What are the elements of American foreign policy?

Any country's foreign policy is concerned with promoting that country's interests abroad. These interests are composed of a number of critical elements. Here are a few, in no particular order.

1. Military/Security: It used to be that from a military standpoint our foreign policy was almost exclusively focused on containing Russia and the spread of communism/socialism. We still have to keep a watchful eye on Russia, but now China may be a bigger worry. But the spread of communism no longer appears to be a threat. It is terrorism that is occupying the larger share of attention these days. Terrorism, especially ISIS, forces us to maintain a presence in the Middle East even as we become less dependent on their oil.

2. Economic: International trade, according to most economists' views, is an economic plus. It helps established economies and it helps growing economies. Trade agreements with other countries help create jobs in the U.S. (we hear a lot about how it costs us jobs in some sectors too, but the net effect is, according to most economists, economically helpful). So, many of America's foreign policy objectives are designed with trade in mind.

3. Ideological: As a democracy, America promotes the spread of democratic ideals throughout the world—sometimes. Not all of America's allies reflect our own democratic values. Here is an excerpt about this from Foreign Policy.com:

Take two events this week. On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that the U.S. is operating a drone base in Ethiopia, a country Freedom House recently downgraded to “Not Free” because of “national elections that were thoroughly tainted by intimidation of opposition supporters and candidates.” Only days earlier, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the autocratic Central Asian leaders Islam Karimov and Emomali Rakhmon to discuss how they can help with the war in Afghanistan. “If you have no contact you will have no influence, and other countries will fill that vacuum who do not care about human rights,” Clinton explained ahead of her visit, adding that “it’s a balancing act.

We promote democracy where is suits our interests to do so.

It is important to remember that, when it comes to foreign policy, it is all about self-interest. No country conducts its foreign policy with the intention of making life better in other countries. All countries are trying to maximize their own wealth and power. An altruistic foreign policy would probably be disastrous. That isn't to say that we never help people in other countries--we do, but only when it also serves our own foreign policy objectives.