Running head: AMERICA AS POLICEMAN OF THE WORLD 1

America as Policeman of the World

Student Name

Institutional Affiliation
AMERICA AS POLICEMAN OF THE WORLD 2

America as Policeman of the World

The American police run the world as they aim to bring prosperity to the United States by

safeguarding its interests. In the policing role, the United States seeks to protect its businesses,

keep Americans safe and protect its riches. Since the First World War, American army has had

an active role in defending Americans from external attacks as well as threats. In a wider

perspective, the world wars and cold war demonstrates the might of the American army as well

various missions that most of them had successful spells. However, the fight of terror proves

otherwise. The American policing role has had noble intentions and ultimate success during the

Cold War, but in fighting terror, has gotten off track with some severe consequences.

The United States rose after the second world war as a global superpower. It had taken an

active role in the creation and reign of the cold world war that lasted for more than four decades.

The U.S had direct involvement in proxy wars against the Soviet Union and provided military

aid to its allies. During the Vietnam and Korean Wars, it was a principal foreign actor

(Parrington,1997). It is worthwhile noting that the U.S hosted nuclear weapons during these wars

under the mutually assured destruction agreement with the Soviet Union.

The United States military enjoys a big share of the public expenditure since the majority

of the former presidents spent hugely on military budgets. The U.S has a history of employing

the powerful, technological and modern weapons in dealing with its enemies. During the cold

war period, the U.S military was touchy for people to discuss in public. According to Klare

(2002), many permanent strategists and pundits circulated ideas of the military supremacy

especially with the drafting of the guidance document of 1992. All the presidents had an

opportunity of reshaping and trying to make American the greatest nation.

AMERICA AS POLICEMAN OF THE WORLD 3

Military supremacy was part of the campaign for the majority of the former presidents as they

vowed to protect Americans interests best. For example, George W. Bush campaigned on how he

would embrace the concept of permanent military superiority (Klare, 2002). He promised that he

would encourage the use of latest technologies as well as restore peace in other nations to

safeguard the interest of Americans. The military has been one of the instrumental tools of the

bargain that the U.S upholds. It is a superpower that many countries seek to emulate due to its

effectiveness.

The United States acts as the policeman of the world because it is a source of emulation

by other nations in military planning. The basic army policies are clear, and troop leaders can be

selective in military power. It has much war plans to strike an enemy of which each plan has

other techniques employed. Dulles (1954) explains that the military can either apply direct and

local opposition approaches that require fighting in the tropics and arctic or the most common

approaches by land, by sea and by air. Previously, the president had military advisers represented

by the National Security Council that had the role of making basic policy decisions.

During the cold war era, military decisions depended on the great capacity of retaliating

by all the means through making appropriate places of choosing. There were changes with time

characterized by the introduction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Department of Defense that

shaped the military. Such changes improved the manner in which police could approach threats

faced by Americans.

The role of the U.S army has been changing over the years particularly during the Bush

Doctrine. Tarzi (2014) writes that Bush acquired a doctrine that was a grand started of the

hegemonic supremacy of the Americans with preventive war being its pillar. It also included

unilateral actions that rationalized and legitimized democracy and other comprehensive national
AMERICA AS POLICEMAN OF THE WORLD 4

security strategies. There are many military mistakes that the United States made in the past as

early as 18th century. However, the cases of Iraq and Afghanistan marked decades of war past

cold war that the military got engaged haphazardly. There was a no a clear plan to send the

troops into those regions.

Even though there were radical Republicans in Congress who enjoyed considerable

success, they could not produce their best when required. Shultz (2018) states that Republicans

in Congress failed to produce an envisioned social revolution since they could not solve the

majority of the problems even after having successful battles. For instance, freed slaves did not

have land, black people-the biggest percentage of the freed slaves didn’t have access to

education, racial segregation was common, and there was no absolute racial equality. Despite the

evacuation carried out in many regions, victims were left unattended and without any help.

The United States had been the policeman of the world for many decades even before the

Cold war. The ability to have an active role in Cold War that lasted for more than four decades

helped it to establish as a superpower. However, it had its military involved in undesirable wars.

American policing role has had noble intentions and ultimate success during the Cold War but

has gotten off track with some severe consequences in fighting terror.

An understanding of the history and the role of American police in the world is critical in

cultivating the superiority culture of the Americans. The strategies and planning employed by the

army could be helpful to the success of a business. Moreover, the mistakes made by the

American army should be a lesson that managers should learn to avoid repeating them in the

future.
AMERICA AS POLICEMAN OF THE WORLD 5

References

Dulles, J. F. (1954, Jan. 12). Secretary Dulles' Strategy of Massive Retaliation. Department of

State Bulletin, XXX, 107-110. Retrieved

from http://college.cengage.com/history/wadsworth_9781133309888/unprotected/ps/dull

es.html

Klare, M. (2002, July 15). Endless Military Superiority. Nation, 275 31 (3) 12-16.

Parrington, A. (1997). Mutually Assured Destruction Revisited. Retrieved from

https://web.archive.org/web/20150620055606/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchr

onicles/apj/apj97/win97/parrin.html

Shultz, Kevin M. (2018). HIS5: Volume 2: U.S. History Since 1865 (Student Edition). Boston:

Cengage. 

Tarzi, S. M. (2014, Sept.). The Folly of a grand strategy of coercive global primacy: A fresh

perspective on the post-9/11 Bush doctrine. International Journal on World Peace, 31 (3),

27-52.