Introduction: In the twenty-first century America’s military has reached its grip and influence all over the world. From Africa, to Asia, to the Middle East, America has intervened in a number of domestic situations that did not directly affect their own interests. For this reason, America is often seen as a policeman of the world, because it sees itself as a power to regulate the internal affairs of other nations and the globe as a whole.
Thesis Statement: America is a policeman of the world because they intervene and regulate the affairs of other countries that they are not directly involved in.
There are many instances after World War II where America played the role of being an interventionist power. The two most bloody and costly affairs were in Asia. In the early 1950’s, after WWII had ended, America sent tens of thousands of troops to the Korean peninsula during the Korean War. This ended up a victory for the Americans because the North Korean who invaded the south portion of the country were repelled. Another instance of America acting like a police man of the world is in the case of the Vietnam War. In this war, the Americans intervened to defend the South Vietnamese from the North Vietnamese forces. In both of these instances, the main cause was because of ideological disagreements. America did not want communism to spread and thus took military action to prevent the spread. One other instance of intervention was in Africa where America joined the UN to help in the Congo. This was because the Belgium government pulled out and there was chaos in the country. These are three incidents in which America has taken on an international police role.
Some of the driving forces during these instances, and that can be extended to today, include ideology, geopolitics, and natural resources. The first of these has usually been in instances where nations hold ideologies that make them hostile to the United States and how the US envisions the best world order for its own interests. The most common example of this has been communism, but also more recently it is religious extremism. In the case of geopolitical interest, the US has also been active in instances where it saw itself needing to prevent hostile regimes from being too close to American borders such as in the case of Cuba in the early 1960s. Finally, natural resources is also something America has intervened and acted like a police officer of the world for. This was the case in Iran when America was upset over the nationalization of the oil reserves in 1954 so they intervened.
Two instances in the last five years of international intervention that were controversial is the intervention in Syria and Iraq. The US intervention in Syria is a key case that has been controversial (“Syria Crisis,” 2015). The US has said that the leader of Syria, President Assad, should be held accountable for any atrocities that he had done during the war and has since sent troops to fight, although they are trying to manage both the extremists, the Russians, and the Syrians under Assad. They have been conducting air strikes mainly against the Jihadists, not against Assad, and has tried to not help Assad and avoid fighting the Russians. This is controversial because some in the American public have felt Obama should have responded tougher (“Syria,” 2016).
Another instance of an intervention by the US is the war in Iraq. Although this started under President Bush, the actions and timing of troop movements have been a source of controversy (Tomlin, 2016). People have talked about whether Obama has pulled out too many troops and left a power vacuum that other radicals, or nations like Iran, could step into for their own power sake. However, to some degree, America still remains active there (“US-led Coalition,” 2016). They have carried out bombings of various groups and forces linked to ISIS as the war in Syria spreads to other neighboring regions. This means that America is still maintaining itself as active in the region to get rid of forces considered hostile to American interests.
References
Syria: Obama authorizes boots on ground to fight ISIS. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2016, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/30/politics/syria-troops-special- operations-forces/
Syria crisis: Where key countries stand. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2016, from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-23849587
Tomlinson, L. (2016). US officials: Up to 100,000 Iran-backed fighters now in Iraq | Fox News. Retrieved August 19, 2016, from http://www.foxnews.com/politics/ 2016/08/16/us-officials-up-to-100000-iran-backed-fighters-now-in-iraq.html
US-Led Coalition Destroys 38 Daesh Oil Tanker Trucks in Iraq's Mosul. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2016, from http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/ 20160818/1044399610/coalition-daesh-iraq-syria.html
