America’s role as World Police

1. Clear and present danger

1. Proliferation of Weapons of Mass destruction

1a. Thermonuclear devices

1b. Chemical warfare

1c. Biological agents

2. Regional Conflicts

2a. Bosnia

2b. Latin America

3. Global conflicts, Mutual Assured Destruction in the 21st Century

3a. China and North Korea

3b. The Middle East

3c. Organized crime

3d. Terrorism, the ultimate crime

2. US Foreign policy and objectives

1. Latin America
2. The Middle East
3. Asia
4. The former Soviet Block

1. Intelligence gathering
2. The roll of US embassies
3. The State Department
4. USAID and the peace corps volunteers
5. The United Nations

1. Technological Supremacy
2. Space, the final frontier

US foreign policy is not only the sum of the goals, decisions and actions of American relations with the rest of the world; American international policy has shifted in post cold-war era towards a policy of policing, peace keeping, conflict resolution and terrorist containment worldwide. And, the role of the US has become that of an initiator of peace, umpire and enforcer of the rule-of-law throughout the world. Thanks to American values and determination, The US helps maintain stability in a world marked by clear and present dangers. To be sure, the national security of the United States parallels the security of the planet as the world faces dangers form the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, escalation of regional and global conflicts, organized international crime, and terrorism.

There are many man-made dangers facing mankind today. In fact, the survival of all people and nations is threatened by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction like nuclear, chemical or biological agents. Also, armed conflicts can tumble the stability of whole regions like the Middle East, Bosnia or Latin America. These conflicts can become full-blown regional wars. Moreover, globalized conflicts could escalate and engulf the planet under a blanket of destruction. Also, the tranquility of the global economy and democratic institutions is threaten by growing corrupt organized crime, which administers international operations of money laundering, drug trafficking and operates an underground economy. To make things worst, terrorism presents a real international danger to the world. The world ecology, economy and social stability is at risk by many dangerous forces that confront the planet with the risk of total inhalation.

Many non-proliferation treaties have been signed and ratified by many nations like the Chemical Weapons Convention, Comprehensive Test Ban Nuclear Treaties, START I, II and III and the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. However, the serious threat of international proliferation of nuclear, missile, biological, chemical, and advanced conventional weapon technologies runs amok. Multimillion-dollar arms deals and weapons research is not slowing its pace at all. It’s fueled by an insatiable hunger for the latest in war technology by many nations. Even small third world countries prefer to acquire the latest in tank, missile and fighter armament than to feed their starving and sick people. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction on Earth advances like a freight train smashing into a china store.

Many countries are trying to join the nuclear club and exponentially increase the danger assorted by the proliferation of nuclear weapons. India and Pakistan are the latest members of a circle of nations that posses the power of atomic annihilation. Moreover, countries like Sudan, Argentina, South Africa and even terrorist nations like Libya, Iran and Iraq are desperately seeking to acquire this technology of death. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, thousands of nuclear warheads lay ill protected. Nuclear scientist in the former Soviet block are unpaid and badly trained. To make things worse, many nuclear devices and precursors, like uranium, are missing or unaccounted for in Eastern Europe. This situation opens the door for opportunistic states to acquire thermonuclear technology or bombs. Even worse, terrorist organizations or groups could end up in possession of a nuclear device. It is certain that at one point in time nations will use such weapons in battle, or terrorist could unleash a global nuclear nightmare. The proliferation of this technology-of-death represents a clear and present fatal danger to the world community.

The lessons learned by nazi Germany and Japan have lead to the development of greater toxic agents for which there are no known antidotes. Moreover, the chemical weapons of today are thousands of times deadlier than those used and tested in World War I and II. Chemical agents are considered to be the poor man’s nukes, and can inflict the greater causalities for the money. Nerve gas like (O-ethyl S-diisopropylaminomethyl methylphosphonothiolate) better known as VX, Hydrogen Cyanide use by Iraq in the war against Iran, or blistering mustard gas are just but a few of the weapons developed for mass annihilation and war. What is more alarming is that many nations continue to stockpile these horrible agents with total disregard for international treaties and agreements. These weapons represent a drastic risk to human life on Earth.

