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Factors that contributed to the failure of the US foreign policies
Groupthink
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According to Janis, groupthink is a decline of mental efficiency, moral judgement and reality testing, which usually results from an in-group pressures. The groupthink has a role in the making of the US foreign policy. Most of the America’s policy failures can be contributed to groupthink; for example the Bay of Pigs. Some irrational factors seemed to operate in the foreign policy failures; in analyzing these factors, Bay of Pigs will be used as a reference. One of the factors was the illusion of invulnerability. This developed excessive optimism, which encouraged the taking of extreme risks. During the Bay of Pigs invasion, several advisers to the Kennedy cabinet made a confession that nothing could stop them from their decision with John Kennedy leading them. Another factor leading to the failure of most foreign policies made by the U.S was the illusion of unanimity. Most members of the cabinet and Kennedy advisers during the Kennedy administration had views and judgments that were unanimous. This was admitted by Schlesinger, an advisor, a few months after the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Self-censorship was another factor contributing to the failure of the US foreign policies; doubts and deviations from the cabinet consensus were not expressed. The advisors were reluctant of asking questions that could cast doubt on the decision that they thought was accepted because of fear of evoking condemnation from their associates. Self-appointed mindguards constituted another factor leadings to the failure of most US foreign policies. The role of the president as a mindguard became supplemented by the pressure that he exerted on the group so as to foster docility and uncritical reception of the defective arguments. Besides, another factor leading to the failure of the foreign policies was direct pressure on dissenters; members were under pressure so as not to express arguments hindering the views of the group. There was no member who could criticize the decision that had been agreed by the majority members in the making of the foreign policies. This led to their failure.
The belief in inherent morality also contributed to the failure of the foreign policies; in making their decisions, members making the foreign policies believed in the rightness of their cause, which made them ignore the moral or ethical consequences of their decisions. In the making of a foreign policy, it is crucial to consider the ethical consequences of any action taken; however, the policy is bound to fail if this is not considered, and this is what led to the failure of most US foreign policies. The decision makers believe that their cause was right and could not be reversed. In addition, collective rationalization was a contributing factor leading to the failure of most of the US foreign policies. Members involved in the making of policies discounted warnings and did not reconsider their assumption, which was a weak decision in the making of foreign policies. Furthermore, there were stereotyped views of out-groups. There were negative views of the enemy, which made it difficult for decision makers to integrate responses that could deal sufficiently with the enemy; for instance, in the Pearl Harbor attack, the decision makers underestimated the enemy leading to failure.
The failures that emanated from the groupthink could only become a success story through the adoption of some measures. One of such measures entails the leader avoiding stating of preferences and expectations during the outset of a foreign policy. By leaders avoiding stating preferences, they were capable of eliminating the notion of self-appointed mindguard in the making of foreign policies. Members in the group making the foreign policies should be assigned the role of critical evaluators by the leader in order to avoid instances, where members cannot challenge a flaw in the foreign policy. Through this mentality, foreign policies were made successful. The involvement of outside experts in challenging the views of policy makers became encouraged leading to a success of foreign policies. In addition, in order to realize success the leaders avoided undermining the enemy; the leaders ensured that there was sufficient time in surveying signals coming from rivals. This helped in analyzing the enemy leading to a successful decision. Social-psychological factors are critical to any decision making process. Since making of foreign policy involves acting rationally, social-psychological factors are vital in the making of foreign policies; therefore, I agree with Irving Janis that social-psychological factors are of importance in the making of foreign policy.
Conclusion
The maintenance of unanimity can lead a group not evaluating all its alternatives; this leads to failure of a decision made by the group. Most of the foreign policies of the United States became a failure due to the involvement of the groupthink concept. Groupthink had a critical role to play in the making of foreign policies as depicted in the Pearl Harbor, the Vietnam War, the Bay of Pigs, and the invasion of Iraq among others. The decision makers in all these foreign policies utilized the concept of groupthink. However, due to the weaknesses in the decision made by using this concept, these foreign policies did not succeed.
