Competition Law And Monopsony Economics Essay

Competition Law And Monopsony Economics Essay Can a buyer be the biggest bully? The classical theory of monopsony answers this question. It envisions a market scenario with only one buyer, who can use his leverage to reduce the quantity of product purchased, thereby driving down the price that he has to pay. Seldom does a monopsonistic situation arise in the market, so much so that little has been thought till date about the potential adverse impact of such a scenario on market competition. Another reason for the antitrust analysts apparent neglect of the power on the buyers side of the market may be that such power tends to reduce the selling price of a commodity, thereby causing a prima facie increase in consumer welfare  [1]  , which has always been one of the traditional goals of competition law. The said lack of emphasis, unfortunately, remains blind to the symmetry of markets: for every seller there is a buyer. Therefore, just like sellers, buyers too may have market power. In course of this research project, the researcher intends to drive home the point that price fixing and other forms of collusion are just as unlawful when the victims are sellers rather than buyers. Also referred to as the flip-side version of monopoly  [2]  , monopsony can thus have valid antitrust concerns. The primary aim of this project is to analyze the theory of monopsony from an antitrust law approach. In the first chapter initial part of the project, the researcher has provided a brief description of the standard monopsony theory and the economic implications thereof. In the next chapter, the concerns of monopsony under antitrust law will be addressed with significant emphasis on the concept of abuse of dominant position. Finally, the researcher will give examples of judicial interpretation of monopsonies. All other forms of legislative remedies dealing with monopsony fall outside the scope of this paper. B. Classical Monopsony -What does It Entail? Pure monopsony can be looked upon as the demand-side analogue of the monopolist who is a single seller. It thus follows that just as the monopolist has market power in selling its products; the monopsonist has buying power in purchasing its necessities too.  [3]  The economic grievance towards both is therefore similar too -both cause social welfare losses. From a slightly different perspective, the social welfare effects of monopsony are analogous to those of monopoly -too few resources will be employed in the production.  [4]  At the point where supply intersects with demand, the value of the good, as measured by the demand price, equals the cost to society of providing that quantity as measured by the supply price. At this point, the employment level is optimal in a social sense because all of the gains from trade have been realized, and total welfare is maximized. However, the monopsonist will not hire this number of units because it is not privately optimal to do so; it will employ a smaller quantity. As a result, too few resources will be employed, as has been stated above and the monopsonist will finally forgo potential gains from trade opportunities.  [5]  Since the monopsonist forces a lower price upon suppliers, one may infer that its costs for conversion of the intermediate good into a final one will fall as a result and consumers (of that final good) will benefit through lower prices on the monopsonists output. However, the researcher would like to differ from such inference and point out that the monopsonist does not pass on said lower costs simply because the relevant costs for pricing decisions are marginal costs.  [6]  What the researcher intends to portray is that monopsony power is to the demand side of a market what monopoly power is to the supply side. Monopoly power is indicated by the ability of sellers to raise price above competitive levels, which requires the ability to limit output. Monopsony power, on the other hand, involves the ability of buyers to lower input prices below competitive levels, which requires the ability to restrict the quantity demanded of the input.  [7]  In either case, the quantity that would be exchanged is less than the quantity exchanged under competitive conditions, and the result bespeaks allocative inefficiency.  [8]  Furthermore, the fact that the reduced input prices enjoyed by the monopsonist do not lead to reduced output prices, is, frankly, ironical. On the contrary, when the monopsonist has market power in its output market, the reduced input prices cause higher output prices. C. Monopsonist Concerns- Abuse of dominant position The Indian Competition Act, 2002  [9]  aims at preventing practices which have adverse effect on competition, to protect the interest of consumers and to ensure freedom of trade carried on by other participants, in markets, in India.  [10]  It is important to note here that the Indian Competition Act, like most other legislations introduces the concept of abuse of dominant position. This means that it prohibits only abuse of power not the mere use of it.  [11]   There are primarily three stages in determining whether an enterprise has abused its dominant position. The first stage is defining the relevant market. The second is determining whether the concerned undertaking is in a dominant position in that relevant market. The third stage is the determination of whether the undertaking in a dominant position has engaged in conducts specifically prohibited by the statute or amounting to abuse of dominant position or attempt to monopolize under the applicable law.  [12]   The competition laws of the European Union, United Kingdom, Germany and India contain a general prohibition on the abuse of dominance by undertakings/enterprises. Article 82  [13]  of the Treaty of the EC, Section 18(1)  [14]  of the Competition Act, 1988, U.K., Section 4(1)  [15]  of the Indian Competition Act, 2002, Section 19(1)  [16]  of the German Act Against Restraints on Competition and Section 2  [17]  of the Sherman Act contain provisions on abuse of dominant position. 1. Defining Relevant Market The first step in determining whether an undertaking or firm has abused its dominant position is defining the relevant market which has two broad dimensions namely, the relevant product market and the relevant geographical market.  [18]   The Indian Competition Act, 2002, defines a relevant product market and relevant geographic market. Section 2 (t) defines the relevant product market as a market comprising all those products or services which are regarded as interchangeable or substitutable by the customer, by reason of the characteristics of the product or service, the prices and the intended use. Section 2 (s) defines the relevant geographic market as a market comprising the area in which the conditions of competition for supply of goods or provision of services are sufficiently homogeneous and can be distinguished from the conditions prevailing in neighbourhood areas. There is however, no such case either in India or in other countries, where such a definition has been challenged on the grounds that it takes into account supplier side abuse as only the views of the customers attitude towards substitutability of the goods is taken. Keeping this question aside and assuming that this problem is resolved by judicial interpretation, the other elements of abuse of dominance also need to be assessed. 2. Definition of a Dominant Position While the laws of numerous countries prohibit or declare illegal the abuse of dominant position or monopoly or attempt to monopolizen of certain conduct by undertakings in a dominant position, the manner in which dominant position, monopoly or substantial degree of market power is defined is different in different countries. The concept of dominance is broader than economic power over price. It is not the same as economic monopoly, although a monopoly would clearly be dominant.  [19]  This is a clear indication of the fact that dominance is recognised as cases even apart from monopoly and thus the possibility of characterising monopsony as down-stream dominance strengthens here. Explanation (a) to Section 4 of the Indian Act defines dominant position as dominant position means a position of strength, enjoyed by an enterprise, in the relevant market in India, which enables it to- (i) operate independently of competitive forces prevailing in the relevant market or (ii) affect its competitors or consumers or the relevant market in its favour. Unlike the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act  [20]  where a dominant undertaking had to satisfy a quantitative requirement of control over at least 1/4th of the total goods or services produced or rendered in India, dominant position under the Indian Act  [21]  is a position of strength enjoyed by an enterprise in the relevant market, in India which enables it to operate independently of competitive forces; or affects its competitors or consumers or the relevant market in its favour.  [22]   A number of factors are taken into account to determine whether a particular undertaking or group of undertakings is in a dominant position in the relevant market. The factors to be taken into account are inter alia market share of the undertaking or enterprise, barriers to entry, size of competitors and financial power of the enterprise.  [23]   However, the market share that a particular undertaking has in the relevant market is one of the most important factors to be taken into account to determine whether it is in a dominant position and under the laws of some jurisdictions, the existence of a market share of or above a specified level gives rise to a presumption of existence of a dominant position (although rebuttable).  [24]   In Hoffmann-La Roche Co. AG v Commission of the European Communities  [25]  , it was observed that the existence of very large market shares though a very important factor, is not constant and its importance varies from market to market according to the structure of these markets. The Court observed, Furthermore although the importance of the market shares may vary from one market to another, the view may legitimately be taken that very large shares are in themselves, and save in exceptional circumstances, evidence of the existence of a dominant position.  [26]   Competition authorities can utilise measures like buyer concentration and elasticity of supply, as well as performance measures such as profitability and relative bargaining power compared to the sellers, in order to assist them in the assessment of buyer power. The structure of the buyer and the seller markets must also be taken into account.  [27]  The number of firms is also essential in judging whether buyer concentration can provide a representative measure of buyer power. A small number of firms that account for a high share of purchases indicate that the buyer market is concentrated.  [28]   3. Abuse of Dominant Position The Indian Act does not prohibit dominance or the presence of market power per se, and sheer market power alone, or even market dominance, does not constitute abuse of dominance. Abuse of dominance occurs when a dominant firm, or group of firms, substantially prevents or lessens competition, by engaging in acts that aim to eliminate or discipline competitors, or simply to stop potential competitors from entering the market in question. The treaty of the EC does not contain an express definition of abuse of dominance but merely lists certain conducts which, if engaged in by a dominant undertaking will amount to abuse of dominance. In Hoffmann-La Roche it was observed that, The concept of abuse is an objective concept relating to the behaviour of an undertaking in a dominant position which is such as to influence the structure of a market where , as a result of the very presence of the undertaking in question , the degree of competition is weakened and which , through recourse to methods different from those which condition normal competition in products or services on the basis of the transactions of commercial operators , has the effect of hindering the maintenance of the degree of competition still existing in the market or the growth of that competition.  [29]   In Europemballage Corporation and Continental Can Company Inc. v Commission of the European Communities  [30]  it was observed that, Abuse may therefore occur if an undertaking in a dominant position strengthens such position in such a way that the degree of dominance reached substantially fetters competition, i.e. that, only those undertakings remain in the market whose behaviour depends on the dominant one. In the light of the fact that the existing antitrust legislation prohibits only abuses of power, the question assumes significance as to whether in cases of either monopoly or monopsony, it would entail an abuse of market power to use that power merely to influence price. Rationality suggests that the legislative prohibition should extend only to price-only effects. However, later cases will reveal how only price-effects are not enough and that a closer look must be taken to strike down abusive case of monopsony by the judiciary. D. Judicial Trends under Monopsony- A Concern for society? Recent surveys conducted in U.K.  [31]  have revealed that the current judicial trend is towards substantive analysis, instead of the bright line tests  [32]  that were in vogue before. As a result, judges are required to appreciate in entirety economic consequences of an action, lest they commit mistakes. For example, if judiciary uses initial impact on price as the test for prohibited conduct, monopsonistic behaviour may be excused, even when it ought not to be. Such a conclusion, although erroneous, may be reached at in the following cases: first, strictly from substantive perspective, judiciary may perceive lower prices as an indicator of the harmlessness of a practice. Moreover, procedurally speaking, injury suffered by sellers who have been compelled to sell their outputs at lower prices may not qualify as antitrust injury in the traditional sense. The researcher would in this context draw attention towards a recent controversy surrounding the matter of Balmoral Cinema v. Allied Artists Pictures,  [33]  which highlights the significance of proper economic analysis of monopsony scenario. In this case, the exhibitors (buyers) colluded to refrain from competitive bidding for films offered by distributors. While such an action might have fallen foul of standard bright-line antitrust analysis as a per se unlawful horizontal agreement to fix price, the judiciary held instead that the practice of the colluding buyers was simply causing lowering of prices paid by exhibitors to distributors, which might lower prices to movie-goers at the box office, thereby facilitating rather than undermining consumer welfare. Without delving into propriety of the judgement, the researcher would like to posit that it had come perilously close to equating lower prices with overall economic benefit. It is for this very reason that in the case of mono psony, the presence of lower prices should not end the analysis because there is no correlation between an initial decrease in prices and any overall long-run benefits to consumers. E. Conclusion The aforementioned analysis clearly indicates that there is a buyer for every seller and anticompetitive conduct by buyers can cause adverse economic consequences similar to those caused by sellers anticompetitive behaviour. However, the competition policymakers are yet to fully incorporate the symmetry of markets into their analyses, instead restricting their focus solely on seller-behaviour. Especially in a country like India, monopolistic tendencies are in essence sought to be curbed. It is highly doubtful if the courts would really read monopsony into the statute and declare it bad in law as well. The Indian judiciary must strengthen the economic foundations for dealing with anticompetitive conduct by buyers too. The requirement assumes all the more significance owing to the simple statement of fact that concentration of power on the buying side of a market almost inevitably causes a decrease in price, which may tempt a judge in turn to erroneously stop substantive analysis at th at stage, or declare that the plaintiffs have not suffered antitrust injury.  [34]   In course of this project, the researcher has sought to emphasize a few matters. First, lower input prices resulting from the exercise of monopsony power do not ultimately translate into lower prices to the monopsonists customers and increased overall consumer welfare. Thus, neither the substantive nor the procedural analysis should stop with the initial impact on input price. Second, the monopsony model typically employed in many economic texts and antitrust casebooks seriously understates the variety of consequences of the exertion of monopsony power. Finally, the long-run consequences of monopsony must not be ignored. Lower input prices in the short run may mean decreases in both future supply and in ultimate, overall consumer well-being. This conclusion has implications on the debate about whether the antitrust laws should be applied usingconsumer welfare or total welfare standard. Those espousing the consumer welfare standard believe that antitrust analysis should focus on the interests of consumers who purchase a final end product or output in the chain of distribution. In contrast, proponents of the total welfare standard argue that the antitrust laws should seek to maximize societys wealth as a whole rather than focusing on any one type of market participant. The fact that many courts and enforcers outside India have not been reluctant to condemn anticompetitive buy-side conduct, which potentially poses little or no direct threat to consumer welfare, suggests a willingness on their part to take into account the interests of all market participants. Perhaps this indicates some recognition by courts and enforcers that in the long run, monopsony can ultimately be just as harmful to consumers as anticompetitive conduct occurring in the output market. While the judicial decisions may not completely resolve the debate about the consumer welfare and total welfare standards, perhaps it helps to solidify to some degree what courts and enforcers have been suggesting all along-that conduct on the buy side of the market should be treated just as strictly as conduct on the sell side of the market. Thus, the researcher hopes that the Indian law and judiciary will develop, in light of these rulings abroad to set aside the traditional perception of sellers being largely immune to antitrust violations. F. Bibliography Statutes Competition Act, 1988, United Kingdom 6 Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschrà ¤nkungen, GWB (German Act Against Restraints on Competition,1956 6 Sherman Act, United States, 1890 6 The Competition Act, 2002, No. 12 of 2003 5 The Monopolistic and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 8 Treaty of the European Communities, 2003 6 Cases Balmoral Cinema v. Allied Artists Pictures, 885 F. 2d 313 (6th Cir. 1989). 8 Europemballage Corporation and Continental Can Company Inc. v Commission of the European Communities, [1973] EUECJ C-6/72. 10 Hoffmann-La Roche Co. AG v Commission of the European Communities, ECJ, Case 85/76, Dated 13 February 1979. 9 Ilan Golan v. Pingel Enterprises Inc, 310 F.3d 1360, 1370 (Fed. Cir. 2002) 6 Image Technical Services Inc v. Eastman Kodak Co, (90-1029), 504 U.S. 451 (1992) 6 Queensland Wire Industries Proprietary Limited v. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited and another [1989] HCA 6; (1989) 167 CLR 177 6 United Brands Co and United Brands Continental BV v. The Commission of European Communities, (1978) 1 CMLR 429. 9 Works of Publicists and Authors Geoffrey A. Manne E. Marcellus Williamson, Hot Docs v. Cold Economics: The Use and Misuse of Business Documents in Antitrust Enforcement and Adjudication, 47 Arizona Law Review 609. 12 John J. Flynn, The Misuse of Economic Analysis in Antitrust Litigation, 12 Southwestern University Law Review 335. 5 Leon B. Greenfield Daniel J. Matheson, Rules v. Standards and the Antitrust Jurisprudence of Justice Breyer, 23 (3) Antitrust L. Journal 48 (2009). 11 Mark Furse, Competition Law of the EC and UK, 6th Ed, 2008, Oxford University Press. 10 Natalie Rosenfelt, The Verdict on Monopsony, 20 Loyola Consumer Law Review 402. 4 Remarks of Dr. Betty Bock at University College of London, 55 Antitrust Trade Reg. Rep. (BNA) 109 (July 21, 1988), 11 Richard J. Pierce, Is Post-Chicago Economics Ready for the Courtroom? A Response to Professor Brennan, 69 George Washington Law Review 1103 12 Richard Whish, Competition Law, 6th Ed, 2008, Oxford University Press. 9 Roger D. Blair Jeffrey L. Harrison, Antitrust Policy and Monopsony, 76 Cornell L. Rev. 297 3 Roger G. Noll, Buyer Power and Economic Policy, 72 Antitrust L.Journal. 589, 613 (2005) 4 Web Sources Competition Commission of India, Abuse of Dominance in Indian Comeptition Law, Available at www.competition-commission-india.nic.in//Abuse%20of%20Dominant.pdf, Last visited on 17 March 2011 6 David Waterman, Local Monopsony, Free Riding, and Antitrust Policy, April 1995, Prepared for Presentation at the Fifth Annual Conference of the American Law and Economics Association, May 12-13, 1995, Available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=54865, Last visited on 17 March 2011. 3 Dobson Consulting, Buyer power and its impact on competition in the food retail distribution sector of the European Union, (1999), available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/publications/studies/bpifrs/ , last visited on 17 March, 2011. 9 G.R. Bhatia, Abuse of Dominance, Available at www.competition-commission-india.nic.in//ABUSE%20OF%20DOMINANCE.pdf, Last visited on 17 March 2011. 5 G.R. 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Human Lifespan Development Essay

