Terrorism: One of the Biggest Threats to American Politics
Safeguarding the American citizens and the nation as a whole from Terrorists is possibly both one of the biggest threat and also the top priority for the American government today. According to a recent survey conducted by Pew Research Center, two important concerns of the ongoing Presidential campaign are safety and security of the nation and its economy from terrorism.
According to the survey report published by Pew, approximately 75% of Americans strongly opine that both strengthening the American economy and safeguarding the nation from the threat of terrorism are two important concerns and also the prime focus of the government that would be newly formed after the 2016 elections. Throughout the whole of Barack Obama’s second term as the American President, increase in the employment rates as well as budget deficit have been on the top of the priority list for the Americans; but the ongoing terrorist attacks across the world – the recent attacks in Paris and France – to name a few, and the earlier terror attacks that America had experience, the priorities now have shifted towards tackling this big demon – TERRORISM!!!!!
Regardless of the common consensus on the above two aspects, Pew survey also points at a partisan divide regarding the various priorities upon which the new government should focus upon. While the Democrats feel that reviewing and refurbishing the existing gun laws, battling issues of climate change, and improving the criminal justice system are to top the list of the priorities for Washington; Republicans on the other hand feel that fighting terrorism, strengthening the American economy, dealing with the budget deficit, and also revamping the military are few highly important concerns of Washington.
The era of geopolitics was brought to an end with the 9/11 attacks that shook the entire American nation and a new era of politics, namely the global politics has come into light. Today, the policymakers in the United States are under immense pressure to identify the fundamental change that is taking place in the global political scenario and eventually make the best possible use of the American economy, militia, as well as its power as a global nation for crafting an environment that is extremely conducive, while also being in alignment with the American values and interests.
For most part of the 20th century, the foreign policy of United States was largely driven by geopolitics. Almost all of the American Presidents during this century did their best for preventing any other global nation from controlling or conquering the strategic power hubs situated in Eurasia. The United States, in its pursuit of safeguarding its position as a superpower in the global platform, even went to the extent where it fought two world wars and successfully continued its four-decade-long Cold War with Russia. Soviet Empire’s downfall put an end to the last serious test for provincial domain over Europe and Asia. The prime objective of the foreign policy of United States was thus successfully accomplished.
Yet, with the passage of time and with various dramatic changes taking place, the priorities of the American citizens has changed a lot, especially with regard to the government policies involving economic well-being and national security.
According to the Pew survey, “for the first time in five years, as many Americans cite defending the U.S. against terrorism (76%) as a top policy priority as say that about strengthening the nation’s economy (75%).” There has been negligible change in the percentage of people opining about tackling terrorism being the top most priority for Washington D.C., in the past two years as this issues has been constantly topping the list of priorities of the policy goals since the year 2002. However, this particular issues of combating terrorism has gone up the priority list since the time employment rates in the American economy has fallen.
In fact, foreign policy and the role the United States should be playing in the global platform have been hot topics of debate among both the Democrats and the Republicans since the time the 2016 presidential campaign has started.
A recent survey conducted by Pew Research Center discloses that the people of American are currently not sure about the place that America holds in global affairs, while there are also varied opinions held by people on issues like the biggest threats that America is currently facing, and the steps that the American government should be taking in order to deal with such threats in an effective way. Many people also hold varying perspectives about the degree of assertiveness in the role that United States should have in its global affairs.
The foreign policy of United States during the 1990s was more focused upon amalgamating its success. For the first time in global history, America, in union with its other allies from Europe, successfully marched ahead in creating a diplomatic, undivided, and egalitarian Europe.
The European Union, eventually went on to becoming the key hub for the European foreign policy that comprised of a wide range of issues. “The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has evolved from a collective defense alliance into Europe's main security institution. A new relationship with Russia is being forged.” Though the progress was slow, it was considerable in nature, especially in the Asian region. The foreign relations with two of America’s important regional associates namely Japan and South Korea, continue to be the underpinning power in terms of regional strength and stability.
Democracy is spreading its roots in many Asian countries like the South Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines to name a few. The association that U.S. has with China is slowly fastening an economically growing Beijing into the international realm in terms of economic strength.
The success of the American foreign policy over the past ten years clearly signifies that there exists no other nation or power, be it Russia, Germany, or even the European Union as a whole, or not even the developing Asian economies like China or Japan, currently pose a dominance threat to the entire Eurasia.
In this contemporary global era, the foreign policy of United States will not any longer depend on geography. It will rather be something which would be marked by a strong blend of unrivaled power that the United States holds in global affairs as well as also the widespread and increasing globalization of global politics.
Yet, the moot question that needs an answer immediately is – ‘Will this unparalleled superiority of American in global affairs be sustainable?’
In aspects related to militia, the gap between the United States and the rest of the global nations is slowly increasing and is growing bigger with time. Another important issues that is worth considering is the defense spending. While the rest of the global nations are fairly successful in bringing this expense down, the same in case of the United States is growing intensely. For instance, the current years increase in the U.S. defense spending is much higher when compared to the entire defense budget of China.
Even though America is much stronger in terms of finance than any other nation in the world and it can afford such high amount of spending, the same does not offer much solace because the global economy is developing at a remarkably faster pace and many global economies are marching ahead at an unbelievable place and this is aptly applicable to China and Russia as their progress today is comparable to many developed economies like Belgium or France.
Having thus stated, the answer to America’s long-term sustainability is dependent on the extent to which America expresses its interests in not just its own growth but also the growth and development of its allies and other global economies. The people of America strongly believe in the concept called American primacy as they feel that there is no other nation in the world that can challenge their nation on any aspect. On the contrary, global opinion is that America should end its unilateralist approach to global affairs and consider global cooperation which would help in the overall global development and not just the development and strengthening of the American economy. At the end, the widespread notion is that the American foreign policy should be something that would support a liberal world.
Works Cited
Doherty, Bruce Drake & Carroll. Key findings on how Americans view the U.S. role in the world. Survey Report. 05: May, 2016. Web. 27 July 2016. <http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/05/05/key-findings-on-how-americans-view-the-u-s-role-in-the-world/>.
Lindsay, James M. "The Globalization of Politics: American Foreign Policy for a New Century." Article. 2003. Web. 27 July 2016. <http://www.cfr.org/world/globalization-politics-american-foreign-policy-new-century/p6330>.
Metz, Steven. "Fear of Terrorism Is Pushing U.S. Politics to a Point of No Return." World Politics Review 08 April 2016. Web. 27 July 2016. <http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/18434/fear-of-terrorism-is-pushing-u-s-politics-to-a-point-of-no-return>.
Pew Research Center. "Public’s Policy Priorities Reflect Changing Conditions at Home and Abroad." Survey Report. 2015. Web. 27 July 2016. <http://www.people-press.org/2015/01/15/publics-policy-priorities-reflect-changing-conditions-at-home-and-abroad/>.
Rhodan, Maya. "Terrorism and Economy Are America’s Top Concern in 2016, Poll Shows." TIME 22 January 2016. Web. 27 July 2016. <http://time.com/4190069/terrorism-is-americas-top-concern-in-2016-poll-shows/>.
