Part 1
1. Write a thesis statement that is one to two (1-2) sentences long in which you:
The country has used its military to affects changes in other countries affairs in various ways. This paper seeks to analyze how the United States has used its military to affect the affairs of other countries in the past.
a. State your opinion on the significance of the two (2) real-life international incidents that you have researched. Justify your response.
In several occasions, United States’ dominant force has been evident in the international relations. Arguably, there have been numerous U.S. military functions across the globe that has made it look like the global “police.”
Part two
2 (a) International events from the past five years that can be traced back to a foreign policy created after the Civil War.
- U.S. involvement in war in Afghanistan with an aim of ending Taliban dominance
The second is the U.S. policies in Afghanistan after the Military invasion to clear out terrorist Taliban regime in the country. Perkins and Niemeyer (2010) argue that the U.S government took it upon it responsibility to bring back calm and normalcy in the destabilized country. The U.S. initiated the government funded program to train the Afghan National Police (ANP) and to arm the unit. The extensively funded mission went beyond 2010 was meant to institutionalized and to establish a self sustained police force program in Afghanistan. Even as the modern Afghanistan operates under the news radar, the country remains in the longest quagmire in the history of the Unites States. Apart from the U.S. army still occupying Afghanistan up-to-date, numerous private contractors working in the pentagon can not be accounted for; the Obama administration strategy works on replacing the ground troops with drone strikes. This involvement in foreign land policing by the united state has been used from the time of the civil war as demonstrated below to-date.
ii) U.S. Military involvement in Iraq and sentencing of Sadaam Hussein
In the past, the U.S. has deployed its military personnel in Iraq. With an aim of reducing criminal violence and to advance stability in the destabilized country, the government of the United States has endeavored to increase popular support for Iraq’s new government and to improve police community in the war torn country (Williams & Slusser 2014). The government of the United States has done this through affecting a program of U.S.-supported institutional development. Williams and Slusser (2014) note that there has been a U.S. military take over of the responsibilities of training Iraqi indigenous police force – a move that was unprecedented.
iii) U.S. Involvement in nuclear weapon concern in North Korea
(b). Aspects of US history since 1865 that has led to the US’s rise as a world super power policeman.
(i) Economic reasons: one of the fundamental courses of military policing by the U.S. government is economy driven. An example is the great depression that had crippled the economies of United States and Europe. The depression combined with the WWI, led to major repositioning of the world power influence.
(ii) Political reasons: the U.S. president, Roosevelt called for the U.S. to demonstrate great arsenal of democracy and to supply war materials to it allied nations through lease, loan, and sale. This lend-lease bill was enacted in 1941. The main aim of the U.S. government was to position itself in the world’s politics.
(iii) Dominance: the U.S. has always endeavor to be the domineering nation for and align herself with other countries that share similar policies like United Kingdom, and France among other European countries. The instance of the Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor that took place in 1941 is an example of a single factor that brought U.S into the war to side with its allied nations. The main aim of military intervention was to end Nazism and to establish democracy.
(c). International incidents since World War II where America has taken on a policing role.
(i) Afghanistan
Before the U.S. involvement in the Afghanistan, the Vietnam War was the longest in U.S history. The Vietnam was the most divisive in the U.S., Australia, and Europe because the U.S. failed to achieve its objective in Vietnam (Teerawichitchainan & Korinek, 2012). The U.S. involvement in the Vietnam became known as the only military assignment that the military ever failed miserably and it continues to affect administrative, political, and military decision in the U.S. to date. In Vietnam, the main policy by the U.S. was to fight against communism. It was a war that was waged on promoting liberal democracy and removal on imposed dictatorship.
(ii) Chile
The U.S. has also been involved in 1973 Chile 1973. There are those who believe that Chilean military required assistance from the U.S army. Nonetheless, Chilean military that was based on Prussian model has been acknowledged as a capable of arranging and executing it a coup with no assistance. The U.S was not opposed to the overthrowing of Allende and it is the U.S. government that engineered the process that led to the overthrow.
(iii) Somali
Even as the UN involvement in Somalia failed to provide a solution for the long standoff between the Somalis who were fighting against each other. The government of the U.S. remained steadfast and was willing to engage their military in order to solve the humanitarian need of the Somalis.
(d) Driving forces that fueled international policy decisions
(i) The government of U.S. has continuously endeavor to impose democracy and objected the Totalitarian way of governance that has been used in the USSR (Joseph Stalin), German, Spain and Italy (Benito Mussolini) in the past. Democratization has been a major driving force of Americas military policing.
(ii) One fundamental purpose of U.S. international policy is global peace keeping initiative. Nonetheless, the U.S has often been faced with the challenge of determining to what extent it can participate in global peacekeeping.
(iii) The government of the U.S. remains as the world’s superpower, as such, it has self bestowed mandate over other nations and governments that seem to go against humanitarian governance. Example is invasion of Iraq by the U.S. military and overseeing change of governance.
References
Bruce C. (2007). The American Way of Going to War: Mexico (1846) to Iraq (2003) Original Research Article. Orbis, Volume 51, Issue 2, Pages 195-215
Williams D & Slusser R. (2014). Americans and Iraq, twelve years apart: Comparing support for the US wars in Iraq Original Research Article. The Social Science Journal, Volume 51, Issue 2, Pages 231-239
Perkins R & Niemeyer E. (2010). The organized hypocrisy of ethical foreign policy: Human rights, democracy and Western arms sales Original Research Article. Geoforum, Volume 41, Issue 2, Pages 247-256
Teerawichitchainan B & Korinek K. (2012).The long-term impact of war on health and wellbeing in Northern Vietnam: Some glimpses from a recent survey Original Research Article. Social Science & Medicine, Volume 74, Issue 12, June 2012, Pages 1995-2004
