FOREIGN POLICY THROUGH THE EYES OF
...economic relationships

It's no great secret that over the past few decades, American manufacturing and economics have shifted overseas. International workers will work for pennies on the dollar compared to the the $8 to $9 minimum wage our Americans get. 

1.     Examine the graph below, and make a conclusion.

In this most recent State of the Union Address, President Obama had this to say about the state of American manufacturing:

• Our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing. After shedding jobs for more than 10 years, our manufacturers have added about 500,000 jobs over the past three. Caterpillar is bringing jobs back from Japan. Ford is bringing jobs back from Mexico. And this year, Apple will start making Macs in America again....There are things we can do, right now, to accelerate this trend. Last year, we created our first manufacturing innovation institute in Youngstown, Ohio. A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3-D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything. There’s no reason this can’t happen in other towns....So tonight, I’m announcing the launch of three more of these manufacturing hubs, where businesses will partner with the Departments of Defense and Energy to turn regions left behind by globalization into global centers of high-tech jobs. And I ask this Congress to help create a network of 15 of these hubs and guarantee that the next revolution in manufacturing is made right here in America. We can get that done.
  

2.     Summarize Obama's argument as to why things are getting better, and will continue to do so.

A strong foreign policy starts with a strong economic policy. Consider the graphs below:

3.     STOP AND PREDICT: Of the manufacturing sectors shown above, in which one(s) do you think the United States excels the most?

Continue with the graphs below.

Regional Processing (Food and Beverage, Plastics, Printing)

Global Technology (Computers, Semiconductors)

And that's it! The United States only "leads" in food and beverage and slightly in computers and technology. China is "neck and neck" with in those categories and leads in all others. 
So, should we worry? 

Global Technology (Computers, Semiconductors)

Yes, a few things stick out the most. Our "Import / Export Value" is about even, for every dollar's worth of goods that we "sell" to China, they sell us one dollar back. But the most important part of that graph is our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) discrepancy: our economy is twice as strong as China's...

BUT! What do we buy from them? Examine the graph below and answer the questions. 

4.    "Durables" are "manufactured products, usually made of plastic and metal. From China, what kinds of durables make up the largest percentage?

5.  "Nondurables" are exactly the opposite: they're things that are usually "used" (eaten, consumed, burned for power, etc.) and usually don't last long (like clothing). From China, what kinds of nondurables make up the largest percentage?

6.     As a conclusion, fill in the fill-in story below:

• "Between 2000 and 2010, the United States lost _____ million manufacturing jobs to overseas competitors. And a lot of them went to China. President Obama has added about _____ million more domestic manufacturing jobs, but more work must be done. In his recent speech, he detailed the fact that the companies of _____, _____, and _____ are all in the process of bring jobs back from overseas, and while our "_____ / _____ value" with China is about even, we still do have the world's strongest economy. From China we tend to import _____, household equipment and other durables along with _____ and _____ from the nondurable category. A strong foreign policy starts with a strong economy, and it seems as if the United State is on the way up.

Click the button to continue on to the next part of the activity, or click "HOME" if you're finished. 

Diplomatic Policy

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