Natural infectious diseases like Ebola Zaire, AIDS or the flesh eating bacteria can be adjusted and or mixed with other agents to increase their deadly effectiveness. For instance, a tuberculosis-ebola mix would be an unstoppable plague of human extermination impossible to depict by any Hollywood movie. Bacterial agents like Anthrax, which causes shock and death in 24 hours after exposure, have been manufactured in great quantities. Viruses like smallpox have been tempered with to increase their mortality, and at present there is no effective chemotherapy to fight it. Or, bio-toxins like Ricin, which causes severe respiratory distress and death in 36 to 72 hours are widely available. The development of new deadly bacteria and virulent agents of genocide, stress a clear and present danger to global existence and security.

Regional armed exchanges are a danger to the planet as a whole because of the tremendous fire-power of today’s conventional weapons like missile technology, the spread of land mines and jet fighter developments. These regional conflicts can escalate to entangle whole continents with a web of catastrophic destruction and chaos. Areas like the Middle East, Bosnia or Latin America have experienced unstable violent events that have come very close to expanding and involving the whole region. These conflicts have taken the attention of the whole community of nations, as hot spots in the world represent a clear danger to the stability and security of human life.

Yugoslavia was the only country in the Soviet Union that did no go peacefully into oblivion when the regime collapsed. They executed their former leader and opened the gates to the flow of old hatreds. For half a century the communist dictator Josip Broz Tito kept ethnic hatreds from boiling into hostilities. However, the collapse of the Soviet Block weakened the forces that held Yugoslavia together. Serbia, which has taken the Yugoslavia name, insists on dominating the region. The end to Bosnia's shaky peace agreement could engulf not only the Balkans, but could prompt Iran to protect local Muslims or place NATO allies against each other in a regional war. To be sure, another military confrontation in Bosnia could easily escalate into a regional war. Ethnic divisions in Bosnia are so strong that the Holocaust was almost reenacted again in modern times. The world has truly seen the face of genocide in the Balkans and the whole region is, to this day, very unstable. The Balkans includes Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Albania. Muslims and Serbs could never leave in peace, and the security of Europe is in the balance. Indicted war criminals like Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic still walk free as cheering supporters rally for another confrontation with the international community. The Balkan conflict is a clear and present danger to the stability of Europe and the western world.

Latin American has undergone a series of dramatic violent events. Civil wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador have cost hundreds of thousands of lives and have badly hurt the economy in all of Central America. In some parts of Latin America, tourism has come to a complete halt due to civil unrest. Genocide has taken place in Argentina and Chile during military totalitarian dictatorships that have oppressed and subjugated the population. Dictatorial regimes have then spread through the whole continent affecting Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela. Military oppression led the way to communist armed-insurgence in grant scale. Revolutionary armies have caused irreparable damages to the infrastructure and economy of Peru, Colombia and Central America. Cuba is a prime example of the oppression and anarchy Latin America has experienced. During the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, Cuba almost caused a global atomic confrontation. Every day of the year people are slaughtered under machine gun fire by radical groups in Colombia, including senators, mayors, presidential candidates and hundreds of peasants. The opposing reactions of the Chilean people after the arrest in London of Generalisimo, a 7-star general in US terms, Augusto Pinochet, is a great reminder of how fast Latin American Countries can revert back into anarchy and fascism.

Regional issues and armed exchanges can easily escalate into global conflicts and war. The proliferation of conventional armament, nuclear and toxic weapons, distresses the peaceful coexistence between unfriendly nations and people. Hot spots in the world like the Balkans, The former Soviet Union, China, Korea or the Middle East can easily deteriorate into a worldwide catastrophe. Also, the global information infrastructure may is at risk. Terrorism and organized crime can tangle the world economy, political system and social well being. As the 21^st century comes into being, the fragility of the planet is becoming more and more obvious.

Conflicts in China and North Korea could tumble the balance of world peace and stability. China is currently embarked in the most massive and rapid military buildup in the world today, and it has obtained from US private companies, key intercontinental missile technology. China is wrestling for dominance of the region via economic, diplomatic and military pressures. Moreover, North Korea faces unprecedented famine that is adding tension with the Taiwan. Taiwan remains the flash point that could easily lead to war. Leaders in China and Taiwan view the west with cautious eyes, and may consider the US a risk to their power base.

