CHAPTER ONE
1.0
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background Information
Foreign policy is the aspect of
national policy that pertains to the external environment and involves the
enunciation of principles and also indicates a country's positions on major
international issues. It is concerned with the substance and conduct of
external relations (Unaji F.N 2007:71). The aim of foreign policy is to ensure
that states or international organizations maintain existing patterns of
behavior, if the influencing state perceives such as contributing to the
attainment of its own objective. It may also be to alter the prevailing pattern
by initiating a new set of policies or by altering or halting the
implementation of existing ones. The instruments of foreign policy according to
the National Open University‘s School of Arts and Social Sciences (2007) are:
Diplomacy, Economic Instruments, Psychological Instrument of Propaganda,
Military Weapon/Instrument, Cultural Instrument, Imperialism and Colonialism
and War. States all over the international system have been known to take up
each of these foreign policy instruments at different times and occasions when
interacting with other states. These instruments are an important aspect of
international relations as a discipline. For the sake of this study, war as an
instrument of foreign policy is the only instrument that shall be examined
broadly.
War is as old as mankind (Harrison
1973:70). War signifies confusion and discord. It is a species of the genus of
violence; more specifically, it is organized, collective, direct, manifest,
personal, intentional, institutionalized, instrumental, sanctioned and
sometimes ritualized and regulated, violence. Violence is what turns conflicts
into war. The American perception of war defines war as organized violence to
achieve political ends while the Roman Empire approached war as a legal
condition defining the possible limits of organized violence (Steven M. Phillip
G. 2011:2). Today, ‗war‘ is used in many different ways, example, cold war, hot
war, limited war, total war, conventional war, unconventional war, civil war,
guerilla war, preventive war, political warfare, propaganda war, psychological
warfare, race war, tribal war, gang war and so on. Communist often use such
terms as ‗imperialist war‘, ‗economic war‘, ‗trade war‘ and ‗wars of national
liberation‘ (Unaji F.N 2007:103). War is inherently a human endeavor and is
however subject to human imperfection (Eric J.S 2005:275). States or groups go
into war for various reasons. War is said to be violence conducted by human
organizations in order to secure human goals (Eric J.S 2005:275). It involves
armed conflict between two or more parties usually for political reasons. Most
states resort to the use of war in order to acquire more power, control over a
territory, resources or put an end to security threats against its state and
its people. States go to war mainly for the security of its people especially
in the case of oppression. The main duty or aim of a state is to protect its
people and that becomes a part of its foreign policy. Security is the goal of
war, and security is enhanced by political control over people, territory, or
resources (Eric J.S 2005:278). An example of the use of war over sovereignty
and territory can be seen in the actions of Arab and European imperialists and
colonizers of Africa who came armed with brutal force and thus put territories
in a state of war without formally declaring it. These states used violence to
place their subjects in unpleasant situations to gain and maintain political
control over the people, territory and their resources. War is an act of force
to compel an enemy to do your will. States that resort to war do so believing
that the cost of violence is better than an unacceptable condition of peace.
States resort to force on cost/benefit analysis, asking themselves if the state
will be better off in the future if it resorts to force to get its way (Eric
J.S 2005:277).
War is not only a method by which one
state imposes its will on another, but war can also be a vital component of
creating a nation, driving its evolution (Steven M. Phillip C. 2011:10).
Participation in any war changes a nation just as much as it changes an
individual. Wars are fought by individuals but those individuals are fighting
for something larger than themselves. They fight for their state, society or
groups. The individuals don‘t act alone; it is the states that go to war.
Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz described war as ―nothing but a duel on a
larger scale‖ (Eric J.S. 2005:275). The U.S ―Global War on Terrorism‖, which
was what led to the war declared on Afghanistan over al Qaeda, is a major
example of a state going into war to protect its people and its territory.
Terrorism is an act of violence. The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001,
was a traumatic event for America and its citizens. It had both temporary and
long-lasting effects on both the country and its citizens. The worst effect is
the belief that it could happen again. War makes anything like normal existence
impossible. It destroys and ruins lives. It imposes immense burden on national
economies and imperils the freedom of everyone. Conflicts based on terrorism do
not usually have a formal, recognized end point. This leaves a long distinction
between war and peace. An example of this is the ongoing war between the West
and al Qaeda (Steven M. Phillip C. 2011:3).
War on terror has become an instrument
of the United States state policy and it is on this that the identity of the
United States is being shaped presently. Ever since the terrorist attack on the
United States on September 11 2001, the notion ―War on terror‖ has been the
country‘s response to any form of terrorist activity in any form. War as an
instrument of foreign policy is then mostly implemented when it concerns
terrorism and the fight against terrorism.
War as an instrument of foreign policy
is what this study focuses on and a vivid example of the use of this instrument
can be seen in the United States policy towards Afghanistan.
1.2 Statement of Problem
War itself is never a good result and
brings about many problems. Ever since the U.S declared war on Afghanistan in
2001, not only has Afghanistan suffered greatly but the citizens also, who have
been pulled into a life of fear, hunger, poverty, lack of infrastructure and
great sorrow. This thus leads to the question of whether whatever the U.S hopes
to achieve by their actions can justify the turmoil the Afghan citizens have
been thrown into. Since the war started, attacks have spread throughout many
villages in Afghanistan, destroying many innocent civilians and their
properties in its way. It is true that the U.S is fighting a greater cause but
a war that should have been between the West and al Qaeda and Taliban has over
the years caused a lot of harm to Afghanistan as a state. Although the U.S has
tried to put in effort towards the rebuilding and democratization of
Afghanistan, the problem remains on their choice of method, the effects it has
and whether or not the country which is one of the major powers in the
international system has set a good example for others to follow. From the
start of the war in 2001 to the present, 2014, both the U.S and its aids,
Afghan United Front, British Special Forces, NATO, International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF), and Afghanistan and the Taliban have recorded high
number of deaths and despite this, the United States still has quite a number
of troops in Afghanistan today. The continued killing of innocent civilians
therefore poses as a problem especially to the international system which makes
it necessary to look into the use of War as an instrument of foreign policy.
1.3 Objectives of Study
The following are the statements of
objectives for this study:
i) to understand the reason behind the
United States resorting to War as its instrument of foreign policy in
Afghanistan;
ii) to evaluate the impact of US war
on terror on Afghanistan;
iii) to examine the successes and
failures of the use of war by the United States as an instrument of foreign
policy on Afghanistan.
1.4 Research Questions
The following are the research
questions for this study:
i) what are the reasons behind the
United States resorting to War as its instrument of foreign policy in
Afghanistan?
ii) what impact has the US war on
terror made on Afghanistan?
iii) what are the successes and
failures of the use of war by the United States as an instrument of foreign
policy on Afghanistan?
TOPIC: WAR AS AN INSTRUMENT OF FOREIGN POLICY A CASE STUDY OF THE UNITED STATES IN AFGHANISTAN
Chapters: 1 - 5
Delivery: Email
Delivery: Email
Number of Pages: 78
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