Some noteworthy examples of the United States participating in international dialogues include the First Geneva Convention of 1864, signed in 1882, and the Hague Convention of 1899, both of which created international law regarding the rules of warfare and wartime conduct.
In fact, the first truly multinational decision-making body, the League of Nations, was the brainchild of Woodrow Wilson, whose fourteenth point of his Fourteen Points called for a "general association of nations". Unfortunately for Wilson, the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles fell to the hands of a Republican-dominated Congress. Led by chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Henry Cabot Lodge, Congress failed to ratify the treaty; thus, although a President had envisioned it, the United States did not join the League of Nations.
According to the US State Department:
Most historians hold that the League operated much less effectively without U.S. participation than it would have otherwise. However, even while rejecting membership, the Republican Presidents of the period, and their foreign policy architects, agreed with many of its goals. To the extent that Congress allowed, the Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover administrations associated the United States with League efforts on several issues. Constant suspicion in Congress, however, that steady U.S. cooperation with the League would lead to de facto membership prevented a close relationship between Washington and Geneva.
Later, in the United Nations, the United States would come in much closer contact with international cooperation. Under President Truman, the United States was officially the first country to ratify the United Nations charter and become a member, on August 8, 1945. On the same day, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.
The United States is one of five permanent members on the Security Council. Ten other nonpermanent members are elected for two years. The United States, along with the other permanent members of China, France, Russia, and Great Britain, has veto power on the Council. This means that
...if any one of the five permanent members cast a negative vote in the 15-member Security Council, the resolution or decision [is not] approved.Another important organization that the United States is a part of is NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The United States signed the Washington Treaty on April 4th, 1949; only 12 members founded NATO, but it has since expanded to 28 countries. Ironically, "Article 5 of the Washington Treaty -- that an attack against one Ally is an attack against all -- is at the core of the Alliance, a promise of collective defense." For almost the exact reason, Wilson's League of Nations was rejected by Congress.
All five permanent members have exercised the right of veto at one time or another. If a permanent member does not fully agree with a proposed resolution but does not wish to cast a veto, it may choose to abstain, thus allowing the resolution to be adopted if it obtains the required number of nine favourable votes.
NATO's beginnings were due to the emerging Soviet and Western tensions in Europe. The United States agreed to provide aid to Europe in order to collectively defend against any of the USSR's possible encroachments.
Today, NATO manages worldwide crises by using methods such as immediate disaster relief and humanitarian aid. It also conducts peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo, the Mediterranean, and parts of Africa.
There are multiple trade agreements of which the US is a member, but the most significant may be NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. This agreement allows easier exportation of products between the countries, specifically from the United States to Canada and Mexico. Also of note are the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which aim to increase trade by lowering restrictions between countries.
Sources:
History Channel, "Franco-American alliances signed," HISTORY, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/franco-american-alliances-signed
Patrick Farrell, 6-4-2009, "What is the Geneva Convention?," History News Network, http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/586
James Brown Scott, 12-23-1914, "Full text of "The Hague conventions and declarations of 1899 and 1907, accompanied by tables of signatures, ratifications and adhesions of the various powers, and texts of reservations; edited by James Brown Scott, director"," Carnegie Endowment for International Peace https://archive.org/stream/hagueconventions00inteuoft/hagueconventions00inteuoft_djvu.txt
1-8-1918, "The League of Nations, 1920," US Department of State, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/league
HISTORY, 8-8-1945, "Truman signs United Nations Charter," http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/truman-signs-united-nations-charter
United Nations Security Council, "Members of the United Nations Security Council," United Nations, http://www.un.org/en/sc/members/
US State Department, "NATO," http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rt/nato/
Nato, 4-1-1949, "The founding treaty," NATO, http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_67656.htm
Nato, "Operations and missions: past and present," NATO, http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_52060.htm
"North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)," United States Trade Representative, https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/north-american-free-trade-agreement-nafta
It is interesting to note that while these are the most visible and clear alliances and agreements that the United States maintains, our hundreds of agreements with nations, organizations, and non-governmental groups is what really supplements our power. The big organizations are no doubt the clearest signs of American power, but I do not believe these could be upheld without our power being spread through informal alliances and smaller trade agreements.
ReplyDeleteWhen the world is in agreement, it's far easier to project power. I guess this would come down to soft power vs hard power arguments that flood the modern political scene today. It will be interesting to see the balance of power change as China begins to assert itself globally with its own international bank and business agreements with many developing African countries.