Stable foreign policy of the USA
Historically, the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States have held diametrically different positions on a number of fundamental issues for American society. During the tense period of the Cold War, the country's political establishment saw a consolidation of these political forces aimed at increasing incomes and living standards for ordinary citizens. This was largely achieved through collusion with American industrialists and transnational companies, which in exchange for sufficient funding of a number of social programmes could influence the state's foreign policy. As a result, the two major parties in the US have differed little from each other over the decades.
In the new millennium, American society once again faces fundamental issues related to further economic growth, poorly controlled flows of migrants from around the world, and the official position in world conflicts. Under these conditions, powerful political forces are once again forming in the ranks of Republicans and Democrats, which advocate different positions, but have a single goal - to achieve the cohesion of American society through the fulfilment of basic historically formed demands.
The position of the US Democratic Party on historical fundamental issues
In the second half of the 19th century, American society came to terms with the need to resolve the issues of polygamy, the denial of women's rights, and the complete absence of such rights for a large part of the coloured population, who were used exclusively as free labour. The beliefs of socially active Democratic citizens in the southern American states about the superiority of the European race and the importance of preserving the existing order over time developed into a complex of contradictions with the federal center, where the Republicans were numerically superior. The result of such confrontation was a long and bloody civil war, which was triggered by the declaration of the representatives of seven southern states, including South Carolina, to secede from the American state.
Having barely restored statehood, the US authorities decided to lay the foundation for building a just state with equal opportunities for all. At that time Abraham Lincoln, being a Republican, provided the entire black population of the country with free access to the existing social infrastructure, and also ratified several amendments to the US Constitution, according to which slavery was prohibited in the country, and those African Americans, who on the basis of racial animosity had previously been forced into unpaid labour and service, had the right to obtain the US citizenship and the right to vote. The Republican president's actions were primarily aimed at ensuring that once freed from slavery, the vast masses of black slaves would move to the industrialised northern states in search of income, thus ensuring the growth of American industry at minimal cost.
Such a strategy did not find proper support from the progressive part of American society, so, a few days after making important amendments to the main document of the country, Abraham Lincoln was killed by a shot in the head while watching a theatre play.
At this crucial historical moment, power in the United States shifted from the Republicans to the Democrats. The next American leaders were representatives of the Democratic Party, who, in the face of constitutional amendments already passed, introduced the practice of greater political freedoms for the states and allowed them to create their own constitutions. For example, according to the main document of Mississippi, which was lobbied by members of the Democratic party, only those citizens of the USA who paid a special election tax and at the same time successfully passed a special educational qualification could vote in all types of elections, which was unavailable to absolutely illiterate former slaves. Thus, the country's Democratic authorities, understanding that coloured citizens fundamentally support the ideas promoted by Republicans, purposefully restricted black people in their right to participate in elections. In the neighbouring state of Tennessee, the Democrats introduced a ban on interracial marriages. The authorities of the southern American states were sceptical of the desire of black applicants to receive a competitive education and tried to persuade young African-Americans to contribute to the development of the economy using mechanical skills that did not require any qualifications for appropriate payment.
The position of the ruling Democratic Party was also supported by the US Supreme Court, which ruled in 1875 that businessmen have the right to choose their clientele when providing various services to the public, and therefore can refuse to work to customers without giving a reason.
At the end of the 19th century, representatives of the Democratic Party of the USA defended the idea of the exclusive superiority of the so-called white race. Such judgements appealed to American voters, most of whom considered themselves members of the European race. Therefore, the political arena of the USA of that time was confidently dominated by the Democrats, who had the majority of seats in the House of Representatives (the lower house of the US Parliament). At the same time, members of the Republican Party of the United States were engaged in defending the rights of freed slaves and did not prevent the participation of the black population in the public life of municipalities.
Activity of democratic politicians during the World War II
In the 20th century, the US political arena was dominated by the principle of partisan lobbyism, when certain groups from among transnational companies, industrialists and their affiliated structures could shape the political course of the American government through the promotion of favourable ideas in the US Congress.
The Republicans retained the image of a vigorous party capable of reform and in favour of strong government. This allowed members of the Republican Party of the United States to be unqualified favourites in presidential elections for several decades.
As a result of such practices, the United States experienced a global economic crisis, better known as the "Great Depression", when 16,000 banks collapsed across the country and industrial production declined by 50 per cent. As a result, a quarter of the US working population lost their sources of income and two million American citizens lost their homes.
