Political History Commons^™

“An Exercise In International Extortion”: Operation “Intercept” And Nixon’S 1969 War On Drugs, Justin M. Reid

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

When the former senator and vice president assumed the Oval Office in January 1969, President Richard M. Nixon inherited a nation in crisis with drugs playing a central role. At a campaign stop a few months earlier, Nixon announced to a packed convention center in Anaheim, CA, that if elected president he would end the flow of the illicit drugs coming into the United States “decimating a generation of young Americans.”

True to his word, Nixon moved aggressively after his election victory to refocus the federal drug enforcement bureaucracy on drug source control, blaming Mexico as the main culprit. On …

A Lifeline For Millions: American Relief In An Age Of Isolationism, Matteo Marsella

The Forum: Journal of History

American military involvement in the Great War is a widely discussed aspect of the conflict. The period following the war is often considered an example of American isolationist foreign policy. Lesser well known are American efforts to provide food relief to starving populations in Europe, which began during and continued well after the war's conclusion. This paper seeks to locate American relief efforts within broader postwar foreign policy. Although President Harding’s 1920 election victory on a platform of a “return to normalcy” is often construed as a rejection of Wilsonian internationalism and a return to prewar isolationism, there is no …

Politics On The Periphery: Oscar Ewing And A Special Relationship With Israel, Sarah Weaver

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

This essay explores the role of Oscar Ewing, an Indiana native and a graduate of Indiana University (IU), in the story of the U.S. relationship with Israel, forming even prior to Israeli statehood in 1948. The essay will show that Oscar Ewing strategically utilized his political influence and role as U.S. federal security administrator—not diplomat or member of the State Department—to impact U.S. policy toward Israel. Although Ewing is a relatively unknown name in the history of the Truman administration and Israel, his influence and contribution to the early development of the well-known special relationship between the United States and …

Explaining America's Proxy War In Afghanistan: U.S. Relations With Pakistan And Saudi Arabia 1979–1989, Adelaide Petrov-Yoo

History

From 1979 to 1989, an international coalition led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan sent aid to Afghan guerillas known as the mujahideen. This thesis investigates the interests served by this aid by identifying key decision makers and identifying what they hoped to achieve by participating in the aid pipeline. In the United States, President Carter escalated the aid program in response to waxing Soviet influence and waning US influence in the region. President Reagan’s foreign policy approach, fighting the Cold War in other countries through proxies labeled “freedom fighters”, encouraged members of Congress and the Executive branch …

The Casualties Of U.S. Grand Strategy: Korean Exclusion From The San Francisco Peace Treaty And The Pacific Pact, Syrus Jin

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

From August 1945 to September 1951, the United States had a unique opportunity to define and frame how it would approach its foreign relations in the Asia-Pacific region. As the dominant power in the Pacific after World War II and claiming direct authority over vanquished Japan, the United States had the liberty to design its own post-war vision for the entire region. Until 1951, American State Department diplomats and government planners, attempted—ultimately unsuccessfully—to harmonize the competing motivations of lingering World War II multilateralist idealism and Cold War geopolitics in a postcolonial, postwar world. This thesis examines U.S.-Korean relations in context …

Remembering An Invasion: The Panama Intervention In America’S Political Memory, Dave Nagaji

Senior Theses

In December of 1989, the United States launched Operation Just Cause, a military invasion of the country of Panama, capturing Manuel Noriega and overthrowing his government. This research project examines how Colin Powell, Richard Cheney, James Baker, and George H.W. Bush presented Operation Just Cause in their memoirs. It attempts to determine how these senior leaders’ depictions of this invasion incorporated it into the Bush administration’s overall foreign-policy strategy. The research finds that their general approach was to present the Panama intervention as an isolated incident which had no intentional link to other major events at the time, was not …

The Significance Of Mongolia's Foreign Policy And Security Apparatus On A Global And Regional Scale, Bolor Lkhaajav

Master's Projects and Capstones

Mongolia, land-locked between two politically, economically, and militarily powerful nations — Russia and China — often must balance its foreign and security policies with its two neighbors and countries beyond. When discussing Mongolia’s foreign policy and security apparatus, historians and scholars look at the international relations of East Asia as a whole. This is the case not because Mongolia’s foreign policy is insignificant but because greater powers impose greater influence on smaller states. Mongolia’s partial involvement in World War II (WWII), and the Cold War introduced new challenges as well as opportunities for Mongolia to modernize its foreign policy principles …

Granada, Is It Pronounced Gruh-Nay-Duh Or Gruh-Nah-Duh: I Don't Know, But Reagan's Foreign Policy Sucked, Austin Clements