Human suffering
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Human suffering
Every mortal often experiences pain and suffering as they are all hardships that humans are meant to go through (Soelle). In Dante’s Shahnameh and the Inferno, human suffering and mortality are the subjects it’s centered around. Suffering can also be referred to as pain or distress that one experiences. Its often been seen that in the traditional cultures and the time periods people never considered the consequences of their actions if they were to take place in this mortal life or the afterlife thus from Dante’s inferno and Shanameh rely the impression that human suffering and misfortunes are as a result of one’s actions(Soelle). The inferno gives account for the different punishments for different kind of sins. Even though they are unbelievable the punishments were not meant to deter one from sinning. The Inferno seeks to answer the reasons for human suffering as well as answer the results of human suffering. Even though suffering results from the choices we make, Human suffering is regarded as unavoidable and inevitable.
The story of Rustem and Sohrab depicts an example of human suffering through tragedy. In Shahnameh, tragedy befalls a hero who from his own doing experiences pain and grief. In any tragedy often one person who usually is the hero is the centre of narration who around him all the stories come together to make the inevitable happen (Ferdowsi). The tragedy that befell Rustem who was imposing his will. Arrogance to some point could be attributed to the tragedy as both Rustem and Sohrab were arrogant to pay attention to the factors of recognition. Throughout Iranian mythology, Rustem is considered as a mighty hero as well as in the Shahnameh. Through his story of greatness, he shared a brief marriage with his wife who he left pregnant without his knowledge and years later unknowing to him tragedy struck whereby he killed his son Sohrab at the battlefield. This action caused much suffering and devastation that saw Rustem beat to guilt and shame. His wife also upon hearing the son’s death was heartbroken and died thereafter, this being a consequence of not telling the truth about his son (Ferdowsi).
Dante’s inferno shows and narrates an epic and devastating journey through hell, that begins with him meeting Virgil who was his guide throughout the story (Berg et al). He goes through the nine circles of hell whereby he views different sins and severity of their punishments that were severe as he progressed through the circles. Rustem’s tragedy shows his consequences and suffering of his actions being in this mortal life. The inferno by Dante shows the different consequences of different sins in the afterlife. He describes how he in the first circle of hell how he encountered pagans and virtuous non-pagans whom in an inferior form of heaven are punished for eternity (Berg et al). The second circle of hell he encounters an adulterous woman who was overcome by lust who were punished through being blown by strong winds violently back and forth so as not to have rest or peace. The severity of the punishment was proportionate to the sin (Berg et al). Dante explains how in the seventh circle of hell which is the circle of violence shows Brunetto Latini being punished for acts of brutality while on earth. During their encounter in the seventh circle, Brunetto refers to Dante as Son as a sign of endearment. He narrates how down the circle he met Judas who betrayed Jesus being held at the mountain of Satan and being chewed by Satan with his three mouths at the ninth circle of hell that is the worst with different sections (Berg et al).
These narrations in Dante’s both Inferno and Shahnameh relay the insights of human suffering, their causes and results. In an effort to understand human mortality the texts display how people deal with suffering as in Inferno punishment is eternal and, in the afterlife, while Shahnameh shows punishment to be in the mortal life however both texts agree that human suffering is a result of the actions and thus a consequence of their doing (Soelle). Sympathy and fear tactics are applied in both texts to try and influence people’s behaviors and reflect on their action consequences inspiring them to live a better life that is cautious. The texts depict of different forms of suffering in mortal life after they happen and eternal suffering in the afterlife.
Works Cited
Berg, Marcus, Enrico Pajer, and Stefan Sjors. “Dante’s inferno.” arXiv preprint arXiv:0912.1341 (2009).
Ferdowsi, Abolqasem. Shahnameh: The Persian book of kings. Penguin, 2016.
Soelle, Dorothee. Suffering. Fortress Press, 1989.
