A country’s foreign policy guides how it interacts with international organizations, other nations, and their citizens. It determines how a country can help shape a global system of rules that support stability, security, and prosperity.
The State Department is dedicated to advancing America’s interests and values through foreign policy by building relationships around the world with the people who share them. This includes building a strong and capable diplomatic corps that can manage crises far from our borders. It also means promoting mutual understanding in all the ways that we connect with people across the globe, whether through public diplomacy programs, cutting edge technologies, or at our embassy and consulate locations around the world.
There are three fundamental questions that define any nation’s approach to foreign policy: whether a country should actively participate in global affairs (engagement); seek to pull up the drawbridge and shield itself from outside influence (isolationism); or maintain a neutral position while reserving the right to become belligerent in the event of an attack (neutrality). No matter what strategy is chosen, all foreign policies have the same primary goal.
No one can argue that trade, foreign aid, and diplomacy are not important — but they must be seen as a part of a comprehensive approach to national security, rather than as substitutes for it. And young Americans must hear — in clear and accessible terms — why American engagement in international affairs is not only in our nation’s interests, but vital to our national security.