Talk:History of U.S. foreign policy

This is a move of historical material from the article previously entitled U.S. foreign policy, which is being restructured so it reflects current policies while this article deals with the past. Howard C. Berkowitz 22:09, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

Questionable labeling

Just to take one example, which I removed from the article,

Liberals were aghast at Reagan's foreign policy, because it pushed idealism and moralism in dangerous directions. Fearing that rollback would lead to war, one critic ridiculed it as "crackpot moralism." Liberals preferred a foreign policy that pursued the national interest -- by pulling back from a preoccupation with the Soviet threat, reducing military expenditure, relying on increased cooperation with our allies, establishing more constructive links to the Third World, restricting the freedom of multinational capital, deemphasizing nuclear weapons, and deepening detente with the Soviet Union.

Perhaps the most basic problem is that this isn't, by any definition I'd use, a liberal vs. conservative distinction. What "liberals preferred" here could very well be multilateralism, or indeed realism (foreign policy). Still, one can argue, without the multilateral aspect, some of this could be paleoconservatism. "Aghast", outside a sourced quote, does not belong in a CZ article. Essentially, this paragraph is pointing to Reagan or perhaps neoconservatism as the Correct Thing. It is neither neutral nor represents a predominant opinion. Howard C. Berkowitz 02:13, 9 March 2010 (UTC)