History Class Publications

The history of the Caribbean is one infested with slavery, colonialism, imperialism, and coups d’état. While these are all very important when considering the history of these island nations, what is also equally important is considering that these islands are often seen as tokens and means to convey a message by world superpowers, not as genuine nations that should be respected just as much as any European power. This is especially evident in the history of Grenada, an island nation in the eastern Caribbean. Grenada, throughout its history, has been used as a political pawn and has been bullied by …

Coolidge Against The World: Peace, Prosperity, And Foreign Policy In The 1920s, Joel Webster

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The common narrative of the 1920s is either to largely ignore the nation during this time and the men who presided over it or to simply dismiss the decade as a time of isolationism and Republican failure and the three presidents as corrupt, lazy, silent, or incompetent. The problems of the more typical narratives are most starkly shown in the realm of foreign policy. A more thorough examination of the role of President Calvin Coolidge and the American nation in that area reveals something very different. Because, if we approach those years as a “historical way station on the road …

Ambassadors For The Kingdom Of God Or For America? Christian Nationalism, The Christian Right, And The Contra War, Lauren Frances Turek

Lauren Turek

This essay uses the concept of Christian nationalism to explore the religious dynamics of the Contra war and U.S.–Nicaraguan relations during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Religious organizations and individuals played crucial roles on both sides in the war in Nicaragua and in the debates in the United States over support for the Contras. Evangelistic work strengthened transnational ties between Christians, but also raised the stakes of the war; supporters of the Sandinistas and Contras alike alleged a victory by their adversary imperiled the future of Christianity in Nicaragua. Christian nationalism thus manifested itself and intertwined in both the United States and …

Ambassadors For The Kingdom Of God Or For America? Christian Nationalism, The Christian Right, And The Contra War, Lauren Frances Turek

History Faculty Research

This essay uses the concept of Christian nationalism to explore the religious dynamics of the Contra war and U.S.–Nicaraguan relations during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Religious organizations and individuals played crucial roles on both sides in the war in Nicaragua and in the debates in the United States over support for the Contras. Evangelistic work strengthened transnational ties between Christians, but also raised the stakes of the war; supporters of the Sandinistas and Contras alike alleged a victory by their adversary imperiled the future of Christianity in Nicaragua. Christian nationalism thus manifested itself and intertwined in both the United States and …

The Successes And Failures Of The Battle Of Mogadishu And Its Effects On U.S. Foreign Policy, Philip B. Dotson

Channels: Where Disciplines Meet

The Battle of Mogadishu, more commonly referred to as “Black Hawk Down,” was one of the most controversial conflicts in the second half of the twentieth century. It left a lingering question in people’s minds: was it a success or a failure? While certainly there were many failures and casualties throughout the mission, based on a military definition, it was a clear cut success; Task Force Ranger (TFR) accomplished the objective of the mission, despite significant losses, by retrieving the two targets assigned them. Both the failures and successes of the mission, as well as the overarching Operation Restore Hope …

"Never Draw Unless You Mean To Shoot": Theodore Roosevelt's Frontier Diplomacy, Duane G. Jundt

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Collapse Of Yugoslavia And The Bosnian War: The Impact Of International Intervention In A Regional Conflict, Jeffrey Scott Passage

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the role of international intervention in the area formerly known as Yugoslavia during its collapse in the first half of the 1990s (1991-1995). The Cold War had just ended, and the United Nations (UN), NATO, and the nations they represented were reevaluating their roles in a world without competition between two superpowers. The collapse of Yugoslavia and ensuing civil war presented these international bodies with an opportunity to intervene and show that they were ready to take charge in future conflicts in pursuing and achieving peace. However, what followed revealed them to be short-sighted and ill-prepared for …

The Clinton Years: Assessing Success In The Bosnian Genocide Intervention, Natalie Pierce

Global Tides

This paper seeks to argue that President Bill Clinton’s intervention in the Bosnian genocide was successful. In order to define success, the author compiles a list of Clinton’s explicitly stated goals for the region. The author explores Clinton’s campaign promises on Bosnia, which he expressed in public statements and the first presidential debate against the current President, George H.W. Bush, and demonstrates how the Bosnian initiatives were slightly altered after Clinton took office. The author uses a variety of sources including newspaper articles, speech and debate transcripts, and secondary sources to construct Clinton’s concrete objections. Through a chronological assessment of …

Conceptualizing Evangelical Influence In U.S. Foreign Policy: Caught Between Structural Realism And Neoliberal Institutionalism, Glen M.E. Duerr, Amber Thorne-Hamilton

