Assignment

One topic I feel comfortable discussing in this class is the influence of corporatism on the foreign policy of the United States of America, using the example of the takeover of Hawaii on the part of the US government. I first became aware of corporate interests' relationship with foreign policy during the War on Terror and the massive windfall profits that are being generated for the military industrial complex through the government's actions. However, looking at the story of Queen Liliuokalani - the last queen of Hawaii - made me connect the dots that this has been happening all throughout history, not just in the present times.

The United States government did not take over Hawaii until Queen Liliuokalani made business more difficult for the sugar companies. She also started to work more for the rights of the people of Hawaii, though it is my opinion that those actions would have been easier to ignore if not for the business interests being threatened. Up until that point the government had made no real move to remove the Hawaiian government from power, which is one of the reasons why this example of corporate interests driving foreign policy is so striking to me.

One question I would pose to my classmates is what other examples you can think of through history of this kind of corporate influence on the United States's foreign policy?