Policemen of the World Final Paper

Assignment 2.2: Policemen of the World Final Paper

History 105: Contemporary U.S. History

June 12, 2016

The 20th century entailed many ups and downs, such as the fall of the Standard Oil Company by President William Taft, creator of the first assembly line by Henry Ford, and the opening of the Panama Canal. Most importantly, the U.S. along with other allies entering World War I and II showed just how dominant the U.S. was, both domestically and internationally. Showing pure dominance over other countries, the U.S. became the Policemen of the World, which is still thriving today. This paper will describe international events involving the U.S. military that can be traced back to a foreign policy created after the Civil War, as well as aspects of U.S. history since 1865 that have led to the U.S.’s rise as a world super power policeman. International incidents since WWII that America has taken on a policing role will also be discussed. Lastly, driving forces that fueled international policy decisions for the events mentioned will be discussed.

The Libyan Civil War and War against ISIS are both trace back to a Humanitarian Assistance. U.S. Humanitarian Assistance can be dated back to the Platt Amendment of 1901, during a time when Cuba was independent but still resented Americans. The amendment was intended to overrule the Teller Amendment and then added to the Cuban constitution, allowing the United States to militarily intervene on the island whenever revolution threatened (Schultz, 2014). During this time, many Americans overlooked the violence and deceit of U.S. government, sympathizing with Cubans, Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, and Guamanians. Churches, schools, and hospitals were built to help said people. Essentially, U.S. Humanitarian Assistance is used to alleviate and protect suffering of humans due to an intentional crisis, such as terrorism and war, or natural disasters.

The Libyan Civil War began in 2011 after protests for the ruler, Muammar al-Qaddafi to step down. In response, the Libyan government attacked protestors with brutal and lethal force. These actions caught the attention of foreign nations, especially the U.S., which is one of 28 countries comprising NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Seeking to help stop the suffering protestors and civilians endured, NATO powers initiated an aerial military campaign in Libya in response to human rights violations associated with the Libyan civil war. For more than seven months, NATO powers and their allies enforced a UN Security Council no-fly zone over Libya by attacking the ground forces of Muammar Gaddafi. The campaign ended on the 31st of October, 2011, in the aftermath of the toppling and death of Gaddafi. (Morton, 2015). Considering the Security Council only authorized a No-Fly Zone, NATO’s intervention was illegal, but it was done for the better good of the people.

The War against ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria) entails an Islamic militant group taking over land from Syria to Iraq. In addition to taking over land, ISIS controls the people within that area and commit terror attacks with recruits from around the world, including the UK and Europe. They seize flighty Internet attention spans by varying their outrages—from beheading individual prisoners to burning a Jordanian pilot alive to carrying out the mass execution of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya (Von Drehle, 2015). The U.S. intervened to stop ISIS by training Syrian rebels to kill with U.S. M-16 rifles. Kurdish forces are also fighting ISIS with U.S. help, but the U.S.’s NATO ally Turkey is fighting the Kurds as well, complicating potential alliances. The four-year-long civil war has allowed both Iran and Russia, longtime allies of Assad’s, to expand their influence inside Syria, while the chaos has triggered the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the end of World War II (Thompson, 2015). Aiding fights in other countries to protect humans proves how powerful the U.S. is and how it rose to a world super power police force.

The Spanish-American War, Panamanian Revolt, and European War all have one thing in common – helping the U.S. rise to a super power. The Spanish-American War began in 1898 after battleship, U.S. Maine exploded. On July 17, after lengthy negotiations, the Spanish soldiers in Santiago surrendered (Gould, 2015). The U.S.’s victory in the Spanish-American War added a string of island colonies in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean to U.S. territory and declaring to the world that the United States was a global power (Schultz, 2014). The Panamanian Revolt was an independence movement encouraged by President Roosevelt for the Panamanian people to become free Colombia. The American Navy helped the revolution become a success by blocking Colombian soldiers from getting to the scene of the rebellion. As a thank-you to the United States for its timely intervention, in 1903 the new Republic of Panama leased to it a 10-mile-wide Canal Zone (Schultz, 2014).

