Which phrase best describes Theodore Roosevelt's approach to foreign policy emphasizing strength and readiness to act?

• A. Big Stick Diplomacy
• B. Capitalism
• C. Boomtown
• D. Berlin Airlift

Answer: (A)

Big Stick Diplomacy captures Roosevelt’s approach: negotiate and seek peaceful relations, but back it up with the power to act if necessary. The idea is to project strength—often illustrated by a powerful navy—so other nations take diplomacy seriously and concessions are more likely to follow. This blend of talk and readiness to use force guided actions like expanding American influence in the Caribbean and pursuing the Panama Canal, showing that the United States would back up its diplomacy with decisive power when needed.

Capitalism is an economic system, not a foreign-policy approach. Boomtown refers to rapid, often chaotic growth in towns, not international strategy. The Berlin Airlift was a Cold War operation in the late 1940s, long after Roosevelt’s era, so it doesn’t fit Roosevelt’s policies.