I am writing an argumentative essay on the U.S. and our foreign relations. What are your views on this issue?

America is a celebrity among nations. Every other people focus on US. And like all celebrities, we come to expect the attention and adoration until it gets weird. Then we resent it. We resent the toll it places upon us to serve the needs of others unwilling to take responsibility for themselves, and then are forced to defend ourselves from their criticism for cutting them off. Instead of telling them what to do to be successful, we should simply demonstrate (lead the way) and let them choose to follow our example if they want. After all, not everyone can handle liberty and the responsibility that it entails.

BS and MS in Political Science here... not really sure what you are asking. That question is overly broad and there really is no way to answer it. Many books have been written on just foreign policy during President Carter's years... You may want to go back to your prof and have them define it more...

That is a very broad topic. To understand American Foreign Policy, you need to read…articles, books, essays, etc. Read a lot! Because of our political system, our “foreign policy” changes every 4-8 years. Obama’s globalism philosophy is totally different than Pres. Trump's. Democrats tend to hold a more liberal international relations view of the world while Republicans tend to be more realists. When you read on this subject, ensure that you are not reading from one point of view. (Most of academia slants toward a liberal / globalism view) In order to develop a well-rounded point of view, you have to include all viewpoints and develop your own ideas. Depending on your grade level, Wikipedia may or may not be a source. However, the great thing about Wikipedia for research papers lies in the “Citations” section. Use the citations to find real source material. For example, Wikipedia talks about a national security paper written under the direction of POTUS’s Nat. Sec. Advisor. The citation points to a “Voice of America” article. In that article, you’ll find the following link:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf

This link takes you to the actual document. Read that. It gives you an idea of our National Security Strategy. Finally, to answer your question…I hold more of a realist view of the world. I would love for the world to be the Obama/Wilsonian utopia, but there are bad actors. There will always be bad actors. Our foreign policy must reflect that we hold a position of strength. “Peace through strength” is a term that been around for almost 2000 years and will probably apply for another 2000. (Maybe by then, the adversary may not be of this world! :-) Good luck.