Factors that caused the U.S. government to transition from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution
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Factors that caused the U.S. government to transition from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution
The Articles of Confederation led to the creation of strong states and weakened the powers of the central government. Each state had its own government, independence and power to control its political and economic systems. The main reason for the adoption of the Articles of Confederation was to weaken the national government as a way of avoiding the problems that Americans experienced during the colonial period (Gillman et al., p. 68). However, the Articles could not regulate the growing states, which led to the transition to the constitution. In addition, the Articles of Confederation had vested too much power in the state governments, which challenged the execution of duties and legislation of policies (Prince, p. 45). The transition to the constitution intended to deal with the problem of lack of central leadership where states were independent from each other and the national government. In most cases, states passed policies that did not rhyme with those of the national government, which challenged economic and political prosperity.
Lack of a common currency was also another factor that led to the transition to the constitution. The Articles of Confederation did not establish a single currency to be used by all states in the United States, which challenged foreign trade and inter-state trade. Difficulties in raising national revenue was also a factor that led to the transition. The state governments had the power to collect taxes from the public and then loan the national government (Prince, p. 124). Therefore, the national government did not have the funds required to finance its roles such as clearing foreign debts and maintaining foreign relations. Most of the factors that led to the transition were the results of the inefficiencies caused by the structure of government in the 1780s.
The inadequate powers of the congress was one of the factors that challenged the working of the Articles of Confederation. The congress could not impose taxes or influence trade between states and foreign entities. Additionally, the congress did not have any mechanisms of passing its policies and influencing legislation due to lack of the executive and a court system. The structure of the government also made it difficult to pass laws affecting the American people because all states had to vote unanimously to pass such laws. It was very difficult for all states to adopt a unanimous vote on an issue. The structure of the government, which vested powers on the state governments, challenged the economic and political systems in the United States, which led to the transition. ‘
The three portions of the U.S. Constitution
The Preamble
This is the non-legal part of the constitution. It outlines the basic reasons for writing the constitution as well as the structure and contents of the document. The preamble also indicates how the constitution was created to safeguard the will of the American people in its opening words “We are the People of the United States.” (Peterson and Brian, p. 100) It helps in understanding the constitution by outlining the reasons that prompted its adoption. Many scholars use the preamble as an aid to interpreting the constitution but not the legal implications.
The Articles
The constitution has seven articles with each of the articles having its own unique contents. The constitution has seven articles that highlight the legislation passed at the Constitutional Convention. The articles summarize the basic law in the United States that determines the structure of the government. The articles explain the powers vested on each arm of the government and its leaders. For instance, Article II summarizes the powers of the executive and the president who is the leader of the government (Peterson and Brian 96). The articles highlight the powers vested on each level of government and provide the procedure and requirements of ratifying the constitution.
The Amendments
The amendments section captures the need to change the constitution that may arise in the course of time. It outlines all changes that have been made to the constitution over time. The amendments originate from the states or the congress as outlined in the articles portion. The amendments portion begins by highlighting the bill of rights that is an integral part of the American people. Presently, the constitution has 27 amendments with the first ten touching on the bill of rights (Peterson and Brian 58).
Structure of the Current U.S. Government
The government of the United States is divided into the federal government and the state governments. The federal government has three branches; the legislature, the judiciary and the executive (Storey, p. 89). The three branches of government are independent of each other although they are interdependent. The president is the leader of the government and shares power with the congress and other systems of government. The constitution outlines the powers of each branch of the government, the powers of the president who is the leader of government and the interaction between state governments and the federal government (DiIulio, p. 105). The state governments govern the affairs of their state governments through legislation and other activities as outlined in the constitution. The constitution outlines the unique responsibilities of each level of government.
Works Cited
DiIulio, John J. American Government. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth, 2010. Print.
Gillman, Howard, Mark A. Graber, and Keith E. Whittington. American Constitutionalism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print.
Peterson, Christine, and Brian Bascle. The U.S. Constitution. Mankato, Minn: Capstone Press, 2009. Internet resource.
Prince, Le B. B. Articles of Confederation Vs. the Constitution. S.l.: General Books, 2010. Print.
Storey, William. Us Government and Politics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010. Print.