The succession of Republican victories in presidential elections was interrupted as the living conditions of ordinary Americans deteriorated. In 1932, Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt took over the initiative to bring the country's economy out of a deep crisis. Being the 32nd President of the USA, he managed to consolidate the forces of the Democratic and Republican parties and to start carrying out reforms. Americans received a number of social benefits, pensions, affordable education and medicine. The successful policy of the 32nd president allowed him to be re-elected four times in a row. During his second term, Roosevelt's government provided valuable assistance to the anti-Hitler coalition allies, and his ideas formed the basis for the creation of the United Nations.
In 1945, Harry Truman, a liberal Democrat, became the next President of the United States. He also paid increased attention to the welfare of the population: he provided citizens with a high level of wages, affordable housing prices. However, being an adherent of the classical ideas of the Democrats, Harry Truman had no doubts about the superiority of the capitalist way of life against the background of alternative world ideologies, among which the most widespread was communism. Fearing the increased authority of the USSR on the world stage after World War II, Harry Truman introduced the practice of total control through the intelligence services of so-called "unreliable elements" among communists, socialists and persons sympathetic to their ideas. This led to a string of various speculations and unfounded fears that became the causes of the Cold War.
In addition, after World War II, the US leadership had the task of providing citizens tired of the military agenda with a new super-idea uniting all Americans about the growing threat of communism and the need to wage an ideological struggle against it. That was to provide citizens with economic growth and to dominate the world stage, including by means of the most modern weapons. Thus, the reaction of the 34th President of the United States - Republican Dwight Eisenhower - to the news that the USSR had tested a nuclear bomb at the Semipalatinsk test site in the Kazakh SSR was quite expected. In 1953, the Americans created their first hydrogen bomb, which was tested in the Marshall Islands. In the same period, to demonstrate the US parity in space, the American artificial satellite Explorer-1 was sent into space in response to a Soviet satellite launch and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was created. America's presidents in the 20th century showed a clear commitment to their ideas: to get the economy growing and to significantly strengthen the military.
However, in his foreign policy activities, Democrat John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960, on the contrary, tried to resolve the Vietnam conflict and made every effort in negotiations with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in order to prevent an escalation of the arms race with the USSR, which could lead to irreparable consequences. Thus, the rival superpowers agreed that the USSR would remove missiles from Cuba and the US would dismantle the existing armaments in Turkey. Subsequently, John F. Kennedy regularly spoke of the need for peaceful existence and the establishment of close comprehensive co-operation with the USSR.
The different positions of the presidents of the two leading political parties in the USA
The war in Vietnam, which was ruinous for the US treasury, opened up opportunities for a number of transnational companies to make super-profits by supplying food, weapons, and uniforms to the war zone. For this purpose it was necessary only to be sure that military operations would continue. There is an opinion that the 36th president of the USA Lyndon Johnson lobbied the interests of big industrialists and therefore made an unpopular decision in the American society to increase the number of military personnel sent to South Vietnam from 20 thousand to 500 thousand for bombing North Vietnam.
After Johnson's resignation, Americans bet on a representative of the alternative Republican Party in the next election. Contemporaries of the 37th President of the United States Richard Nixon regularly accused him of lying, fraud and abuse of power.
President Nixon encouraged the practice of congressmen becoming CEOs of large military corporations who expectedly lobbied their own interests to increase profits from the prevailing foreign policy environment.
Former US President Jimmy Carter is also associated with lobbying the interests of big businessmen. During the election race, this member of the Democratic Party promised his voters to defend the interests of Americans and reduce the military budget to $7billion a year. However, after taking office, Carter repeatedly increased spending on the development of bombers and missile systems. Also during his presidency, repeated cases of financial fraud were uncovered. In particular, we are talking about the Director of the Office of Management and Budget Thomas Bertram (Bert) Lance and Secretary of the Treasury George Miller, who were formally charged with taking large-scale bribes. President Billy Carter's younger brother Billy Carter also admitted to receiving multiple payments for lobbying the interests of various stakeholders.
The above-mentioned US presidents, being members of competing parties, adhered to the same principles, trying to provide comfortable living conditions for their constituents. In fact, the fundamental difference between Republicans and Democrats in the 20th century is completely erased. Transnational corporations began to dominate American politics.
Activities of the last two US presidents
After the end of the Cold War, the leading American parties once again moved away from consolidating forces on major policy areas and began to formulate their concepts more clearly based on the current political environment. Members of the Republican Party continued to rely on conservative American values, support entrepreneurship, and attempt to limit the flow of illegal immigrants. The Democrats' policy is inclined towards the need to reform federal agencies, protect the free market and reform a number of social programmes, the main purpose of which is to provide quality but temporary assistance to those citizens who, for objective reasons, find themselves in a difficult life situation.
