President Clinton’s foreign policy

Many people look to the Clinton Presidency with fondness and a sense of nostalgia . During his time in office , the United States enjoyed a prosperous run . It is debatable as to what degree President Clinton was responsible for that progress . However , the Clinton Administration although it never did reach it full potential as scandal would serve as a crippling impediment to that cause , it was a time of progress . One of the most unfortunate chapters in the Clinton Administration , and one that would cast a dark shadow on its presidency , was the mishandling

of the crisis in Somalia and then the crime of inaction regarding the genocide in Rwanda . The two cannot be separated from themselves when talking about the Clinton presidency and whether or not his foreign policy aided in the relief of others , or either encouraged /allowed it to continue . Upon entering the White House in January of 1993 , President Clinton was given the task , already put in place by President Bush Sr of intervening in Somalia . Warring factions in Somalia had circumvented more than 80 of the foreign aid that was coming to Somalia in to combat the widespread starvation that was occurring . The efforts of the United States to make sure that the aid went through the proper channels took the lives of eighteen American soldiers paraded and dragged through the streets as a horrified country looked on in anger and regret . As important as those American lives were , the real story of Somalia is how it affected the foreign policy of the United States under President Clinton . The story of Somalia is the story of Rwanda for in less than a year , the United States would be confronted with a humanitarian crisis in another African country Rwanda . How would the United States react ? Would President Clinton shy away from intervening in Rwanda as the events in Somalia had made him unsure of himself and in the ability of America to dissuade warring parties ? What would be the results of that fateful decision ? Only in the last few years had the world come to realize the full effects of that time in recent international history . In the closing months of the Bush White House in December of 1992 , the world was just beginning to learn about the troubles that were occurring in Somalia . The inability of foreign aid to reach the right people , only to be rerouted by warring factions and terrorists and other corrupt officials , has been a problem affecting many African countries since decolonization began in the 1950s . This at a time when most of the continent suffers from abject poverty , the threat of AIDS and a general hopelessness and discontent In what would be one of the last foreign policy decisions by the Bush Administration , it was decided that American troops would go to Somalia and use force if necessary , in to make sure that the thousands of tons of foreign aid , would reach the more than 300 ,000 people in...