The purpose of foreign policy is to promote the national interests of a state by engaging with other states and people around the world. It is a highly complex and interdependent enterprise, involving both hard and soft power. Hard foreign policy focuses on the use or threat of force to achieve objectives, including military interventions and economic sanctions. Soft foreign policy aims to attract, persuade, or influence other nations and peoples through cultural exchange, public diplomacy, and aid.
Americans have mixed opinions about the importance of specific foreign policy goals. They are generally in agreement that the first objective must be to ensure America’s own liberty and security, but differ about how to accomplish this.
For many, the key is to create a global order in which more people enjoy freedom and prosperity. This would entail extending the zone of peace and economic opportunity that the United States helped to establish in Europe to every part of the globe, and integrating all the “have-nots” into the globalized West. It is a daunting task, but it is in America’s fundamental self-interest.
There is broad support for efforts to strengthen multinational organizations, work with countries to reduce poverty and disease, and promote human rights abroad. However, Americans are split over the importance of helping build democracies and promoting economic development in other countries. The views of Democrats and Republicans on these issues also differ significantly from each other.