International Events Involving The U.s. Military Essay

The end of the nineteenth century marked a significant change in the American foreign policy. Prior to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, America had paid little attention to foreign affairs. When compared to some of the more powerful European countries, such as France, Germany, and Great Britain, the United States had a

-Roosevelt was more often engaged in the “big stick” to approach any type of problems that also involves foreign policies. Roosevelt’s main priority was to keep the United States safe and in control, and his aggressive approach to foreign policies made his priorities happen. Roosevelt wanted to build a canal in Central America, which made it possible to easily access the Pacific Ocean thus making it possible to expand America’s influence. When he tried to negotiate with the Colombians, which at the time held the rights to the land of Panama, his negotiation was negated. This infuriated Roosevelt, so he encouraged Panama to gain its independence. Once Panama gained its independence a deal was made and the Panama Canal was born. This is a clear example of Roosevelt using the “big stick” and it clearly shows his aggression towards foreign policies.

Throughout the history of the United States, America had a desire to expand its boundaries. The United States acquired most of it's land during the nineteenth and early twentieth century with a brief break during the Civil War and Reconstruction. However, the way America went about graining new lands drastically changed from non-aggressive means in the beginning to extremely aggressive means towards the end. This essay will depict the extent to how late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century United States expansionism was a continuation

The American “way of war” can be seen politically through the evolution of military policy as political perspectives changed. Post-World War II reveals primary and consistent policies that lead American military policymakers to avoid major international conflict. Coined the Cold War, Americans began waging war

Even though the United States emerged as a clear victor of World War I, many Americans after the war felt that their involvement in the conflict had been a mistake (Markus Schoof, “The American Experience During World War II,” slide 3). This belief, however, did not deter the country from engaging in many other international affairs in the future, most importantly the WWII and the Cold War. Right from the Manifest Destiny, which led to expand its empire at home and abroad, to the World War I, the country had come a long way from being somewhat a lonely-land to a global superpower of the 20th century. Its influence in the international arena grew unprecedently after its commitment to the World War II, and like they say, the rest is history. If the WWII was a resounding success to the American legacy, what followed, the Cold War, put many implications on the American diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and to the world. Although the rising Fascism in Europe and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drove the U.S. to enter the WWII, historians over the years have laid equal blames on both nations for starting the Cold War. These two events helped in shaping up many domestic and foreign policies for the U.S.

1d) monroe doctrine: stated the United States would not get involved in the internal affairs of European countries, the United States would recognized the existing colonies and states in the Western Hemisphere and would not interfere with them, the United States would not permit any colonization of the Western Hemisphere, and any attempt by European power to control the nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act towards out country.

When the Monroe Doctrine was first implemented many Americans felt a sense of duty. They felt obligated to protect lands near their country who also wanted the same dream Americans once had. Independence. However as time went on America slowly became a country hungry for power, materials, and most of all land. Resorting to using cheap tricks and methods to provoke another country to go into a war that they will surely lose against the United States. Due to this, the foreign policy actions the United States implemented did reflect the selfish imperialist ambitions they had due to the wars they got into, America’s belief that it was their “destiny” to gain land, and the cunning tricks they used to take land from an independent nation

The Monroe Doctrine had three main concepts that were “designed to signify a clear break between the New World and the autocratic realm of Europe”(www. history.state.gov). These concepts were: “separate the spheres of influence for the Americas and Europe, non-colonization, and non-intervention”( www. history.state.gov). Monroe stated, “The American continents . . . are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers”.

