The Politics of American Foreign Policy: How Ideology Divides Liberals and Conservatives over Foreign Affairs

368 Pages·2014·2.95 MB·English

by  Peter Gries

The Politics of American Foreign Policy

The PoliTics of
AmericAn Foreign Policy
How ideology Divides liberals and conservatives
over Foreign Affairs
PeTer HAys gries
sTAnForD securiTy sTuDies
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gries, Peter Hays—author.
The politics of American foreign policy : how ideology divides liberals and conservatives
over foreign affairs / Peter Hays Gries.
pages cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8047-8935-6 (cloth : alk. paper) —
isbn 978-0-8047-9088-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. United States—Foreign relations—Public opinion. 2. Liberals—United States—
Attitudes. 3. Conservatives—United States—Attitudes. 4. Ideology—United
States. 5. Public opinion—United States. I. Title.
e895.g75 2014
327.73—dc23 2013043602
Typeset at Stanford University Press in 10/13 Minion
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To my father, David Gries,
for his unwavering encouragement and support

Contents
Figures and Tables ix
Foreword, by David L. Boren: Partisanship and the
U.S. National Interest xv
Introduction: Ideology and American Foreign Policy 1
Part I: ConCePts
1 Liberals, Conservatives, and Foreign Affairs 33
2 Beyond Red and Blue: Four Dimensions of American Ideology 49
3 The Moral Foundations of Ideology and International
Attitudes 77
4 The Foreign Policy Orientations of Liberals and Conservatives:
Internationalism, Realism/Idealism, and Nationalism 99
5 Partisan Elites and Global Attitudes: Ideology in Social
Context 128
Part II: Cases
6 Latin America: Liberal and Conservative Moralities of
Immigration and Foreign Aid 137
7 Europe: Socialist France, Mother England, Brother Germany,
and the E.U. Antichrist 157
8 The Middle East: Christian Zionism, the Israel Lobby, and
the Holy Land 183
viii Contents
9 East Asia: Red China, Free Asia, and the Yellow Peril 209
10 International Organizations and Treaties: Blue Helmets,
Black Helicopters, and Satanic Serpents 235
Conclusion: Ideology—Why Politics Does Not End at
the Water’s Edge 263
Acknowledgments 273
Statistical Glossary 275
Notes 277
References 307
Index 325
FIgures and tables
FIgures
0.1 Democrat William Jennings Bryan and the Anti-Imperialist
League lament Republican president William McKinley’s
expansionist foreign policy, 1899 2
0.2 Uncle Sam convinces an American voter to support a patriotic
McKinley against a treasonous Bryan, 1900 3
0.3 American feelings towards foreign countries and international
organizations 6
0.4 The ideological gap: Liberals feel warmer towards foreign
countries and international organizations than conservatives do 7
0.5 “Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!” Militarist opinion
pressures President McKinley into launching the Spanish-
American War, 1898 23
0.6 Pacifist opinion delays the American entry into World War I, 1915 24
1.1 Liberalism vs. Dictatorship (Tyranny of the Right), 1917 34
1.2 Liberalism vs. Communism (Tyranny of the Left), 1968 35
1.3 The demographic correlates of ideology 36
1.4 Differential parental socialization into partisanship 39
1.5 Liberals support social welfare spending, while conservatives
support defense spending 41
1.6 Liberals lament military spending at the expense of domestic
social welfare programs, 1982 and 1969 42
1.7 The “halo effect” and the “affect heuristic”: Conservatives desire a
tougher policy towards North Korea than liberals do in large part
because they feel cooler towards communist countries and hence
North Korea 44
ix