Age: Zach went to prison in his early 20’s or 30’s. He spent 17 years in prison. Normally at the age of 43 he should be in a reliable relationship, working to ensure that he gets A good income to support his lifestyle, being able to live independently also with a stable mind set. At the age of 43 years old this age span is in the lifespan of adulthood it allows you to define yourself in terms of your career life style and ability to provide for your family. In his career lifestyle Zach should at least of been working to achieve an high job position such as assistant manager or manager this will increase Zach’s income which will allow him to have a better lifestyle. However Zach went prison in his 20’s or 30’s he lost the advantages of achieving goals he could of gained during that period of his lifespan in prison. His self-concept could be effected as he came out of prison and realises that all his opportunity he had is gone, no career for him to achieve any skills but as Zach is 43 years old he still has the chance to start his life again and go get an education for him to gain more of an knowledge. Gender: In this society today women tend to get less pay then men, they we’re also excluded from certain jobs. Women had to fight for their rights to vote in the past, but now women can vote and they have nearly all the rights that a man has. Some countries don’t value women as much as some other countries that might value a women’s rights. However Zach is a male and should be providing for his family & himself. Males are seen as the main gender that has the leadership of providing & keeping their family safe. Therefore Zach should be providing for his family, however he spent 17 years in prison which effected him negatively on his self-concept as he wouldn’t see himself as a man because he hadn’t have the chance to create a family & provide for them. Emotion health and well-being: a lot of people have different ways of dealing with situations & will know how to control their feelings. As Zach suffered with a difficult childhood by abuse & violence, this caused him to grow up full of anger, injustice and bitterness. He often found it difficult to control these feelings which led him to committing offences. Zach had an emotional life style this will emotional effected his self-esteem & self-concept he could lack confidence within his-self. Abuse: As people go through different types of abuse some people are different with handling abuse and may become more strong & others may be weaker and struggle to deal with it. There are several ways of people can be abused; physical, sexual, emotional, non verbally & verbally everyone’s been through one these at one point in life. Dealing with abuse can build up anger in a person or can become isolated from others & begin to hide their emotions with others. As Zach was growing up his childhood was difficult as he was suffering with abuse. Zach could of been getting abused by his family members, as any of his family members could of been getting abused from their childhood aswell so this could cause the family to have a history of an abusive past and could continue it within the future generation. Zach being abused has caused an negative effect on his self-concept by physically being abused that makes feel insecure about his which makes him have an low self-esteem. Relationship: Some relationships would be an positive effect on people’s self-concept as the couple are stable with each other & allow them to develop, they become more comfortable and more emotionally mature with each other. Sometimes with others their relationship could have an negative effect on their self-concept as it could be unstable and untrustworthy which causes a person to cheat within a relationship. Before Zach went prison he was in a relationship he had physical abused someone for starring at his girlfriend, this shows that Zach’s insecure and is easily jealous when it involves his girlfriend. Environment: Zach was brought up in a negative environment which made him feel not valued as an person by him feeling like this he then started to development a negative state of mind allowing himself to begin doing negative things in his childhood stage of life. In the childhood stage of life children should be surrounded by positive people & things but not all families can ensure that their kids can be brought up with an positive lifestyle as the family could of been through a lot of negative situation within their childhood. Socialisation: Everyone needs to socialise as it allows them to communicate with others and for them to go out to places to socialise. However Zach’s socialistion was effected negatively by his emotions from being abused as a child were being a barrier to his social life as he couldn’t trust anyone.

