The Pursuit For World Domination

America’s role in the international arena during the 1900s is best captured in the poem by Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden” and had been clearly articulated in the speeches of Roosevelt and Beveridge. The American government believed that it is the American duty to interfere and be an influential power in the civilizing of nations that American’s perceived as unable to rule over themselves or as savages, illiterate, and the cause of chaos which ultimately affects the America’s vision of successful world commercial activities. However, it must be clarified that this goal is characterized by conflicted opinions within the American nation itself. Some believed that America should not interfere with the fate of other nations and argue for their

After the civil war, United States took a turn that led them to solidify as the world power. From the late 1800s, as the US began to collect power through Cuba, Hawaii, and the Philippines, debate arose among historians about American imperialism and its behavior. Historians such as William A. Williams, Arthur Schlesinger, and Stephen Kinzer provides their own vision and how America ought to be through ideas centered around economics, power, and racial superiority.

One of the ways Americans justified imperialism was by believing that their race, culture and religion was superior to those in other nations. Americans wanted to spread their race and religion all over the world.2 In a book called “Our Country”, Rev. Josiah Strong wrote “… the purest Christianity, the highest civilization… will spread itself over the earth… this powerful race will move down upon Mexico, move down upon Central and South America, out upon the islands

With the late 19th century came a great change in the ideas of expansionism in the United States, but also a continuation of its ideals. The idea of imperialism, where the United States would extend its power around the globe, stood in contrast with the original Manifest Destiny ideal of the 1840s and 1850s when America was expanding west from ‘sea to shining sea.’ However, the inherent social and cultural sentiments were still present in the late 19th century expansionism, though the economic and political purposes had changed.

The period 1875-1920 has been described by some historians as a period of “selflessness” during which the United States helped weaker nations from dominant European powers and spread the “blessings of democracy and civilization.” Others have described the “New Manifest Destiny” as a time of “ruthless American expansion” at the cost of weaker nations and in violation of our own principles of consent of the governed and popular sovereignty.

Theodore Roosevelt’s main goal was to maintain America’s status as the world’s ultimate power through racial competition and American manhood. In Gail Bederman essay “Gendering Imperialism: Theodore Roosevelt’s Quest for Manhood and Empire” describes Americans’ motivates for creating an empire the turn of the century. The rising of Theodore Roosevelt brought idea’s that United States could achieved national greatness by having the most superior manhood among Western and European countries. Roosevelt had strict expectations in how a real American should act and behave. What Roosevelt meant by superior manhood was simply being the best human race in the world.

American foreign policy from 1890-1930 was driven primarily by our businesslike economic and strategic considerations based on American self-interest. With westward expansion over, there had to be a new way for the United States to continue expansion. In the name of maintaining our innovative spirit and political ideology, our conquest for money, resources and trade took us outside of our borders for the first time. After all, how could we continue this upward monetary and resource tick if we didn’t expand? All countries are very self-centered and driven by their own success, and ours is no different in this respect. Going from a country that could large in part be ignored, to a real world power

By the year 1901, the United States possessed one of the largest navy’s in the world, a growing empire, and the respect of the world as a growing power. It gained these achievements by being involved in the growing imperialism of this era along with Britain, France, Germany, and Japan. However America did not gain its power spontaneously. During the Gilded Age and prior America established policies and precedents that would lead America into the discussion as a world power. Although the United States expansionism in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-centuries was a continuation of the social and cultural continuation of the past, it was also resulting from the departure from the methods of the past in the government’s pursuit of new economic and political endeavors.

Twain’s essay discusses imperialism and its consequences. Twain uses two very different characters, a priest and a stranger, to contrast pro-imperialism and anti-imperialism. Ultimately, Twain’s essay reveals to readers that praying for success in war is also

“To the Person Sitting in Darkness” is another one of Twain’s works that uses irony to present an argument, therefore allowing an easier way to discuss the argument. However, this work is not presented in a light-hearted fashion. Rather, it uses satire to show extremes in order to force people to consider the problems with imperialism. This essay discusses several world events in which

But if we shall neglect…shall fall to embrace this present world and prosecute our carnal intentions, seeking great things for ourselves and our posterity, the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us” (Winthrop, 20). This idea that the Christian deity is somehow connected to America’s greatness can be found in Conwell’s work, albeit used in a different manner.

“America was conducting business as usual, but others were joining the game.” (Zakaria, 221). All this time we thought we were on top, we were actually slowly becoming less and less of leader and more a bystander as the rest of the world is slowly rising around us. Zakaria shows in that quote that as America has been continuing business like always, and because of this we have failed to realize our standing with the world around us. In the book The Post-American World, Zakaria shows us the challenges that America faces today. I believe the United States is most affected by our ignorance, competition, and worldly participation.

Many strategies have been devised by empires over centuries, these strategies and decisions have helped shape the world as it is in its present state. The author explains how strategic decisions made in the past were the wrong decisions in his opinion, as John Perkins had seen first hand the devastation that could be caused by the American government in its pursuit for a “global empire”.

In a country of complicated decisions made by politicians about far away places and the people that live there, it's only a guess as to the motives behind each of these decisions. In Noam Chomsky's book "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance", Noam gives a scrupulously researched critique of America's quest for dominance at any cost that not only has cast us in the role of a rogue superpower but also jeopardizes the very survival of humanity. From reading this book, I will give an account as to what Chomsky says about American hegemonic ideals and give him credit for the attempt that he has made to expose historical truth.

The Next Decade, a novel by George Friedman, talks about the predictions of countries in the upcoming decade and how the United States should react to the various challenges. The novel’s first major claim is that the United States is actually an empire, similar to how Rome and Great Brian were. However, unlike the previous empires, the United States refuses to acknowledge its status as an empire. “What makes the United States an empire is the number of countries it affects, the intensity of the impact, and the number of people in those countries affected.” The implication of this quote is that the US has gotten to be so large, if the US decided to draw out of global affairs, the impact would be detrimental. Instead of escaping its duty to the world, Friedman claims that the United States must acknowledge its status as an empire and function as such in order to maneuver the next decade. This claim is a wise claim made by Friedman, but it his only claim of worth in the novel. In The Next Decade, Friedman fails to make his thesis credible because he doesn’t his sources, provide logical arguments on his predications of the future, or examine alternative possibilities.