World War II

Containment?

- Will German and Japanese power harm US interests?

- US is reluctant to enter the war, but F. Roosevelt gets US involved in supporting Britain (e.g. Lend-Lease, fighting German submarine attacks)

- Unilateralist flirt with fascism

Liberal Internationalism

- Atlantic Charter, 1941

- Informal United Nations, 1942

- United Nations, IMF, World Bank in 1944-1945

What Tradition Covers World War II?

- Is the US “containing” regional hegemons abroad?

- US “under-extended” prior to 1942 (A. Stein)

- US arms in mid-1930s but has no defensive commitments abroad (unilateralism)

- LI as the “default” tradition?

- Why such under-commitment?

- Unilateralism & American System traditions dominate until after WWII

- FDR attempts containment without alliance commitments

- Dec. 1940: “Arsenal of Democracy” speech:

- 1941 lend-lease laws

- US will arm others not fight itself

Containment and the Cold War

How to create international security when non-LI failed in the past

- UN system offers a model
- torn by Cold War rivalry

- Containment as Default?

Causes of the Cold War

1) Orthodox: Soviet Union blamed primarily

2) Revisionist: US blamed primarily

3) Post-revisionist: Mutual interaction

Security dilemma plays a central role

Berlin, Korea, and the Specter of the Garrison State

- June 1948: Berlin Crisis

- April 1949: NATO charter signed

- June 1950: Korea War begins

- US troop commitments to Europe increase

- July 1953: Korean War ends

Nuclear Diplomacy

- US has monopoly on nuclear weapons until 1949

- US nuclear dominance waning across 1950s

- Taiwan Crises in 1950s test US ‘resolve’

- Berlin Crises (1958, 1960, 1961

- Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962

- Nuclear cooperation begins afterward

Rise of National Security State

- increased authority and power in executive branch

- National Security Council, Dept. of Defense, CIA

- large peacetime military establishment

- permanent overseas commitments