Since bible times, the Middle East has been an area of dangerous conflicts and wars that forever keep latent the possibility that the most horrible event in human history may truly take place, "Armageddon". Saddam Hussain brought the world ever closer to the end of times with his "mother of all battles". His world’s 3^rd largest army fought a war of attrition against the rest of the world on the desert sand that created an ecological disaster. Conflicts in the Middle East can be extremely flammable because they have religious undertones. Since Israel became a state in 1948, it has fought wars against the Arab States in 1948, 1967, and 1973. More recently, with the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the region, Israelis and Arabs have made small progress in the bargaining table. However, because of the multiple incompatibilities between the various parties, there is very little chance of significant movement toward nuclear disarmament in the Middle East. The whole region is a powder-cage of instability, and represents a great danger to the rest of the world.

No threat to the world is greater than the cancer of wide spread corruption that organized crime has brought. The former Soviet Empire finally proved to the world that it was the giant with clay feet Winston Churchill said it was, as the Russian Mafia has brought it to its knees. Drug lords mass market their dirty product, which destroys entire families and neighborhoods through out the entire planet. Blackmail, extortion and deceit have become common place as international organizations of lawlessness have spread their evil wings. The Italian Mafia, South American Cartels, Chinese Triads, the Yakuza, and other criminal syndicates are powerful organizations that foster and profit from illicit activity. These syndicates are well organized and are primarily involved in controlling of black markets through racketeering, fraud, drug dealing, gambling, smuggling, car theft, robbery and armed assault. Organized crime corrupts governments and politicians. They are involved in trafficking in weapons and radioactive material, embezzling from industries and financial institutions up to infiltration and control of private and commercial banks. They traffic in human beings and exploit them through prostitution, alien smuggling and extortion. Organized crime is so well managed that it has become a clear and present danger to the stability, social and political structure of the world.

Organizations that support, aid and abide terrorism are spreading at an alarming rate. Some of them have tried to join the world community disguised as having undergone a change to peaceful ways like the PLO in Palestine, or the IRA in Ireland, but are not law-abiding organizations at all. They still maintain militant factions that exercise rampart bombings, killings and inflict social chaos that undermine any attempt of civility and undermine their credibility. On the other hand, organizations like the Basque ETA of Spain, the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) of Palestine, the Japanese Red Army (JRA), in Japan are totally committed to murderous criminal activities without disguise. Terrorist armies like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Colombia, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia or the Shining Path in Peru have killed thousands of innocent civilians, provoked civil war and absolute generalized disorder and unrest. Theses evil organizations of death present the world community with intranquility and clear and ever-present dangers.

Equal rights and democratic expansion is the essence of American foreign affairs. And, US foreign policy has been very successful because it is coherent and focused on basic American principles. Democratic values of justice, freedom and the pursuit of happiness have started a tsunami-wave of change worldwide. Moreover, democratic movements have blossomed in the most totalitarian of regimes thanks to US involvement. From Latin America to the Middle East, the former Soviet block to Asia and Africa, the US has maintained and influenced a policy of cooperation and understanding. The US Government also gives assistance and grants to small nations that allows tranquility and prosperity to flourish. US foreign policy initiatives have made this world a better place by establishing, defending and protecting; democratic freedom, human rights and world stability.

An example of US lead change that comes to mind is Latin America, which has always been marked by instability and violent coups. The US National Guard has helped built roads, bridges, hospitals and schools though out the area. Peace corps volunteers assist peasants with basic needs like planting, fishing and building. And the US government has established assistance grants for irrigation, electricity and farming projects through USAID. Moreover, America is no longer viewed as an interventionist nation, but as the one that always gives a helping hand, as is the case with the aftermath of hurricane Mitch in Central America. In Nicaragua and El Salvador, America helped to fight communist insurgence and influenced general elections that lead the way to democratic institutions. In Argentina and Chile, the US helped with the peaceful transition from military dictatorships to civilian life. In Colombia and Peru, the US assists the war on drugs and helps to improve living conditions for its humble people. US assistance and cooperation with Mexico has allowed that country to surpass the worst economic crisis in its history. America has truly been the best neighbor and friend Latin America could have wished for.

Peace in the Middle East is a top US foreign policy initiative and objective. An example of US commitment was President Clinton’s historical peace accord at the White House between Isaac Rabin, the slain Prime Minister of Israel, and Yasser Arafat, head of Palestine. This accord attest to the commitment of the US Government to a peaceful resolution of territorial disputes in the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem’s Golan Heights. When necessary, the US has backed rhetoric with action. In the Persian Gulf war, America showed the world that ruthlessness and oppression would not stand a chance. And, the policing roll of the US was dramatically bolded and underlined. The US continues to be involved not only in Iraq and Israel, but also in Iran, Libya, Afghanistan and the rest of the Arab nations.

