Ideology and U.S. Foreign policy in the post-wilsonian era: an analysis of American foreign policy as a derivative of political tradition based on the idealism-realism spectrum

Ideology, as a system of ideas characterizing that forms the basis of theories and policies, shapes the way in which citizens and politicians conceptualize foreign policy. In analyzing the determinants of American foreign policy in the post-Wilsonian era, this research considers realism and idealism to be the two opposing foundational ideologies upon which additional systems in political thought are founded. An analysis of ideologies, in this sense, from isolationism to neoliberalism and expansionism demonstrates that the core ideological roots found in American policy doctrines are formed as a result of constant symbiotic interplay of political realism and idealism. Approaching ideology on the basis of continuity and change, this research attempts to analyze the areas in which ideologies influenced American foreign policy in the post-Wilson period by analyzing the prominent social and political understandings since the birth of America as a nation and state.. The main purpose of this academic study, therefore, is to identify the role of ideology in influencing American politicians and state policies, in the formation of policies characterizing foreign affairs of the United States.