The classic foreign policy fail that America has followed for more than half a century now is:
* Encourage peace by antagonizing all the countries that disagree with you.
* Fund coups in countries to make them like you, and if they rebel just sanction them.
* Make the other major powers feel you are out to get them, by having a military budget that overwhelmingly overshadows theirs - encouraging an arms race.
* Build military bases that encircle the other major powers, and make them distrust or fear you.
* Show the world how much America values human rights, and set the right example by engaging in torture.
* Invade other countries, cause a big mess, and then distablize the whole Middle East with the consequences.
* Ignore dictators when they are 'our guy' and only condemn dictators that are 'their guy'. Worked great with Saddam, and for the Kurds and Iranians he killed off.
* Support democracy abroad, by deposing democratic governments and replacing them with 'Pro-American' dictatorships.
Overall, these strategies have worked so great they gave us trillions in debt, and a more unstable world