History and Government Faculty Presentations

The Presidency of George W. Bush did much to spotlight the role of Evangelical Christians in the political realm. However, it is arguable that every president since Jimmy Carter has had at least some ties with evangelicalism. The first aspect of this paper is to pin down what an evangelical is. Existing literature on the subject we argue is inadequate and has led to much misunderstanding of evangelical Christians and to simplistic coding procedures in quantitative studies. Second, we narrow this paper into a specific discussion of evangelical influence in foreign policy. Over 80 percent of evangelicals supported Bush in …

Jimmy Carter's Foreign Policy: The Battle For Power And Principle, Frances M. Jacobson

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Evaluating the foreign policies of presidents while they are in office or shortly after their tenure ends can sometimes lead to conclusions that prove to be unsound in the future. The case of Harry Truman exemplifies this. When he left office in 1952 his approval rating was in the 20 percentile range. Yet, he set the tone and direction of United States foreign policy that led eventually to the successful conclusion of the Cold War. The foreign policy of President Jimmy Carter was also generally viewed as a failure by many scholars in the field, both during his time in …

Letter From Fred Morris Dearing To Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson, September 9, 1943, Fred M. Dearing

World War II Era Documents, 1939-1945

A handwritten letter from Fred Morris Dearing addressed to Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson, dated September 9, 1943. Within, Dearing comments on Wilson's recently published article in the New York Herald-Tribune.

Letter From Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson To Editor Of The New York Times, October 14, 1941, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

World War II Era Documents, 1939-1945

A typed copy of a letter from Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson addressed to the Editor of the New York Times, dated October 14, 1941. Within, Wilson discusses the dangers of isolationism and neutrality laws.

Letter From Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson To Amos R. E. Pinchot, April 11, 1941, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

World War II Era Documents, 1939-1945

A typed copy of a letter from Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson addressed to Amos R. E. Pinchot, dated April 11, 1941. Within, Wilson writes of his displeasure upon seeing Pinchot's membership in the America First Committee.

America's Only Sure Defense, December 25, 1940, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

World War II Era Documents, 1939-1945

A typed copy of an essay entitled, "America's Only Sure Defense", written by Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson and dated December 25, 1940. Within, Wilson argues for British aid and lists the obstacles and reasons for public opposition.

The First Essential Of American Defense, August 4, 1940, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

World War II Era Documents, 1939-1945

A typed copy of an essay entitled, "The First Essential of American Defense", written by Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson, dated August 4, 1940. Within, Wilson writes on the consequences of Britain's potential fall to Germany and calls for foreign policy agreement between President Roosevelt and Wendell Willkie.

Letter From Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson To Samuel Pryor, June 21, 1940, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

World War II Era Documents, 1939-1945

A typed copy of a letter from Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson addressed to Samuel Pryor, dated June 21, 1940. Within, Wilson sends his views on foreign policy and national defense that he feels should be representative of the Republican Party.

Letter From Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson To Henry P. Fletcher, June 21, 1940, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

World War II Era Documents, 1939-1945

A typed copy of a letter from Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson addressed to Henry P. Fletcher, dated June 21, 1940. Within, Wilson writes to Fletcher on the temporary appointment of chairman Hamilton and the potential impact it might have on the Republican platform.

Foreign Policy And National Defense, 1940, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

World War II Era Documents, 1939-1945

A typed copy of an essay entitled, "Foreign Policy and National Defense", written by Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson from circa 1940. Within, Wilson writes on the rejection of the current foreign and domestic policy being conducted under the Roosevelt administration.

Letter From Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson To Wesley Winans Stout, October 4, 1939, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

World War II Era Documents, 1939-1945

A typed copy of a letter from Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson addressed to Wesley Winans Stout, dated October 4, 1939. Within, Wilson writes in protest of a recent Saturday Evening Post editorial promoting isolationism.

Letter From Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson To The Editors Of The Saturday Evening Post, March 12, 1938, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

Documents, 1919-1938

A typed copy of a letter from Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson addressed to the editors of the Saturday Evening Post, dated March 12, 1938. Within, Wilson writes to request an interview and discuss potential articles to be published on foreign policy.

American Foreign Policy Vs. Reality, 1938, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

Documents, 1919-1938

A typed copy of an essay entitled, "American Foreign Policy Vs. Reality", by Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson, dating from circa 1938. Within, Wilson calls for a thorough examination of US foreign policy and the role it will play in maintaining democracy both domestically and abroad.

Letter From Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson To William Phillips, May 28, 1933, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

Documents, 1919-1938

A typed copy of a letter from Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson addressed to William Phillips, dated May 28, 1933. Within, Wilson writes to discuss the memoranda on foreign and economic policy he sent to Raymond Moley.

Letter From Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson To Raymond Moley, May 28, 1933, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

Documents, 1919-1938

A typed copy of a letter from Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson addressed to Raymond Moley, dated May 28, 1933. Within, Wilson asks Moley to read his enclosed reflections on American foreign and economic policies.