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The containment policy of United States of America was meant to ensure that communism was not spreading allover the world. In seeking to ensure the foreign policy relating to communism succeeded to various factors contributed to success of failure of the spread of communism. This essay is to find out whether the containment policy was successive. In my opinion containment policy succeeded this can be clearly be noted by gradual disappearance of communism and the adoption of capitalism by most countries. Containing policy ensured strategic interests trumped other concerns in foreign policy, particularly during the era of bipolarity, known colloquially as the Cold War. During this period, intangible factors were superseded by strategic geopolitical concerns and this remains true with respect to American foreign policy both in the Cold War as well as in the post-War period. Containment was a paramount security concern for the United States and significant energy was exerted on containing the influence of the Soviet Union, particularly when it’s influence was felt close to home, in the Americas. As our overview of interventionist terminology has shown, phrases for US armed intervention like “Operation Just Cause" and "Operation Restore Hope" serve to mask violence under a cloud of respectability and good intentions. Dreams of peace and prosperity ushered in the end of the Cold War; a new world order with the United States and liberal democracy firmly entrenched as the dominant power and ideological system in international affairs. Optimistic dreams of a new world order in which markets were free and peace became the global modus operandi were shattered in the early 1990s with the explosion of ethnic conflict and humanitarian tragedies on a grand scale. Although ethnic conflict and humanitarian crises have existed since the dawn of time, for the first time in decades, the United States operated in a unipolar world and arguably with fewer constraints for concrete action than during the Cold War. The world has changed dramatically since the collapse of the Soviet Union and this essay will explore American security during this period of international intrigue and affairs. What were the primary determinants of American security policy during the Cold War? How were terms like “foreign policy”, “invention” and “state interest” relevant in the Cold War period? As part of the theoretical component of this essay we will explore key theories of international relations and state behavior as they relate to intervention and military conflict. Following this exploration, we will provide a concise yet thorough overview of key humanitarian crises from the twentieth century and will analyze the varied responses of the United States to instances of humanitarian abuse and crisis. Drawing from case studies across the globe, we will explore which factors influence the US decision to intervene in conflicts abroad, particularly when human rights are abused. This cross-country and cross-cultural analysis will then explore commonalities and common themes among our diverse set of case studies with an eye to patterns and trends in US security policy and interventionist tendencies.

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SECURITY IN THE AMERICAS: COUP D’?TAT IN CHILE

The coup d’?tat which brought General Augosto Pinochet to power in Chile and almost two decades of military rule for this South American country. Preceded by Salvador Allende as President of Chile, General Pinochet successfully brought an end to Socialist rule in Chile and the courting of communism by Chilean political leaders during the height of the Cold War. Successfully ending the perceived imposition of communism by Socialist President Allende in Chile, the coup and subsequent junta established in its wake were supported covertly by the Administration of the United States government through the Central Intelligence Service (CIA). Accordingly, in an unusually candid moment, former US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger emphatically stated following the election of Allende, "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves" (Fagan, 1975). Fearing that Chile was on its way to becoming another Cuba following the election of Salvador Allende in 1970, the United States through the CIA, created a covert plan entitled Project FUBELT which actively sought Chilean military officers to successfully overthrow Allende. Seeking to provoke a coup, the CIA authorized $10 million to unseat the Socialist Allende and devoted considerable energy and resources to this effort. Although Project FUBELT was never fully implemented, it goes without question that US hostility to a left-leaning regime in Chile contributed to an environment with favored regime change and tacit support of the coup by General Pinochet. Accordingly, a blind eye was turned to human rights abuses perpetuated by the pro-American Pinochet regime. Realpolitik and the conditions of a bipolar world led the United States to support the overthrow of a democratically elected socialist President in Chile (Thyne, 2005).