“Today It Is Becoming Increasingly Apparent To Thoughtful

Throughout its history, the United States has claimed to be a democracy that fights for freedom for all. Americans have opposed imperialistic states and have fought against empires. However, based on specific definitions of imperialism, U.S. leaders have been guilty of fighting multiple wars to build their empire, even if their explicit reasons for doing so suggest otherwise. Examples of these imperialistic trends include American actions during the First Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the annexation of the Philippines.

Nicaragua was a primary example for the efforts and motives of the United States during the Cold War. “Nicaragua was one of those places where freedom was at risk, together with Afghanistan and Angola and even Poland” which made the United States see them as a place that needed assistance from the largest and most successful democracy of the time. Following the election of President Reagan, there was a resurgence in American efforts of preventing the spread of communism. Although Nicaragua had been in the sights of the United States for so long, they revitalized their efforts in a new scheme with Reagan’s administrations involvement. In Nicaragua, there was a revolt brewing with anti-communist ties. The revolt was being led by the rebel group, the contras, who aligned themselves with American hoping for assistance within their rebellion. The CIA and the administration was assisting a group in overthrowing its established government to help promote its ideological perspective within Central America. This would not seem uncommon for the United States government during the Cold War Era, due to the fact that they had done this on so many different occasions since the Cold War with the Soviet Union began in 1945.

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.

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.

The United States paid a high cost politically for the Vietnam War. The war weakened many American’s faith in our government, and the public also doubted the honesty and competence of its leaders. Americans were skeptical, if not cynical and held a high degree distrust and suspicion towards authority of any kind. This pretty much described the views of an increasing number of Americans following the Vietnam War (Chambers II, 1999).

Throughout american history, examples of the United States’ domination of the political, economic, and social aspects of other countries can be seen. This domination, also known as imperialism, was primarily caused by a growing sense of nationalism, the influence of supply and demand, and a desire to maintain global military power. Imperialism is categorized into three different groups: colony, protectorate, sphere of influence. TRANSITION SENTENCE

After their experiences, “the Vietnam experience has given almost all of them a sense of seasoned caution about using American military power without having the broad support of the American people” (Doc. 8). These views have created a more cautious and reserved take on American foreign policy. There was never a war of more controversy, and America wanted to avoid such problems from occurring again, by reforming their foreign

Also, Social Darwinism had been a huge influence to many Americans, which led them to believe that the United States had a responsiblity to bring industrialization and democracy to less developed nations. Many American leaders, such as Theodore Roosevelt, thought that the ticket and key tool for imperialism would be a powerful naval presence, his, “big stick” that would rival any great European power. Through necessity of resources and war with Spain, the United States would free Cuba, annex Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. Annexation had a pronounced affect on the citizens of those countries, more so in the Philippines. As we know the United States engaged in imperialism to promote their influence of democracy to new parts of the world. The United States believed they had a responsible to police the Western Hemisphere, but the United States’ decision to engage in imperialism was much more than

Relating to Appy’s claim, as escalation grew after the Tonkin Gulf, America began to wage an unmoral war that was not supported by the Americans and Vietnamese or understood by American soldiers. Agreeing with Appy’s claim, the prime issue of an immoral and unjust war is one that America must realize and understand the full consequences that this has had on the nation if it is to learn any lessons from Vietnam. Originally told that the war was fought to contain communism, bombing campaigns as Operation Rolling Thunder annihilated many villages and the countryside where it was believed that the Viet Cong were stationed. Proven more often than not to be unsuccessful, only to produce the numbers of unidentified Vietnamese bodies and remains that

The history between the U.S. and Nicaragua has always been aimed at making sure there politically ideologies remain in line with our own. With the spread of communism, the U.S. had been involved in Nicaragua since 1912. The U.S. has acted as Big Brother and used military force when pro U.S. leaders were facing rebellion. Unfortunately in 1936 when the U.S. began training the Nicaraguan National Guard, there was a forceful takeover by a man named Somoza Garcia. The era of rule under the leadership and guidance of Garcia lasted for 43 years until a group known as the “FSLN” which stands for the Sandinista National Liberation Front was created which was essentially anti Somoza Garcia. The FSLN was a communist group which wanted to make Nicaragua a socialist state. Ultimately the group took control of the country and committed numerous human rights violations and also stole foreign aid for themselves. So with this takeover began a very rocky and difficult relationship with the U.S.

The United States stands for liberty and Justice. Yet during the 20th century, this reputation was greatly damaged. The government began to focus on power and controlling other countries instead. The United States’ focus on imperialism is shown by its fight against communism, its use of propaganda to exaggerate its influence around the world, and its involvement in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was related to America’s fear of communism and showed how far the United States would go to inflict its policy on other nations. During this time the U.S. government did not consider Vietnam’s perspective on the war nor estimate the casualties. The citizens of Vietnam did not deserve to be plagued by death and destruction, and the U.S. should absolutely never have been involved. American imperialism

The Nicaraguan revolution of 1979 is an event that many American citizens may not know about. What is likely less understood is the United States’ role in the cause of this revolution. The US actually played a very important role in causing the Nicaraguan revolution. The US did three major things that strongly influenced the revolutionaries to revolt against the government. The US helped create the National Guard of Nicaragua, a group that abused citizens and blatantly disregarded for human rights. The US was also complicit in the assassination of Augusto Cesar Sandino, a citizen who fought against US Marine occupation in the 1930’s. Finally, the US supported the Somoza

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.

Previously, I perceived our opponents to be the “bad guys” and the United States to be the heroes that were helping people around the world. While this may be true in some applications, I’m no longer naïve to the fact that the U.S. isn’t handing out millions of dollars in economic interest simply because it’s the right thing to do. Rather, I believe that most military conflicts the U.S. has engaged in over the last century, as well as the current battles in Syria and throughout the Middle East, stem principally from economic motivations. While I’m undecided in the political debate that exists between political parties over the term imperialism itself, I’ve become keenly aware of how much of our country’s foreign policy is driven by the economic needs of its citizens. The profound change I’ve experienced is in remaining mindful as to the influence on foreign policy that receptive markets and favorable political conditions in countries throughout the world has.

The USSR had recently funded a communications site on Nicaraguan soil to help them communicate with other socialist nations. With a rising fear of the USSR and other socialist nations, the US immediately accused it of being a spy base. Not shortly afterwards the US began to take action against Nicaragua by issuing an economic blockade. Because the Nicaraguan economy relied so heavily on imports, this had a profound effect and contributed to the collapse of the Nicaraguan economy. “It was impossible to spend even a day in Nicaragua without becoming aware of the huge and unrelenting pressure being exerted on the country by the giant standing on the northern front” (p.24).