Good Essay About The New Left Vs. The New Right Foreign Policy Abroad

The American new left movement came into existence immediately after the Second World War. However, According to chapter 24 of Foner (2014), it became prominent during the Vietnam War. The foreign policy of the New Leftist movement in the United States was against the involvement of the United States politically abroad. The New Leftist movement was founded on the belief that a good foreign policy was founded on a good domestic policy (Foner, 2014). It is therefore no surprise that the leftist movement was anti-establishment politically at home. They were involved in the reforms on issues such as gay rights, abortion, drugs, and gender roles. According to information provided by Foner in articles #173, #175, #176 the new left was different from the old left movements in that it did not support labor unionization. It refused to recruit workers as members. Its core membership was students at universities all over the country. They believed these people would bring the change they needed to the country (Foner, 2014).
During the 1960s, America was involved in the Vietnam War and the cold war had started. These were the primary issues influencing foreign policy at the time. The new left movement was anti-militarism and avoided war at any cost. This was seen by their attempts to shoot down high military budgets. They were more concerned on the domestic policy and the government’s involvement in people’s everyday life (Foner, 2014). They were against the government, which was referred to as the establishment. They were therefore referred to as anti-establishment. They wanted the government to stop being involved in people’s lives and create an enabling environment for people to progress. Hippies who were young, well-educated people with good jobs characterized the new left movement. They were more concerned with amassing wealth for themselves as opposed to the older generation. They wanted the foreign policy of the United States to be shaped by economics rather than politics. An economics based foreign policy meant that opportunities could be created in foreign countries for Americans to sell their products (Foner, 2008).
During the height of the cold war, the new left movement was responsible for arranging the free speech movement held at the Times Square, which advocated for a nuclear freeze by the Soviet Union and the United States. This meeting was attended by close to one million meeting and it is believed to be the biggest demonstration ever held on American soil. The new left movement was involved in foreign economic deals as the Panama Canal treaty that allowed the Panama Canal to be under the jurisdiction of the United States for economic reasons (Foner, 2014).
On the contrary, people who advocated for a more powerful American presence abroad formed the new right movement. This group advocated for a foreign policy that was based on politics. During the cold war, it was a battle of democracy against communism. Both these forms of governance are not ideal. Based on voices of freedom article #173 and #175 the new right advocates argued that communism would become stronger the more countries joined communism. They also believed that democracy would become stronger when more countries became democracies (Foner, 2014). This meant that proponents of the new right movement wanted a stronger American political presence abroad. In the 1960s, the main issues at the time were the cold war and the Vietnam War. The ramifications of the cold war continued until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. This meant that the new right movement was aggressively pushing for the democratization of western European states in order to avoid the progress of communism in these areas (Foner, 2014).
. This movement was also responsible for the financial support provided to these countries during the re-building after the Second World War. The new right movement also advocated for the involvement of the military where necessary. It is for this particular reason that the United States found itself fighting in the Vietnam War to halt the advance of communist forces (Foner, 2008).. This was also the reason why the United States was a founder member of NATO, which primarily consists of European countries. They wanted to provide military support to these countries during the cold war in case the soviet forces attacked them. Similarly, the foreign policy advanced by the new right movement is the reason why the United States found itself protecting the democratic South Korea from it communist neighbor, North Korea.
During the period from the 1960s to the early 1990s, the cold war and the Vietnam War were the major foreign issues facing the United States. Mainly the new left and the new right movement influenced the foreign policy of the United States. These were two opposing movements. The new left movement believed that good foreign policy was based on good domestic policy. This movement advocated for the foreign policy of the United States to be determined by economics. They were opposed to American involvement in foreign conflicts. Their voting to reduce military spending and instead reduce taxes imposed on the working class Americans elaborates this point of view (Foner, 2014).
The new right movement on the other hand advocated for a foreign policy based on politics. During the time, the United States and the Soviet Union were the two world super powers. The two countries had opposing governance styles with the United States being democratic while the Soviet Union was communist. Both these countries wanted to advance their ideas to other countries and the new right movement argued that more countries had to have democracy in order for it to be the dominant governance mode (Foner, 2008). They therefore advocated for aggressive involvement of America in the politics of other countries and this often meant war with communist forces. The new right movement advocated for the involvement of the United States military in foreign conflicts. The main result of this is that the economy at home suffered due to large military budgets, and spending abroad (Foner, 2008).
The contrasts portrayed between the two movements are very important as they determine the way America behaves during elections. The new left movement was later assimilated into the Democratic Party while the Republican Party assimilated the new right movement. These parties usually have the views of these groups as their underlying views. These two movements can therefore be said to have influenced American politics and subsequently its foreign policy from the 1960s until the present. The contrasts between the opposing movements are very important in the history of the United States. They help us understand the underlying politics that a government is likely to have during its tenure based on whether it is republican or democratic. This in turn influences the foreign policy of the country. The democrats are known to try to avoid war at any given opportunity while the republicans are less likely to shy away from a war.

Works Cited:

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. Print.
Foner, Eric. Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History. #173, #175, #176. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2008. Print.