Asia, led by Japan, has become a strong economic partner of the US, and American involvement in the region influenced dramatic changes. Asia has embraced the West unexpectedly, and sharing and understanding has now taken root. Up until the Nixon administration, China was called the yellow peril, because the idea of an imminent Chinese thermonuclear attack was ever preset. However, Nixon’s visit to China began to change the postures of the two nations, and cooperative negotiations began. The US has influenced Chinese behavior to the point of helping to bring that country out to the world and economic reform to take place. And, American policy continues to stress the need for human rights improvement there. China still has a long way to go, but as the democracy movement takes hold, the day of free and democratic China may soon be at hand. American policy of technology transfer to Asia has allowed manufacturing of goods to flourish and Asia’s competitive advantage to be felt around the world. Asia now enjoys an economic and technical status enviable to many Nations, thanks in great part to US assistance and involvement.

Nothing is more representative of American foreign involvement than the collapse of the Soviet Union. The US maintained a policy of containment that eventually led to mayor political and social change. However, The former Soviet Union is an area in chaos, and the US commitment to improve the situation in the region is making small improvements.

The US government has established The Regional Investment Initiative (RII) to encourage economic growth by supporting private investments in Russia. America addresses local priorities with the help of the US Embassy in Moscow, which is making considerable efforts to promote close business and commercial ties with Russia. Regional European security is a priority, so the US works in cooperation with the IMF and the World Bank, to assist in the process of economic reform of the fragile Russian economy.

Intelligence is the process of infiltrating groups, businesses or governments involved in suspicious activity and gathering data and analyzing the results with sophisticated equipment for policy decisions. The US intelligence community is comprised of thirteen agencies, which oversee areas such as arms control, covert actions, military developments, computer networks, economic intelligence, space reconnaissance and counterintelligence. Intelligence services like the NSA, Navy Intelligence and the CIA gather crucial information to better forecast world conflicts and political events. US Intelligence is undergoing a rigorous Intelligence Reform Program to unable it to better prepare for contingencies in the years to come.

American embassies carry out US foreign policy with respect to their host country and area of responsibility. US embassies exercise a great deal of influence on host countries under the protection of the US Marine Corps. An American embassy is a micro-cosmos of the US Government in Washington, DC. It has representations of the most important US agencies like the US Department of Commerce, The State Department, The CIA, The Department of Defense, The US Department of Agriculture and many more. US Embassies inform and educate the people of the host country about US policy, culture and democratic values via the United States Information Service (USIS), which also fights miss-information and anti-American propaganda. Crisis after crisis in the post-Cold War world has demonstrated the importance of preventive actions in dealing with conflict and complex emergencies. The number one task facing US embassies abroad is to make sure that the forces of integration prevail over those of disintegration, also to maintain cooperative understanding with all nations.

The US Department of State is the right arm of American foreign policy. The State Department is the operations center for all US international affairs like conflict resolution, arms control, financial crisis and global climate change. Also, The Department of State is in charge of the diplomatic security of America, the preservation of human rights and democracy, and American international affairs. It works in conjunction with The United Nations and international organizations for the preservation of world peace and security. The Department of State assists The Environmental Protection Agency in the preservation of the environment. Thanks to the State Department, US foreign policy has been able to influence positive social, political and economic change throughout the world.

The United States provides economic development and humanitarian assistance through The Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID works in partnership with private voluntary organizations to benefit the less fortunate. The Mission of USAID is to contribute to national interests by supporting the people of developing countries in their efforts to achieve enduring economic and social progress, and USAID helps to resolve problems of smaller countries and the world. The United States helps protect the world’s environment for sustainability, it encourages economic growth and agricultural development and it helps strengthen governance and democratic principles with the help of USAID. The most active and giving voluntary organization to work in partnership with USAID is the US Peace Corps. Peace corps volunteers are composed of young Americans that share the giving spirit of the US with the world. Volunteers help small humble communities in the farthest reaches of the world with education, farming, fishing, building or whatever is needed. American spirit of voluntarism asks nothing in return, and the world has become a better place not only for what has been given, but also for what has been shared.

