United Nations example essay topic

There has been much written since the conflict in Iraq about a supposed U.S. Empire and there seems to be some evidence of one, but I prefer to give a conflicting viewpoint to this evidence. A book was released recently written by a former member of the Reagan administration named Clyde Prestowitz called "Rogue Nation" and in the book there is a chapter titled "The Unacknowledged Empire". There is also a group that has formed to educate Americans about the risks of empire building, which recently added C. Boyden Gray who served as counsel to the elder Bush to their roster. I have personally read many articles that reference this supposed American Empire and while I believe some of what I read, I also strongly contend that much of has been taken out of context. Truthfully, the word empire has been used for a very long time in regard to the United States.

George Washington spoke about "the rising American empire". Thomas Jefferson referred to the United States as an "empire of liberty". My issue rises with the word and the more classic "empires" of world history like the Greek, Roman and British empires. I believe that nothing about the behavior of the United States recently conveys that they are seeking any sort of empire of this classic kind. People have watched some of the behaviors exhibited by America and mistakenly believe that these actions portend a similar ambition of creating a world empire in the classic sense. They saw the U.S. decide to move into Iraq with very few allies.

After the Cold War ended the Republicans and many Democrats continued the call for increased spending on the military. Many saw these as signs that Americans want only to increase their global influence and power. Well from the very beginnings of the U.S. as a country, it has always felt it was up to them to show everyone else in the world how to live. I will quote President Kennedy who said almost 50 years ago in his inaugural address that the United States must be wiling to "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty". American Presidents have always used almost religious sounding rhetoric to preach to their own people and the world population about freedom and the appropriate way for people to live and conduct themselves. The United States also seems to have a bottomless, God-given reservoir of resources that allows them to carry out this mission around the globe too.

When necessary they are not above using covert operations to topple governments who stand in the way of freedom and liberty for their people as was the case in Iran, Chile, Guatemala, The Congo and other countries to name just a few. Not only did President Reagan call the Soviet Union the "Evil Empire", he proceeded to set policy that dismantled it. This President Bush made reference to the "Axis of Evil" in a State of the Union address and is in the process of pursuing policy to take it apart. But whether it is the previous two references, or the U.S. involvement in the World Wars, Korea or Vietnam, the United States only tends to get involved in actual conflict when it threatens their own livelihood and that is the case today in the "war on terrorism". By and large the United States historically will postpone any actual military involvement as long as possible until it can no longer be avoided.

The U.S. resisted getting involved in World War II but could no longer ignore the German's unfettered submarine warfare and finally Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor when they reluctantly joined the war. The Cold War was totally the invention of the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin and the United States was at best hesitant to join the arms race. If you look at the eight years of the Clinton administration and the hundreds of American lives lost to terrorism worldwide, President Clinton did what other presidents had done and ignored the problem hoping it would go away. It took the spectacular attack of September 11th and the outrage that came with it for an American president to finally engage the terrorists. The war on terror will ultimately be won because America usually prevails when it sets itself upon a mission like this and there is already evidence that progress has been made. What has complicated the viewpoint around the world is that America suddenly seems eager to pursue conflicts outside of its own borders and this seems to lend itself toward the belief that they harbor aspirations of being a global empire.

I suggest the more simple explanation is the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and a small, dedicated, but militant group of terrorists who despise the U.S. and everything it stands for who are willing to martyr themselves in the name of religion. The other ingredient is the utter failure of the United Nations to settle even the most minor disputes around the world and their total inability to keep the peace anywhere. With the prospect of violent dictators like Kim of North Korea having sophisticated nuclear weapons programs as they admitted to in more detail this week, the United Nations becomes an even more ineffectual body and America's duty becomes more and more clear. While I make no argument that U.S. society is perfect, it is most certainly the closest thing we have to a microcosm of the world's societies.

The fact is that the United States population is made up of people from every country on the face of the earth, containing every race and religion. All of these make up the largest democracy on the face of the earth. Any forces the United States has on the ground in Iraq, South Korea or anywhere else is more multi-national, multi-ethnic and multi-religious than anything the United Nations could ever put into place if they had the motivation and courage to do such a thing. Hatred and jealousy for America in rampant in many places around the globe and this emotion stems from many things. American arrogance at times, the American lifestyle along with American success and affluence. This hatred is unavoidable and even if were isolated to small pockets of violent terrorists, the attacks they might bring to Americans around the globe and on American soil is the reason that the U.S. needs to decide whether we have the willpower to protect themselves and protect their ideals.

Clearly the U.N. is not going to be the source of this protection and America will need to decide soon whether or not it is prepared for this epic and global task it has already begun in Afghanistan and Iraq. I have listened to people in the media and elsewhere debate what the American government is really doing to combat terrorism as well as their resolve for the fight. I happened to be in New York City this past Saint Patrick's Day and can honestly say that I don't think I'd ever seen so many drunks in funny hats at once. Every Irish pub in Manhattan had people stacked to the rafters and pouring out onto the sidewalk. It was then that I considered the AMAZING fact that since the outrage of September 11th, there has not been even a single life lost to terrorism on U.S. soil. Considering the attacks that occur on a seemingly daily basis in Israel and around the world this struck me as an amazing thing.

Obviously I don't know exactly what it is that the U.S. government is doing exactly to combat terrorism, but as we approach the second anniversary of those horrible attacks I know they are doing something. Except for some small inconvenience when traveling by air, American citizens have not had their day-to-day lives interrupted very much due to the war on terrorism and continue to enjoy an extremely open society with all of their freedoms and liberties intact. This is obviously thanks to the men and women in uniform fighting on the front lines against terrorism and people within the government who will never be known for their heroism. I might remind my fellow U.S. citizens to keep these people in our hearts as we celebrate the American Labor Day holiday this weekend in the quiet, safety and freedom of our backyards with friends and family. So in summary, the United States continues to be poised to lead the world both economically during the coming century but also in search of freedom and liberty for people everywhere. This why people from around the globe will continue to risk their lives and die while swimming rivers, hiding in the bellies of ships and freight containers in search of the "American Dream" of financial success, religious freedom and representative democracy.

It isn't perfect by any stretch but it's better than anywhere else on earth. The economy is struggling currently and the recall election in California is fairly amusing but these are simply distractions from the well-oiled machine that is the United States. The economy will improve and grow eventually, because that's what it always does. And some guy who emigrated from Austria, smoked pot and took steroids openly, was quite a ladies man in his day while even having some sort of show business career AND is married into the Kennedy family might well wind up the next Republican Governor of California. What better theater can anyone hope for?

Best of all, even if he winds up Governor Arnold, California will still figure some way to get out of the mess they are in and the state and country will survive and thrive. Where else but in America? And the beat goes on.