Reflection on Learning with Learning Contract Essay

In this assignment, I need to reflect on the situation that took place during my working group. In this reflection, I am going to use Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle. This model is a recognised framework for my reflection. Gibbs (1988) modal of reflection consists of six stages to complete one cycle which is description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and an action plan. Description I was put in groups for a week to work through a set of tasks. There was a mixture of males and females with a wide range of ages. There were some people that played a part in the group activities and there were some that did not, this was what contributed to the breakdown in communication in my group. The first day we got into groups, we had to do a learning styles questionnaire. In this questionnaire there were four types of learning styles, which where activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists (Honey, 1973). In my group of seven we were made up of reflectors, theorists and pragmatists. On the second day we did a group activity about the skills knowledge and attitudes that a health care professional should have. During this task we were divided has a group even more because we all had different views on what we thought was the ideal health care professional. Day three we did a Kohlberg’s moral dilemma (1981) where we had to choose whether Heinz should steal the drug or not. My group was divided on whether he should steal the drug or not. On day four we did a self and peer-evaluation questionnaire. I felt very frightened in the group setting because I preserved that I was the youngest in the group and I did not know anyone, which I was very shocked me because I am normally a very confident person. I also felt very out of place I really did not like being in a group that did not click with each other. I then started to get concerned that we would not get any of our group tasks finished. My second concern was that in a difficult situation that we might all argue because we all had such different views. But I was also excited to see what might have come out of the group tasks. I also think there should have been an icebreaker task; this would have eased us in. Evaluation The good experiences of the group tasks were that I learnt about myself and how other people work in small groups. It was also good to listen to other people’s opinions. It was also good to work with people I would not necessarily work with outside of these groups that were chosen for me. The bad points were that we has a group did not gel; there was a lack of communication throughout the whole week. I also think there should have been an icebreaker task. Analysis. There were no activists in my group and I think this is why there was a breakdown in my group because activists like to be involved in new experiences. They are open minded and enthusiastic about new ideas but get bored with implementation. They enjoy doing things and tend to act first. Where reflectors, theorists and pragmatist are more reserved and like to think first and take a back sit (Honey, 1973). Some points of the task went well which were that as a group we found out what learning styles are and what the positives and negatives of each learning style and how we can use it to better are learning enhancement. The other members of the group also contributed on what they thought each learning style meant and if they thought it was a true representation of them. But some just did not contribute I am not sure if this was because they were shy or did not want to say the wrong thing or intimidated by the large group. Conclusion I have learnt a lot for from working in my group, I learnt to put myself in the others shoes and understand why people acted in a certain way. I came away being very emphatic and willingness to understand that not everyone is not the same. But now it has become a normal way of thinking and responding to a particular situation. So I have turned my reflection into learning. I have read that the more we read and think about a situation the more we can identify they importance of reflection (Boud et al, 1994). I have also learnt that ‘‘the basic unit of communication is made up of a sender, a receiver and a message set within a particular context’’ (Ellis et al, 1994, p. 4). Action plan If the situation came up again there would be a lot I would change one of  which would be more considerate to the group member’s feelings. Secondly I will continue to reflect and study the causes of why things go wrong. Reflection is based on allowing us to ground our thoughts and keep us focused. This helps to prevent reflection going off the subject. (Dallas et al, 2005). I would also like feedback because feedback is vital for development and change. Feedback is important to the on-going development of us has humans. ‘Feedback is central to developing learners’ competence and confidence’ (londondeanery, 2010).