The United Nations is an important means to American foreign policy ends. It was funded in 1945 to preserve world peace and security. The United States, as the host country, has helped countries come together to protect the security and freedom of all people. J.F Kennedy in his address to The UN General Assembly in 1961 put it simply: "Together we shall save the planet, or together we shall perish in its flames". With the help of the US led UN, poorer countries receive humanitarian assistance and are protected from atrocities and genocide. The United Nations not only assists with peacekeeping or humanitarian assistance, it helps protect human rights; promotes the protection of the environment; helps the advancement of women and the rights of children; fights epidemics, famines and poverty around the world. The UN General Assembly is the nearest thing to a world parliament. And, Its Security Council maintains international peace and security and can authorize the use of military action. Thanks to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights all peoples have protection from abuse and hatred.

America defends human rights, democracy and free enterprise not only by diplomatic means, but also through law-enforcement with the help of the US military industrial complex. Military superiority is essential to preserve peace and security in a tumultuous world. Moreover, the threat of military action is very important for diplomacy to work and ruthless dictators to be put at bay. The US armed forces, when given the freedom to carry out their mission, have proven effective time and again. In Haiti, president Carter’s mediation was able to convince the country’s dictatorship to step down, without a single injury to US service man or woman, by conveying the power of US military action at the bargaining table. Panamanian dictator, Manuel Noriega, was arrested to be accountable for drug trafficking thanks to a US Military invasion. Many times Saddam Hussain has backed down from a rebellious posture because of the threat of overwhelming-fire-power by US warships patrolling the Persian Gulf. Thanks to US led NATO, Bosnia’s civil war was ended. American technology-of-war and Armed Forces help establish and enforce law-and-order which in turn maintains stability, freedom and progress around the world.

America's superior military capabilities has given the US the global mobility, speed and flexibility necessary for 21st century contingencies. The US effectively influences world tranquility and stability by exercising air and space superiority, global attack capabilities, rapid global mobility, precision of engagement, information superiority, and agile combat support. American Military's commitment to innovation and vigorous program of experimenting, testing, exercising and evaluating new operational concepts and systems has allowed the development of new weapon systems like the F15A Strike Eagle, YF22 Raptor and F-117A Stealth fighter combat aircraft. Also, protection of America's critical military systems and economic base from Cyber-attack is becoming a top priority of The Pentagon, challenges unique to the information age, as information warfare is a present danger to the security of the world. American companies are working as a team and with the government to meet security requirements in the cyber arena. The National Security Agency is applying its unique expertise to develop the technology to create a national cyber-attack detection and response capability.

Space is becoming the ultimate military objective to the national security of the United States as globalization intertwines conflicts. Military intelligence satellites, at low Earth orbit, help keep the Pentagon informed of threats to global security, and data gathering and mining are ever more crucial for any mission’s success. These satellites pinpoint with precision friend and foe throughout the theater of operations thanks to the state-of-the-art military Satellite Positioning System and strategic military satellites (MILNET). Smart weapons like the cruise missile use space technology and geo positioning to find their targets with deathly accuracy. New generation of weapon components like president Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or star-wars, have been deployed in space; This technologies unable the military to better prepare for the threat of intercontinental nuclear attack. US satellites in space provide not only recognizance but are the communications backbone of any military action, and space is becoming an essential strategic area of engagement.

Thanks to America’s role as leader of the global community of nations that adhere to democratic principles, the world is becoming a better place to leave in. America has become the world's police, and has carry out those duties without taking advantage of its power. No country in the history of the word has conquered so much land and kept it not for itself. No country has given so much, and taken so little. America has taken the humble, the sick and the weak people of the world under its wings and has become a great nation in the process. Open immigration and freedom to carry out economic, social and political endeavors have shown amply the virtues that all countries are trying to emulate. The principles that made America a great county are making the planet a great world to leave in. America is the surly the protector of the weak and the overseer of world peace.

American Foreign Policy Council: To bring information to those who make or influence the foreign policy of the United States and to assist leaders in the former USSR and other parts of the world in building democracies and market economies.

The mission of the U.S. Arms Control & Disarmament Agency is to strengthen the national security of the United States by formulating, advocating, negotiating, implementing, and verifying effective arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament policies, strategies and agreements.

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Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy.

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