After attaining independence in 1776 from the Great Britain, the United States foreign policy has continuously evolved. This was due to various historical events touching on its interests and allies globally. On achieving independence, the United States incorporated the expansionist policy which saw it expanding its territorial borders acquiring new territories such as Puerto Rico, Cuba, and other islands (Wittkopf, Jones, & Kegley, 2008). This policy later evolved into the isolationism policy which saw America limiting its participation in international affairs in order to avoid being pulled in undesirable or otherwise dangerous conflicts. America did not intervene between the world wars. It instituted legislation such as the Neutrality Acts to ensure that it does not get entangled in any of the raging conflicts pitting some of the world powers against each other (Holsti, 2004). This policy further evolved to the democracy and human rights protection policy that saw it getting involved in the internal affairs of regimes that were deemed tyrannical.
It is this policy that made America be dubbed as the “policeman of the world” . This policy was fully in action with the use of military force in various international conflicts such as the United States in the Libyan civil unrest culminated by the need to oust the Muammar Gadaffi leadership and the invasion of Syria to free the Syrian civillians from Bashar Assad’s tyranny. In spite of these acts of the United States as a champion and defender of democracy globally, pundits observe that these actions are not in most cases selfless. The major observation in all these initiatives is the United States interests. In the Libyan case, for instance, America was keen in crashing the Al-Qaeda group which had strong links with the then incumbent Libyan regime. Muammar Gadaffi was perceived as sympathetic to the cause of these terrorist groups. The Syrian case was not much different either. The US had vested interests ranging from the disarmament of the chemical weapons and crush the terrorist network within Syria. The focus on these leaderships was based on the argument that they comprised of tyrannical leadership which would foster acts that may ultimately affect the global peace and America’s interest when it comes to the geopolitical relations at the global stage.
In order to get the correct perspective of the US “ world policeman” role, it is imperative to evaluate the historical aspects that led to the rise of the United States as a superpower. There are three notable elements since 1865 that propelled the United States to the superpower status. Moral and religious views is the first factor that motivated America to spread its ideologies globally (Holsti, 2004). The missionaries were the principal custodians of morality and religion hence they were integral in spreading Christianity (the dominant religion in America) to areas and cultures they deemed rather uncivilized or primitive. This is evident in many global communities such as in Africa where many Christian denominations such as Protestants emanated from the efforts of the American missionaries (Beisner, 2003). In their quest to propagate civilization, many of these missionary further built schools and other tertiary institutions to empower and inculcate religious morals to the perceived primitive societies.
The second aspect was the America’s interest in the acquisition of new territories like other world powers such as Britain and Germany. The United States felt that it would gain much politically and economically through these territories. The European nations through the partition of Africa managed to reap cheap source of materials and settlement schemes for their populace as well as increase their political prominence through their expansionist tendencies. America’s occupation of territories such as Puerto Rico saw it acquire raw materials and labor cheaply. The third aspect dwells on the rise of the industrial age (Wittkopf, Jones, & Kegley, 2008). The industrial brought about wealth accumulation that saw many American businesses flourish. These American companies due to their success locally sought to obtain new markets and sources of raw materials. The aggressiveness of the American businessmen translated to the growth of the US as a global business leader ultimately making it a superpower economically.
The American policing role can be observed in three notable incidents since World War II. The first incident is the Vietnam civil war which started in 1955 which involved South Vietnam and the Communist North Vietnam. America supported the South Vietnam group against the North Vietnam, which was supported by its Viet Cong allies and the Soviet Union. The US central aim in the conflict was to prevent the Vietnam communist takeover. It is prudent to note that US professed capitalism as an ideology while Soviet Union (Russia) was communist. The war was basically an ideological with the interests of the two world powers at play. The second incident was the Somali invasion that took place in 1991. America invaded Somalia after the toppling of the then President Siad Barr’s regime from power. The country fell in the hands of the militia drawn from various Somali clans. America took upon itself to restore sanity that was characterized by intense fighting and violence. The war, however, was a turning point for the American foreign policy. The Blackhawk down as it later came to be known saw many American soldiers lose their lives eventually forcing the Clinton administration to adopt a non-interventionist policy to the subsequent global conflicts.
The Iraqi invasion was the next incident that illustrates America’s policing role. America participated in the internal conflict after credible evidence emerged of Saddam’s possession of weapons of mass destruction, oppression of opposition segments within Iraq and his tyrannical tendencies. The Bush administration was at the forefront in establishing an offensive against Iraq. The invasion eventually paid off with the capture of Saddam bringing him to justice for his crimes against humanity and the destruction of the weapons of mass destruction.
The three incidences; Vietnam civil war, Somali invasion, and the Iraqi conflict, were driven by several factors. The Vietnam civil war was motivated by the fact that America was keen on containing the communism spread across the world (Beisner, 2003). To the United States, communism was an oppressive ideology that hindered growth of populaces in countries practicing them. Its participation in the Vietnam was thus essential in its quest to maintain a brave stance during the cold war. In the end, America withdrew from Vietnam after a decree by John Kennedy on October 2, 1963 that required American troops to start withdrawing from Vietnam (Wittkopf, Jones, & Kegley, 2008). The Somali invasion was motivated by America’s need to restore stability in the conflict-ravaged horn of Africa. The war did not achieve much but rather a considerable number of deaths for the American troops in the Blackhawk down. The public outcry regarding the killings saw America exiting Somalia and incorporating a non-interventionist stance in its subsequent approach to external conflicts. America’s involvement in the Iraqi conflict, on the other hand, was prompted by the need to contain weapons of mass destruction and free Iraqi people from Saddam’s tyranny. The war ended after the seizure of Baghdad and capture of Saddam Hussein eventually bringing him to justice. The war however saw the Bush facing backlash from the Americans for the massive financial losses incurred in the war.
In conclusion, the evolution of the American foreign policy has been based on its strategic interests. Since its assumption, of independence US has a curved a niche of itself in geopolitical matters and subsequent historical events made it adopt different attitudes and perspectives regarding its relations with other nations (Beisner, 2003). As a fairly new nation, America focused primarily on its home front by adopting expansionist and isolationist policies. The expansionist policy dwelled on expanding the US borders while the isolationist policy, on the other hand, dwelled on protecting America from external issues. The former focused on America’s need to increase its size and territorial dominance as an element of geopolitics. The latter sought to ensure United States focused its energies on its internal growth as a new nation with unique composition and needs. This was after several civil wars that bruised its national fabric but eventually saw it forge a unity of purpose. The industrial revolution came at this period enabling America grow achieving many advancements in technology, medicine, and other fields (Beisner, 2003). These significant improvements ultimately cemented United States position as a world power.
The current policy in action, defense of democracy and human rights, focuses on helping world citizens under dictatorships or tyrannical regimes. Aspects such as spread of morals and religious values, territorial expansion and vast business ventures influenced much of these policies. The “world police” role has seen the US participate in many conflicts since World War II such as the Vietnam, Somali, and Iraq wars. The wars however in most instances ended badly for the US with a great number of casualties and failure to achieve target objectives. This policy too just like the others is motivated by self-interest. This self-interest culture has continued to define the American foreign policy since 1865.
References
Beisner, R. L. (2003). American foreign relations since 1600: A guide to the literature. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Holsti, O. R. (2004). Public opinion and American foreign policy. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Wittkopf, E. R., Jones, C. M., & Kegley, C. W. (2008). American foreign policy: Pattern and process. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.