U.S. Foreign Policy Essay - 930 Words

Throughout the course of history, the United States has remained consistent with its national interest by taking many different actions in foreign policy. There have been both immediate and long term results of these actions. Foreign policy is the United States policy that defines how we deal with other countries economically and politically. It is made by congress, the president, and the people. Some of the motivations for United States foreign policy are national security, economics, and idealism. The United States entry into World War I in 1917 and the escalation of the Vietnam War in 1964 and the both had great impact on the United States. A major type of foreign policy in the 1964 was containment. The Vietnam War was fought†¦show more content†¦The goals of this foreign policy was to end communism containment while starting democracies. For the United States, the war ended in the withdrawal of American troops and the failure of its foreign policy in Vietnam. Another major foreign policy action was the entry to World War I. On August 4, 1914 there was an outbreak in Europe. A war started between the central powers and the allied powers. The central powers consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungry, and the Ottoman Empire. They were also known as the Triple Alliance. The Allied Powers, also know as the Triple Entente consisted of Britain, France, and Russia. An immediate cause of the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. Some long term causes that started the war were militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism. America tried to keep themselves isolated from the war in Europe. Before the war, America had an idea of neutrality. Neutrality is when American lives and property is not threatened. There was great ethnic diversity in the United States which led to a public union about war. The United States also had the idea of freedom of the seas. This meant the routes for trading were open. 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The extraordinary are the issues surrounding war, terrorist atta cks, cyber warfare. The mundane, is as simple as the labels on your clothing, but as complex as who is allowed entry into the U.S.. These topics do not elicit as much of a reaction, because as Kaufman argues â€Å"the foreign policy decisions that most people know about and follow closely are those that are extraordinary becauseRead MoreU.s. Bush s Administration On Foreign Policy Over The Last Forty Years1717 Words   |  7 Pagesdefinition of unilateralism and its application to US foreign policy over the last forty years. In defining the term, this essay will leave aside the debate between the competing concepts of unilateralism and multilateralism, which has occupied extensive literature after the 9/11 attacks and the following military actions. The essay will  Definition of unilateralism (800 words) Meaning of unilateralism Unilateralism in american foreign policy Was Bush the first one? How long it has beenRead MoreU.s. Foreign Policy Policies Essay1312 Words   |  6 PagesAmerican foreign policy relates to what is done in foreign countries by the United States of America. The foreign policies include controlling of the governments of foreign countries or setting some rules in those countries. The foreign policy of America has always been changing all through the US existence. The changes have stemmed from the dynamics of exogenous and substantial influences of watershed up to the international system and also the effects and changes of endogenous inside the governmentRead MoreU.s. Foreign Policy Policies916 Words   |  4 Pagescandidate and their proposed foreign policy stance which will be enacted should they be elected. Any nation that is apart of a globalized market such as The United States must be careful when choosing their next president. More importantly they need a president that is in tune with the current international system and one that focuses on a foreign policy based on realism instead of a foreign policy based on idealism. In the following, I will look at the foreign policies of the current presidentialRead MoreU.s. Foreign Policy Policies1297 Words   |  6 Pageswill explore how the U.S. intervened in Latin America, more specifically after the World War II. Indeed, the U.S. benefitted greatly from the aftermath of the war. A subsection will be dedicated to the Pink Tide in Latin America, with a focus on the U.S. foreign policy under President GW Bush and President Obama. The overthrown Presidents of Honduras and Paraguay were part of this movement and their outset signals a reversal in the region. The different policies set by the U.S. must be understoodRead MoreU.s. Foreign Policy Policies Essay1119 Words   |  5 Pageswith Clinton at 42% and Trump at 40.9% (as of September 15,2016). Donald Trump, who is a successful businessman, turns to a different path to become a p A government’s strategy in dealing with other nations is important in today’s world. The U.S. foreign policy is designed to achieve national objectives. There are many immigrated citizens coming into the United States every year. However, we question the ones who are undocumented immigrants. The United States has concerns about the Islamic State groupRead MoreU.s. Foreign Policy Policies Essay2045 Words   |  9 Pagesmomentous in its ramifications as it was anticlimactic in its occurrence.† Soviet Premier Gorbachev’s dual policies of glasnost and perestroika had relaxed central control and encouraged self-sufficiency among the republics of Eastern Europe, but it also revealed the underlying economic weakness of the Soviet system. The collapse of the Soviet Union sent shockwaves through a U.S. foreign policy establishment that had, for decades, overwhelmingly focused on the containment of the Soviet Union. LackingRead MoreU.s. Foreign Policy Policies1847 Words   |  8 PagesSyria because US-backed fighters coordinate and are enmeshed with the outfit. The newspaper also reported that the Pentagon had refrained in 2015 from attacking ISIS militants in and around the Syrian city of Palmyra in order to further the US foreign policy goal of regime change in Damascus. The United States has a long history of forming tactical alliances with political Islam to counter secular Arab nationalists, whom it views as inimical to its interests of dominating the Arab world, with itsRead MoreU.s. Foreign Policy Approaches1424 Words   |  6 PagesThe United States (U.S.) uses two approaches to their foreign policy. The first approach is realism. This viewpoint stresses that the principal actors, states, will pursue their own interests in an anarchical world. States will try to establish a balance of power that restrains aggressive states from dominating weaker ones. The second approach is idealism. This view stresses that states should transform the system into a new international order where peace can prevail. This approach emphases the