The Study On U.S. Diplomacy’s Idealism And Realism And Their Interrelation

Since the United States was founded, U.S diplomacy showed a complex mixture of ideological considerations, moral colors and practical interest considerations, power politics. In other words, U.S diplomacy interweaves "idealism" and "realism". The process of U.S diplomatic decision-making is also a process of finding a balance between "idealism" and "realism". It is vital to grasp the essence of America diplomacy’s "idealism" and "realism", and understand its diplomacy reasoning, national interest consideration and inter logic objectively, so then China can make sensible and flexible foreign policy aiming at America based on accurate judgments of U.S foreign policy motivation and realistic conditions.This paper consists of three parts. The first part includes chapter one and two, outlining U.S. diplomacy’s "idealism" and "realism". It clarifies its historical origins and theoretical development based on literature, sums up its basic meaning and core elements. The second part includes chapter third, fourth, five, analyzing Jeffersonian, Wilson and George W. Bush three U.S. presidents’diplomatic case minutely. It starts with U.S. diplomatic history of ideology and policy facts, selects and expounds the three presidents’ diplomacy ideas, policies, practices, then analyses "idealism" and "realism"’elements’s manifestations and interrelation in the three presidents’diplomacy ideas, policies, practices. It tries to sort out "idealism" and "reality"’s consistency or change in U.S. different historical periods, and concludes the point of "idealism" and "realism" elements’s manifestations in each president diplomacy case. The third part includes chapter six and the conclusion. It further refines the view of the first three president’s case studies, then summarizes U.S."idealism" and "realism"’s peculiarity, further refines "idealism" and "realism" interrelation, and finally come to the conclusion that "Idealism" and "realism"’s essence is a contradiction which is symbiosis, existing side by side and playing a part together.This paper argues that U.S. diplomacy’s "idealism" and "realism" is a contradiction which is in mutual ties and cooperating."Idealism" and "Realism" represent respectively U.S. diplomacy’s ideal goals and realistic goals, achieve U.S. different national interests, and together constitute the fundamental goal of U.S. diplomacy and national interests. Meantime,"Idealism" and "realism" are the behaviors of the foreign policy of the United States. The conflict between "Idealism" and "realism" is not national interests conflict itself, but the conflict of diplomatic means and methods. Whether it is President Jeffersonian, Wilson or George W. Bush, they all take both the "idealism" and "realism" diplomatic methods, depending on United States’ situations at home and abroad of the time. Sometimes they take the "realism"-diplomatic means to achieve ideal goals; sometimes they take the "idealism"-diplomatic means to achieve realistic goals, sometimes they take the "realism"-diplomatic means to achieve ideal goals and realistic goals at the same time. There’s one thing for sure that, they will never abandon one completely in any cases, depending on U.S. situations of the time. U.S. diplomacy "idealism" and "realism’"s main trend is to unify rather than counter pose.