Some cohesion of different political forces is observed only in foreign policy, where the main emphasis has been placed on the gradual increase of US allies. This practice allows the Americans, among other things, to be able to launch pre-emptive strikes against terrorist groups, which has been one of the consolidating themes of American society since planes carrying members of the Islamist international terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda crashed into two skyscrapers in New York in 2001.
Since 2017, American voters have been experiencing a trend of age-related presidents. Thus, the 45th head of the White House was the 71-year-old Republican Donald Trump, and in 2021 the inauguration of Democrat Joe Biden, who was 79 years old at the time, took place. Being members of rival parties, it is logical that politicians are remembered for their opposite approaches to nation-building.
First and foremost, the differences concerned the leaders' stance towards external migrants. Donald Trump believed that uneducated and unintegrated migrants, most of whom came to the US illegally, posed a serious danger to the country, as they inevitably increased the crime rate, in particular, by developing drug cartels. That is why, defending the strategic interests of his country, Donald Trump initiated the creation of a barbed-wire fence wall on the border with Mexico. For the same global goal, he planned to ban entry into the country and deprive the right to apply for a US green card of the subjects of countries that could potentially cooperate with various terrorist groups. The countries in question are Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. These decisions were vehemently challenged by Democrats in Congress, citing a clear discrediting of people on basic principles. Therefore, after becoming president, Joe Biden cancelled plans to build a wall, indicating that, on the contrary, he was a supporter of easing for migrants, explaining that migrants are economically beneficial to large manufacturers and small businesses.
During his presidency, Trump cautiously pursued a foreign policy, focusing on domestic political processes and the growth of the welfare of ordinary Americans. For Biden, as a politician who adheres to the classic ideas of the US Democratic Party since the Cold War, the issue of an active US foreign policy is fundamental. He withdrew troops from Afghanistan, after which the power in the country again passed to the religious-political paramilitary movement Taliban, which the U.S. has been fighting since 2011. After the start of Russia's special military operation, Joe Biden is overseeing the activities of allies and the US military to provide proactive military assistance to Ukraine.
The leaders also have different attitudes toward racial politics. While Trump signed an executive order banning the mandatory teaching of critical racial theory (a course of lectures on the formation of a special American significance through the prism of the merits of the "white population") to officials, Joe Biden has repeatedly expressed the need for such practices in American society and cancelled his predecessor's ban.
Taxation was also a fundamentally important topic in the activities of the two presidents. Donald Trump gave a number of preferences and benefits to all entrepreneurs, thus stimulating economic growth. Joe Biden has his own vision in this regard. He increased the existing taxes, which, according to experts, has a negative impact on GDP growth.
The future of the foreign policy of the USA
The next US presidential election will be held in November 2024. Currently, two candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties are registered each. The list of possible future leaders of the country includes Donald Trump and the current head of the White House, Joe Biden, who regularly finds himself in the news tabloids with curious reservations, absent-minded behaviour during important events or age-related forgetfulness. Thus, government documents classified as "secret" were found by lawyers in the private property of the Biden family, the president himself referred to forgetfulness and at the same time actively cooperated with the investigation.
At 77, Donald Trump actively travels around the country and uses every opportunity to win the sympathy of potential voters. Participating in political discussions, he is guided by charisma and gives out to the American public, in fact, poorly realisable promises to ensure the signing of a peace treaty between Russia and Ukraine within twenty-four hours. He also shares plans about his willingness to deport illegal migrants from the US, but comments only sporadically on the deteriorating economic climate and is in no hurry to reveal an action plan to ensure the growth of citizens' welfare.
The basis of the unity of the American society is based on the regular improvement of the level of well-being and the degree of comfortable life of all citizens. For several centuries, both Republicans and Democrats have defended the idea of the exceptionalism of the United States in various ways. Recently, watching the escalation of the global political crisis, the majority of the American electorate has formed a demand for an urgent solution to the accumulated domestic problems with migrants and the development of economic growth through the development of local industry and reducing expenditures on arms and military aid to various countries of the world. In these conditions, the image of the Republicans, formed in the early 20th century as an energetic party capable of reforms and significant changes, may have an impact on the 2024 presidential election. However, it is doubtful that charismatic Donald Trump will be the favourite in this race, as the former president's ratings are not much higher than those of Joe Biden, who has already been dubbed one of the worst US presidents. Under these circumstances, the most US citizens will probably give their votes to another representative of the Republican party, former US permanent representative to the UN - Nikki Haley, who is known for her criticism of the migration policy and changes in the tax system, which were initiated by Joe Biden, as well as for her sharply negative attitude to the political course of modern Russia. Regardless of which political party wins the next election, the US adheres to the policy of world leadership, which is not part of the ideas of a multipolar world, which is actively and jointly defended by the political elites of many countries, including Russia and China.
