America Policing the World - Essay Sample

Introduction

Since the end World War Two, America has been keen on promoting its economic and socio-political ideals throughout the world through collaborative efforts with foreign partners. The promotion of these economic and socio-political ideals require diplomatic and at times military intervention during extreme circumstances. Historically, it was the American ideology in the mid 19th Century to bring light to uncivilized people. Schultz notes that, "Americans felt they had a duty to "civilize" the so-called "lesser" nations of the world."The American policing role in the world has been exercised primarily to protect vulnerable people and regions from powerful oppressors or from regional anarchy as this paper will illustrate.

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1950s

After the Korean invasion by the Soviet Union in 1945, America was apprehensive that the Soviets will extend their sphere of influence into South Korea. The American army had to use armed force to intervene and come to South Korea's rescue. In 1950, American troops landed in South Korea and successfully halted Soviet's control from advancing southwards. Secretary Dulles said that, "The Soviet Communists are planning to gradually divide and weaken the free nations by overextending them in efforts, which as Lenin puts it, "are beyond their strength so that they can come to a practical bankruptcy" (Secretary of the United States Dulles, 1954).

1970s

The American Truman Doctrine of containing communism globally saw the American army fight battles in South Vietnam as they tried to liberate the Vietnamese people from Communism. The communist influence was emanating from both China and the Soviet Union who were supplying the pro-communist militias with arms. America's intervention was meant to preserve the ideals that the people of South Vietnam had desired, which were the ideals of a free market economy. (Rustin and Massey, 2015).

1990s

America had to marshal its military force to rescue Kuwait's desperate call for help after Saddam, the president of Iraq had violated the sovereignty of Kuwait's independence by invading its territory in 1990. Through a military operation called "Desert Storm", America had to intervene since Iraq was taking advantage of Kuwait's lack of military strength. The U.S. also had to intervene in protection of its economic interests because it was sourcing a lot of its oil from Kuwait and president Saddam had the intention of minimizing Kuwait's crude oil production. Saddam's intentions if not checked would have had a negative impact on America' economy. President George W. Bush address a joint session of the Congress on the cessation of the Persian Gulf conflict where he said that. "Our commitment to peace in the Middle East does not end with the liberation of Kuwait." (U.S. Government Publishing Office, 1991).

2011

America together with coalition partners under the NATO banner conducted a military intervention in Libya to oust Gaddafi the dictator who oppressed his own citizens and violated numerous human rights as well as political rights. Though a new secular and moderate government took over the country, it has been unable to stabilize the country. The current deplorable state of Libya is largely blamed on President Obama. America's intervention in Libya appears in retrospect not to have been thought through. "Libya has not only failed to evolve into a democracy, it has devolved into a failed state." (Keperman, 2015).

Advantages and Disadvantage of American Policing

Maintaining global peace in regions such as the Middle East can be financially costly that requires the federal government to institute austerity measures to faineance foreign military expeditions. These military campaigns cost a lot of human lives including American. Though American military interventions are conducted in good faith and the interests of the oppressed people, the American armies find themselves inheriting vicious permanent enemies hence being a significant disadvantage of being global police. Nonetheless, there are advantages that America enjoys for being the global police. For instance, countries that are beneficiaries of American intervention such as South. Korea and Kuwait have advanced economically and are enjoying political peace and stability. As a result of America's goodwill, it can gain access to investment opportunities in the assisted countries.

America's glorious history has contributed significantly to its international character that is viewed as a reliable and dependable political and economically. America has entered into numerous treaties with many foreign countries across all the continents thus making it easy for me to invest in any commercial venture outside American borders. America is internationally regarded as an essential economic and political ally and as such, is granted unrivaled respect. I also stand to benefit from the global respect as an American citizen when in a foreign country. Due to the gigantic size of the American economy and its stable currency, most international transactions are conducted using the American Dollar and is used as foreign reserves in many foreign countries. Due to its economic supremacy, I stand at an advantaged position since the money that I have with me will be readily acceptable in any foreign country that I decide to visit. I also get to enjoy the benefits of being an American citizen because of the minimum or no bureaucracy attached to visa applications in foreign countries.

Conclusion

The American military functions as the world police for the sake of establishing the peace that is necessary for the advancement of human and economic activities. After the end of cold war, America has been engaging in military interventions across the world for the sole purpose of helping suffering citizens that are under oppression or control by an unwanted leadership. The American interventions in Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, and Libya are classic examples of countries that without America's policing duties would still be facing undesired oppression.

References

Kuperman, A. J. (2015). Obama's Libya debacle: how a well-meaning intervention ended in failure. Foreign Aff., 94, 66.

Rustin, M., & Massey, D. (2015). Rethinking the neoliberal world order. Soundings, 58(58), 110-129.

Schultz, K. (2018). HIST U.S. History since 1865 (2nd ed., pp. 373-377). Boston: Cengage Learning,.

Secretary of the United States Dulles (2018). Secretary Dulles' Strategy of Massive Retaliation. Department of State Bulletin, Vol. XXX, pp.107-10). [online] Available at: http://college.cengage.com/history/wadsworth_9781133309888/unprotected/ps/dulles.html [Accessed 27 May 2018].

U.S. Government Publishing Office (1991). Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the Cessation of the Persian Gulf Conflict March 6, 1991. Washington: U.S. Government Publishing Office, pp.218-222. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PPP-1991-book1/pdf/PPP-1991-book1-doc-pg218-3.pdf