WWII has a ripple effect across the globe causing changes both internationally and domestically. Internationally, The sun finally began to set over the British Empire with the majority of her majesties colonial possessions gaining independence in the years following the war. Britain’s stage left exit from its hegemonic role resulted in the start of a new “Great Game” between two burgeoning superpowers. A new world order began to take shape with the United States and USSR vying to establish their own hegemony. Aside from causing a major shift in geopolitical power, WWII also solidified the integral role oil played politically in national security. However, following the war the United States was no longer the world’s largest oil producer …show more content…
Accordingly oil played a significant role in the United States rise to power in the Middle East. Before the War ended President Roosevelt met with the King of Saudi Arabia where it was established the relationship between the two countries would be about oil. America’s power in the region was primarily directed through oil companies such as Aramco. So was the United States an Empire? This isn’t an easy question to answer. I think part of the reason it’s so hard to answer definitively is that we don’t have a concrete definition of what an empire is. Definitions of what constitutes an Empire vary and the word has been used in many different contexts over time. The definition we came up with in class is a good one to start with in trying to determine weather or not the United States was empire with regards to the Middle East after WWII. Empire: Using power to affect somewhere else to further your self-interest at the expense of the somewhere else. This isn’t a perfect definition of empire, but it does capture two important elements of the nature of imperialism. First, There is always an unequal distribution of power between the empire and those controlled by it. The empire dominates and subverts, using various means at its disposal to control the somewhere else. And the second is that the relationship of empire and those it controls is inherently exploitive. The sole reason for an empire’s creation in the
Essentially, the US wanted to get more land so it would in the long run give them more power and money. We needed these policies to make us successful and the result is that we did become more expanded; we got more money, and more power due to these two previous things. I feel Imperialism was a success for the US for the reasons I just stated and feel it was an intelligent decision and action for our country. Even now, we are still somewhat Imperialistic considering we’ve spread our culture all over the world and help the poor. The only disadvantage is that now we pay too much attention to
Michael Cox’s thesis as outlined in “Empire by Denial? Debating US Power”, is chiefly that: the United States of America is an empire, and that current beliefs to the contrary are the result of denialism due to negative connotations associated with the concept of empire, not due to a lack of suitability of that term to describe the current state of American foreign policy.
American Imperialism has been a part of United States history ever since the American Revolution. Imperialism is the practice by which large, powerful nations seek to expand and maintain control or influence on a weaker country. Throughout the years, America has had a tendency to take over other people 's land. Authors like Frederick Jackson Turner, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Albert J. Beveridge, Mark Twain, and William James all distinctive perspectives on U.S expansion and imperialism at the turn of the 20th century.
Oil has often been referred to as any economy’s lifeblood. Although this is an overemphasis, oil has been the key, nonhuman resource of the economy throughout the largest part of the 20th century. In the book “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, And Power” by Daniel Yergin, the author illustrates the political, societal, economic, and geo-strategic importance of this product.
However, before I begin discussing American Imperialism, it is important to first create an interpretation of what imperialism and empire means. The term "empire" has a wide range of meanings. In the United States, there is no emperor and its head of state is the democratically elected president. Therefore, the United States does not meet the definition of empire in the literal sense of a group of states under a single supreme emperor. However, in a more abstract interpretation, the United States is an empire as it has sovereignty over: Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and other overseas territories in the current day, as well as territories in the Pacific Ocean such as the
Discuss the extent to which American hegemony led to the rise of the modern American empire.
Imperialism is a policy that has positively impacted nations and their development for centuries. This was especially true during the late 1800s and early 1900s, when many European nations began to expand far beyond their borders. Imperialistic policies were not only good for the development of countries that were expanding, but in many cases, the countries that were being expanded into as well.
Imperialism is a policy of extending a country power or influence through either military or by trade. Imperialism was a legitimate policy for the United states to follow in the beginning of the nineteenth century, because it spread Christianity, increase economic power and profits and it benefit the weaker countries that united states take over.
Imperialism would be defined as “a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force” (Google). America is a perfect example of a country that imperialized in history. Imperialism was a great benefit for the U.S., but on the other hand, a huge burden for the Latin American countries. America intervened in Latin America for economic and political advantage. America made a ton of money in Latin America in the form of fruits that could be grown in Latin America, but not in America. Latin American countries were too underdeveloped, as in they weren’t industrialized and hadn’t imperialized, so they couldn’t possibly handle the military force of America. This allowed the U.S. to come in and basically bully the Latin American countries because they couldn’t retaliate. There weren’t many negatives for the U.S., except for social backlash from countries like Nicaragua or Costa Rica.
Imperialism is defined in the dictionary as being a " The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by establishing economic and political hegemony over other nations" (p 681 American Heritage college Dictionary). Usually people associate imperialism as being the domination of a small country by a larger, more powerful country, usually to the advantage of the larger country. At the beginning of the nineteenth century most of the countries in Europe were involved in imperialism. Each country had it's own motives for wanting to gain an empire and some of the reason were Economic, Political, Religious and Exploitation.
What is American Imperialism? It is the influences that the United States makes on other countries. Some of the influences are economics, military, and culture. Expansionism is conquering those countries and taking over the land. Without imperialism and expansionism, our county would not be as big and productive as it is in today 's society.
Conflict over energy resources—and the wealth and power they create—has become an increasingly prominent feature for geopolitics particularly in the Middle East . The discovery of oil in the late nineteenth century added a dimension to the region as major outside states powers employed military force to protect their newly acquired interests in the Middle East. The U.S.’s efforts to secure the flow of oil have led to ever increasing involvement in the Middle East region’s political affairs and ongoing power struggles. By the end of the twentieth century, safeguarding the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf had become one of the most important functions of the U.S. military establishment. The close relationship between the United States and the Saudi royal family was formed in the final months of World War II, when U.S. leaders sought to ensure preferential access to Saudi petroleum. The U.S. link with Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region has demonstrated to be greatly beneficial to both parties, yet it has also led to ever deepening U.S. involvement in regional politics.
Following the second World War, the U.S. suddenly found itself the dominant economic and military might in a devastated world. As the British Empire faded, into the vacuum a new empire arose and armed with a nuclear deterrent, the U.S began to exert its global influence.
The Importance of Oil in U.S. Foreign Policy During the oil and energy crisis of the mid-1970s Americans became painfully aware of the consequences of the United States dependence on foreign sources of oil. Unfortunately, research and exploration for alternative sources of oil in North America has not been pursued vigorously enough to cease such foreign dependence. As a result, in the mid-1990s Americans find themselves in the same precarious position as they were during the 1970s. The Persian-Gulf War in 1991 was all the proof needed to convince the United States of how strongly oil still influences our foreign policy and international relations in general. Oil and U.S. Foreign Policy: Historical Issues The United
The 15th century was a turning point in the world's history, since the ocean, which was previously seen as an obstacle to reach beyond, was turned out to be a medium to unify the continents. The discovery of ocean is mainly referred as the "oceanic revolution" and it put the study of history in a global context, for power relations were no longer limited to national histories. At the time the Ottoman Empire was the leading figure in terms of power, since it was dominant in the Mediterranean which, as Bender states, formed the core of the world's economy. The Europeans, feeling inferior against the power and the wealth of Islamic world, saw the ocean as an alternative way to claim power. As Haring suggests Ocean Sea' became "the medium