The European War occurred in 1914 between Germany and France. The U.S. remained neutral in the beginning but found themselves tied up in the war when both countries looked to them for supplies. After learning that Germany was encouraging Mexico to attack the U.S. and a not by German foreign minister, Author Zimmerman being interceded by the British, the U.S. officially declared war. President Wilson had a moral purpose for the war, not punish the Germans. He wanted to help create a new international order.

Not only did the U.S. rise as a global super power, but they took on policing roles as well. The Vietnam War, Cold War, and War in Iraq are just a few that display that position. The Vietnam War lasted from 1954-1975 with a purpose of the U.S. preventing a Communist takeover. One reason the Vietnam War was so divisive is that many Americans came to see it as a civil war in a faraway country that didn’t concern the U.S. Another reason was because of the draft since able-bodied men between ages 18-26 had no choice but to fight in the war (Majerol, 2014). Just as with the fight against ISIS, advisors were sent over to train and arm the South Vietnamese Army. Most Americans initially supported the war, but as it escalated — from 184,000 troops at the end of 1965 to more than half a million by the end of the decade — a powerful antiwar movement began taking hold (Majerol, 2014).

The United States, South Vietnam, Viet Cong, and North Vietnam finally decided to settle the war by meeting in Paris and signing an agreement. After a cease-fire had been announced in 1973 as part of the Paris Peace Agreement, nearly all U.S. troops were withdrawn. The Paris Peace Agreement forced both Washington and Hanoi to conclude that signing a vague and largely unworkable peace agreement was the most expedient way to achieve their most pressing objectives. For Washington, those objectives included the release of American prisoners, military withdrawal without formal capitulation, and preservation of American credibility in the Cold War. Hanoi, on the other hand, sought to secure the removal of American forces, protect the socialist revolution in the North, and improve the prospects for reunification with the South (Majerol, 2014).

The Cold War lasted from 1945-1991 due to the U.S. trying to use its power tried to use its power to proclaim a new global order based on democracy and capitalism. It was the postwar ideological, economic, and military contest between the U.S. and the Soviet Union (Schultz, 2014). The driving force that fueled international policy decisions about the Cold War was the Policy of Containment. It was the U.S.’s strategy for containing communism and allowing it to advance any further that it already had. The War in Iraq lasted from 2003-2011 due to the 9/11 attacks and President Bush’s allegations that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. By 2005, emotions an opinions were mixed regarding the war. One the one hand you have people that opposed the war, while others feel as though the policies aren’t making the U.S. safer but costing taxpayers. During the war, no weapons of mass destruction were found and in 2011, President Obama announced the official end of the Iraq war and all remaining military officials would return to U.S. soil.

In conclusion, there are situations where the helpless need someone or a government to help rescue them because of severe circumstances won’t allow them to help themselves. During these times is when the U.S. steps up to the plate and comes to the rescue of not only their people but all people. Some may view the U.S. as a bully, exerting their power on the ‘little guy’ or butting in when they shouldn’t, but the ultimate goal to protect people from the terror and natural disasters of the world. Although the U.S. has many troubles of their own to rectify, we step up to show how powerful we are by speaking up for the voiceless and fighting for the powerless. The U.S. is truly a global super power, working as policemen of the world, fighting for the rights of all.

References

Asselin, P. (2002). A Bitter Peace: Washington, Hanoi, and the Making of the Paris Agreement. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Gould, L. L., & Hair, W. I. (2015). Spanish-American War. Salem Press Encyclopedia,

Majerol, V. (2014). The Vietnam WAR. New York Times Upfront, 146(12), 18-21. Ramraj, V. V. (2012). Global Anti-terrorism Law and Policy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Morton, J. S., & Hernandez-Ramos, P. M. (2015). The Legality of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Intervention in Libya.International Journal Of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences: Annual Review, 1021-32.

Thompson, M. (2015). The U.S. War Against ISIS Is Going Nowhere. Time, 186(13), 13-15.

Schultz, K. (2014). Hist3, Volume 2: U.S. History since 1865.Boston: Cengage Learning.

Von Drehle, D., Maayeh, S., Al Saadi, M., Cambanis, T., Collard, R., Ghannam, M., & … Thompson, M. (2015). The War on ISIS. (Cover story). Time, 185(8), 24-31.