Mexican American War Case Study

There is a distinct connection between foreign policy and nationalism that is often times overlooked. In my study case of the Mexican-American war, the reason for it was due to fear of European, British mainly, advancement on North America and thus causing their foreign policy objective in the 1800s to restrict British influence. Foreign policy in the international system consists of self-interest strategies that have been chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests, these approaches being strategically employed when interacting with other countries. The key words in this sentence is national interests. According to modernists and highlighting the economic transformation model, national interests and beliefs are put forth beyond …show more content…
However, American leaders were anything but secure about their future within the larger geopolitical system as they were no less than 60 years fresh from being a born nation-state. With momentum from defeating the British, U.S. policy at the time was to protect the nation from British advances that would threaten the long-term commercial and economic trajectory of the nation (why the Monroe Doctrine was created). It is then argued that this policy culminated in Polk’s decision to launch a war against Mexico, “a decision driven above and beyond all else by a need to prevent Britain from securing control of the key harbors of California”. These harbors were seen as critical to an American ability to compete with Britain for the vast emerging trade of East Asia. American leaders believed that after 1815, “only Britain could stop the long-term rise of an American economic and political juggernaut” as the United States was making a statement that they would not allow European advances in North American territory. It was the British-American political and commercial competition that threatened America’s interests and beliefs that lead to nationalist foreign policy for three decades and as an effect, nationalism played a role in rallying the …show more content…
foreign policy during the 1800s was to keep at bay European encroachments on North American soil and as a result was the reason that the United States and Mexico went to war, then it is safe to say that American national identity tends to emphasize the civic dimension, based on universal principles set by classic liberals such as individual liberty, and tends to downplay the historic and cultural elements U.S. leaders routinely underestimate, such as the power of local affinities and the strength of cultural, tribal, or territorial loyalties. Therefore, the United States acted on a policy to stop any rival state as aggressively and hurriedly as it could. Britain had territories in the Northwest that gave them a clear economic edge in raw materials and resources after the 1839 Opium War with China, and so the United States declared war over Oregon in early 1846 along with declaring war with Mexico that same year in May in order to expand and contain Britain’s overwhelming influence in the world and gain valuable ports that would grant the United States access to the Pacific Ocean. To reiterate the Oregon Territory border dispute, the US first proposed to expand its territory within Oregon to reach the Pacific Ocean, however Britain rebuked this. The aggressive stance that President Polk took with Mexico was due to a race to secure Texas as Britain was also looking into taking it to keep the United States