Free Essay Example on The Godfather Doctrine: Examining US Foreign Policy

The Godfather Doctrine is one of the famous and influential films that practically test the relevance of the United States' foreign policy. The United States' foreign policy of promoting economic growth and responding to federal and international security concerns aims at building democracy and creating a prosperous world for American citizens and the international community. The authors, John Hulsman and A. Wess Mitchell use characters; Vito Corleone, Michael, Sonny, and Tom to depict the three mechanisms, with these being neo-conservatism, institutional liberalism, and realism as the necessary means employed to foster foreign policy. The book is divided into three categories with the first category introducing the reader to the situation of the world. The second category of the film highlights the three approaches to fostering foreign policy. In contrast, the third category offers the rationale behind the realism approach being the best over the other two techniques.

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The Godfather doctrine depicts the collapse of the United States foreign policy’s core goal of strengthening democracy and economic growth of the United States and the international community. In the film, Vito Corleone, a founder of the Corleone criminal gang, is shot to death on Brooklyn Street. Vito’s death is compared to the collapsing foreign policy due to the emergence of new threats that comprise democracy and economic growth. For instance, the resurgence of Al Qaeda that led to the September 11 bombing of the World Trade Center in the United States resulted in an economic turndown. In addition, the bombing resulted in gross deaths and injuries of civilians, both American citizens and those from foreign states; thus, compromising the safety of the United States citizens. Such inevitable deaths compromised the foreign policy’s core goal of safeguarding the protection of civilians. Thus, in the film, Vito demonstrates the de-escalated approach of the foreign policy’s goal aimed at safeguarding the lives of civilians.

Also, Veto’s death demonstrates the decline of the foreign policy’s intention to foster economic growth and development. The September 11 bombing of the World Trade Center destroyed the entire structure. The government of the United States was prompted to reconstruct the facility and other institutions that were demolished. The reconstruction process drew a significant amount of money that would have been used to build new institutions, resulting in the reduced gross domestic product; thus, toppling the economy. More so, bombings raise concerns on the proactive security platform of the United States government. The foreign policy’s objective of fostering economic growth and development was lamed because the security measures set in place failed to gather intelligence and set countermeasures before criminals launched attacks (Bourke, 2018). The demolition of the World Trade Center questions the proactive measures elected to contain illegal bombing and destruction of the state’s structures; thus, denotes the decline in the foreign policy intended to combat criminal activities such as bombing.

In the film, Veto’s son Sonny demonstrates the doctrine of conservatism. When Veto died, his son Sonny vowed to rebuild the family’s gang activities. Sonny protected the interests of the family as he employed the conservatism approach in his dealings. He used conservatism mechanisms such as posing violence to rising forces that hindered him from perpetrating criminal activities of the gang. Conservatism model is a United States approach that fosters democracy and interventions through the use of force (Bourke, 2018). Conservatism uses power to combat criminals that threaten the safety of civilians. The approach is a significant model employed in the contemporary era to safeguard citizens of the United States and foster economic growth due to the escalating rates of terrorism, cyber insecurity, and the development of nuclear weaponry. Neo-conservatism is one of the approaches employed by President George Bush in combating and slaying Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi president had organized the carnage of thousands of Iraqi citizens who opposed his autocratic rule. Additionally, President Barrack Obama employed the neo-conservatism concept to slay Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden. The Al Qaeda leader had organized terror attacks on the World Trade Center in the United States.

Aside from conservatism, institutional liberalism is another integral approach demonstrated in the film. The character named Tom wishes to rebuild the gang’s interests by use of conventional means. Institutional liberalism offers a peaceful path to resolve conflicts and safeguard the political dominance of the United States. Liberalism involves cooperation in combating crime, the formation of trade unions that aim to remove trade restrictions and foster international trade, and democratizing tyrannical governments by educating them on the benefits of democracy (Sleat, 2016). For instance, the United States’ president Barrack Obama, through the United Nations peacekeeping forces has strived to minimize aggression and violence to restore peace and stability. Thus, the liberalism concept is beneficial to policymakers willing to enhance stability and peace through cooperation.

According to Bell (2017), realism is a philosophical thought that fosters foreign policy depending on the actions of the state. In the film, Michael is a character that employs realism to sever the interest of the gang. He uses both diplomatic and conservative concepts to rebuild their late father’s gang activities. Realists believe that states should combat challenges depending on the nature and urgency of the predicament. Notably, the United States, through President Barack Obama, employed the conservatism concept to slay Al Qaeda leaders to enhance peace and safety. Additionally, he has enhanced trade and economic growth by minimizing trade restrictions that hindered the importation and exportation of goods and services.

Conclusion

Conservatism fosters foreign policy by using military force to maintain peace and stability within the United States and the international community. However, institutional liberalism enhances world peace and economic growth through cooperation, while realism prompts nations to act in a manner that sustains peace and stability. Therefore, realism is the best concept for policymakers as the thought permits nations to have self-guidance over their actions in a way that maintains world peace and economic growth.

References

Bell, D. (2017). Political realism and international relations. Philosophy Compass, 12(2), e12403. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/phc3.12403

Bourke, R. (2018). What is conservatism? History, ideology, and party. European Journal of Political Theory, 17(4), 449–475. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1474885118782384

Sleat, M. (2016). Realism, liberalism and non-ideal theory or, are there two ways to do real political theory? Political Studies, 64(1), 27–41. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9248.12152