, but the future of the military’s power and budget, especially during the 21st century, with the faulty and extreme spending of the…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “The broad framework of US foreign policy in the era of the Cold War, as well as other eras, the U.S. must adhere to the bottom line. This means, protecting a constructive investment environment for private business benefits” (Hartman, 2002). In 1981, former Pakistani Dictator and General Mohammed Zia al-Haq, understood US Policy bottom line. In a meeting with William Casey, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the dictator offered Casey with a map of the Near East demonstrating how the Soviet Union occupation is moving towards Iran, the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Sea. General Mohammed proposed that if the US does not interfere, the Soviets would produce great economic disturbance in the region (Hartman).…

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In laying the blame for all that went wrong in Iraq and Afghanistan at the feet of our senior military officers, he lets our political leadership and the other departments of the government mainly off the hook. While he discusses the drawbacks of counterinsurgency, saying the American military is not built for it and questioning the American public’s ability to stomach it, he fails to take successive Secretaries of Defense to task for their part in not asking the hard questions of their senior military advisors and of a lack of clear whole of government strategy in prosecuting the conflicts. He does not question the decisions, strategic guidance, or policy making timelines of both the Bush and Obama administrations. While this book adds to the scholarship on the conflicts since the attacks of September 11, 2001, it is not a complete history nor analysis of why the conflicts ended, in Bolger’s words, as “two lost campaigns and a war gone awry”…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder’s lack of rational conviction. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately.” ―Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays Dr. Dominic Tierney’s recent article, “Why Has America Stopped Winning Wars” argues that since WWII, America’s war record is one win (Desert Storm) and four losses (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq). United States’ leaders and key stakeholders often turn to academics like Dr. Dominic Tierney, PhD, Oxford, post-doctoral fellow, Ohio State University and Harvard. Dr. Tierney seemingly provides an expert-based and useful argument on America’s use of military power.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people often forget the importance of our military. Some think we need a strong military and others think we need a small military. According to the Conservative’s handbook, Military strength deters aggression . If we have a strong military, it will imply that we can hold our ground and it will show other countries not to mess with us. (William Inboden, The Role of a Strong National Defense).…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Liberalism is the International Relations (IR) theory best reflected in the 2015 NSS. One key tenant of the Obama Administration’s foreign policy formulation is global economic prosperity and independence. American economic prosperity and interdependence with other state actors are critical drivers of global leadership, reflecting fundamental United States (U.S.) interests and values, and accentuates economic exchange with allies.1 (Walt, p.2) The stratagem recognizes a critical need for global competitiveness, sustained economic development, creating good jobs and raising incomes to influence American prosperity.2 (NSS, p. 15) In that, the plan accentuates the U.S. leadership role in oil and gas production, calls for the generation of high…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Over the years, we have had forty-three presidents who varied in age, political views and race. Each of these president’s had their own ideas and view points on different subjects, one being when should the United States go to war. Is it important to be seen as powerful country, or more important to save the country’s resources? Many citizens put their trust into the president’s and those who make these decisions, to make our country safe and have those fighting for our country, come home safely. Although each president has had different viewpoints, there may not be a definite clear answer on when the United States should put themselves into international conflicts.…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Later in this address, Bush mentions he will increase the defense budget to the highest it has ever been in twenty years. He argues that it is necessary because, as evidenced by the September 11th attacks, “America is no longer protected by vast oceans (“State of the Union Address to the 107th Congress”).” This address provides several different points from which a “U.S. versus Them” frame can be made. Most importantly, the “axis of evil” sentiment provides a clear antagonist that the United States must fight against in order to maintain the perceived common good of the…

    • 1431 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone, former Washington Post Baghdad bureau chief, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, investigates the Green Zone, a sectioned off lavished city in Iraq where the United State authorities lived and worked. The book is centered on the failure of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) not achieving their goal of helping the postwar nation Iraq, due to not fixing crucial immediate needs. Chandrasekaran does a wonderful job of explaining how the CPA failed at its goal, exposed what “war on terror” really meant, and explained the nature of the American Empire. Chandrasekaran firmly believes the CPA did not achieve the goal of helping Iraq. The CPA was originally put into place by the Bush…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Immigration Reform

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Something that United States economy already struggle with that. If United States wants to stay in the world as a key player on policy, economy and banking,…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Although Booth also explores this theme at the start of his article, his analogy of this traditional approach is rather disparate. Booth assumes that prior to the end of the Cold War, the main concern of security studies was based and focused on inter-state war and the deployment of weapons . Similar to the argument of Walt, Booth states that traditional security has been characterized by the three elements of military threats and counter threats, status quo, and state centrism . Consequently, Booth shifts and differs immensely from Walt, with a much more reasonable and relevant argument. Booth believes that although this was a well-focused part of the study of security, ever since the Cold-War has ended, the modern era has seen the decline in inter-state war, and the fact that will only fight if they or…

    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Military Presence

    • 1474 Words
    • 6 Pages

    It is said that with great power comes great responsibility. The United States is the world superpower, a role model for the rest of the free world. Our democratic form of government is a goal many countries strive to emulate and model their governments after. Because of our position as the sole world superpower, weaker countries depend on us. Therefore, it is beneficial that the United States maintains our global military presence.…

    • 1474 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The concept surrounding China’s unpeaceful rise is a fundamental complex debate. In the article, Chinas Unpeaceful Rise, one is exposed to John J. Mearsheimer’s subjective view which states that Chinas rise will be one absence of peace and one accustomed to war. In accordance, the United States, due to the theory of international politics, will ensure that China’s attempt to establish regional hegemony will be challenged by the United States. According to John J. Mearsheimer’s understanding of international politics most prominent goal of state survival and to maximise power over the world and the overall system, Mearsheimer believes that in order for Chins to gain a position of overpowering security, she will attempt to rule the Asia-Pacific…

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Ever since the United States established itself as a nation, foreign policy has been key to the well being of its economy and citizens. But, yet some argue that foreign policy has lost its importance in the minds of politicians leading the nation over time. Joyce Kaufman states in her book “A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy”, that after the nineteenth century the US bent its ideas of national interest, and ignored the nation’s history that clearly shows a strong foreign policy leads to more prosperity. Another supporter, Walter Mead in his essay on foreign affairs, argued that US leadership is vulnerable to catastrophic decisions based on public opinion, and that a stronger focus on the nations history could help politicians create…

    • 1603 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays

Related Topics