Multicultural Foreign Policy And Its Historical Evolution

The influence of ethnic groups on American foreign policy is always a political phenomenon in American politics, foreign policy making and the historical development of American culture. It is also the inevitable result of the special American nation-building process, of the ever changing ethnic and racial structure of the American society, as well as of the continual adjustments of multi-ethnoracial relations and cultures. Under the background of the American multicultural society and the open and democratic political system, this influence, having existed and developed since the birth of the republic, is becoming more and more important in the making of American foreign policy as the United States increases its power in world affairs. Multicultural Foreign Policy, then, is a term used to reflect the legal involvement of American ethnic groups in the making of American foreign policy process for the benefits of their ancestral countries, symbolic homelands or their kin groups of common racial, ethnic or religious characters.This article is just a study of American Multicultural Foreign Policy and provides a comprehensive analysis of those minority ethnic groups seeking to influence American foreign policy related to the countries of their origin throughout American history. With the various foreign policy cases as the basic materials, it lists some key factors that may help increase or hinder the influence and emphasizes that the involvement of these ethnic groups has actually enriched American foreign policy, bringing benefits, rather than harms, to the American national interest, especially in the era of globalization. The whole article consists of six chapters plus an introduction and a conclusion.The first chapter is an analysis of the multicultural character of the American society. In American history, waves of immigrant inflow never stopped since its colonial times, and this has made the United States the most multiethnoracial country in the world, with ethnic and racial groups from around the world. Members of ethnic groups maintain their ethnic identity within their groups for a sense of belonging and try to assimilate into the mainstream society at the same time for high political and economic statues. These are so-called Dual Identities which have workedas the dynamics for the multicultural foreign policy.The second chapter deals with the American political system under which ethnic groups seek after their foreign policy goals concerned with their ancestral lands. The political ideals of American forefathers, the balance of power of the American government, the principles of American constitution and the highly-valued American creeds are all the essential elements that ensure the involvement of ethnic groups in the making of the American foreign policy process. Differences between American parties and interest groups are also emphasized in this chapter, as well as some other domestic political factors that may also have their influence on American foreign policy.The third and fourth chapters are historical accounts of those major ethnic groups that have involved themselves in the American foreign policy making in the four stages of American history. Such ethnic groups as Irish Americans, German Americans, Polish Americans, Jewish Americans, Cuban Americans and some others are specially introduced for their outstanding power of influence on the American foreign policies concerning the countries of their origin. All the cases of these ethnic groups have made it clear that the ethnic influence on American foreign policy have become greater and greater since the United States came to show its power in the world stage in early 20th century, thus the more and more multicultural character of the American foreign policy.On the basis of the historical accounts of the last two chapters, the fifth chapter gives a comprehensive analysis of the major factors that determine the power of influence of the ethnic groups seeking to play a role in the foreign policy making process related to their ancestral...