Monroe Doctrine: statement issued by President James Monroe stating that the Western Hemisphere was off limits to further European intervention

By late the nineteenth century the world was in an Age of Imperialism. The foremost European powers were all competing and swiftly increasing their territorial claims. Americans have always felt the desire to grow and expand the United States, they ultimately proved that with Manifest Destiny, when they settled from the east to the west coast. The idea of expansion overseas was something not new to the United States. The war against Mexico had allowed the United States to be carried into the Pacific and the issuing of the Monroe Doctrine allowed the United States to expand their sphere influence well beyond the Caribbean and into Latin America. American Historian Howard Zinn (1980) says that the Monroe Doctrine was, “Issued in 1823 when the countries of Latin America were winning independence from Spanish control, it made it plain to European nations that the United States considered Lation America its sphere of influence” (p. 297). Also, the very idea of imperialism is deep rooted and is expressed through that very ideal of Manifest Destiny. Bowles (2013) states that, “Many believed it was God 's plan for the United States to control the continent from sea to shining sea” (p. 8). With the outbreak of the Civil War, the idea of expansion and Manifest Destiny would be nonexistent, but this very idea of expansion outside the continent would return into the hearts of many American politicans and leaders at the end of the nineteenth century.

a. The Monroe Doctrine moved the US down south into the Caribbean even before the war against Mexico. The US needed to gain more power and unity before it could think of expanding its markets.

This incident, along with the progressive method of using Christian ethics and the progressive belief of pragmatism, changed Roosevelt’s idea about the Monroe Doctrine. Roosevelt believed that Christian citizens had “the duty of bearing one another’s burdens.” This belief influenced him to interpret the purpose of the Monroe Doctrine as “to safeguard like independence and secure like permanence for the lesser among the New World nations” as well as to prevent European colonization in the Western Hemisphere. However, after the Venezuela crisis, Roosevelt saw that the original doctrine was not enough to safeguard peace in the Western Hemisphere. He realized that wrongdoing from Latin American nations, for example, that Venezuela did not pay debts to European countries, could lead to European aggression in the Western Hemisphere. Roosevelt was afraid that the aggression stayed permanently and contravened the Monroe Doctrine. Using pragmatism to make the Monroe Doctrine not the “the emptiest of the empty phrases,” he stated that the United States had a duty to supervise ineffective Latin American governments, whose instability and economic problems could

During the early year of the nineteenth century, aside from Mexico, almost every other important colony in Latin America gained independence from its Mother country in Europe. However, as this occurred, certain powerful monarchies in Europe threatened to stamp out representative governments if they developed in the old colonies. That was the reason that in 1823, President James Monroe issued his now-famous policy statement called The Monroe Doctrine. In it, Monroe warned the European power that he would considered any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. In other words, the Monroe Doctrine warned the European monarchies that they could expect a strong response from

Through the strong foundation of Isolationism and the policies enacted such as The Monroe Doctrine, the United States played a largely neutral role in foreign affairs. The Monroe Doctrine passed in 1823 was to forbid European nations from colonizing any territory in the Western Hemisphere. Although the United States didn’t have the authority or firepower to back this up, it resulted in almost four decades of compulsory US involvement in any foreign affair. After the Civil War, Isolationistic practices grew stronger as the government had to find a way to re-unite the torn nation. President Grover Cleveland promised to avoid committing the nation to form any alliances with other countries while also opposed to the acquisition of new land. The climate of post Civil War US prevented us from deep involvement in foreign affairs. Our navy was also weakened by the war. Our natural resources were scarce and our diplomatic relations with other countries had been neglected. With the attention of our government focused solely on our nation, we proceeded to develop our interior. One of the biggest reasons for growth in US land mass was the public idea of Manifest

The Roosevelt Corollary greatly affected American foreign policy. It was in sharp contrast to the Monroe Doctrine, put in place to stop foreign intervention with the American continents. In 1823 President Monroe implemented US policy that stated European powers were not allowed to colonize or interfere with the newly budding United States or the Americas. In 1904 President Roosevelt expanded upon this policy in response to European intervention with Latin America. This policy became known as the Roosevelt Corollary. The document echoed the style of leadership President Roosevelt became synonymous with. This more aggressive form of policy became known as Big Stick Diplomacy. Foreign policy in the United States would forever be