Anarchy in the USA
While discussing realist motives and intentions, it seems that the United States is headed down a curious path worth looking at. Clearly a powerful nation, the United States should be in a unique position to latch onto globalization in order to secure a stable future. Calm, cool, collected domination is a much better look than ramping up rhetoric and perceived might, because your neighbor's interest to attack is seemingly when they are most threatened by show of force.
The United States has long taken advantage of its allies, while using economic bargaining to secure peaceful existence. The European Union is a clear ally in the spread of Democracy and Capitalism, two tenants central to the existence of the United States. It is this point that makes recent events troubling with regards to a peaceful future.
In an effort to bolster nationalism, our country has turned down a populist road that hoists American exceptionalism over international ideals. Trade agreements are thwarted by attempts to revitalize dying sectors of the economy, which has prompted aggression on many sides. While getting into a fight with Mexico or Canada might seem more inline with economic interests, waging war against the EU is akin to firing missiles at our last defense before the communist bloc. In a world filled with multiple proxy wars, fueled by cold war intentions, we cannot afford to support anarchy within the international realm.
The United States is hardening its stance towards the world. We have become impermeable and isolated, drawing upon anarchic visions for the international realm. Our self-preservation in a globalized world only makes our every move more scrutinized, every offense an imminent threat and every word a potential war. As our European allies crumble under uncertainty from recent events in Spain and Italy (not to mention Brexit), our response is to send tariffs to worsen the plight. In a multi-polar world, your strength is every bit measured by your own strength, as much as it is who you stand with. We have begun to cut ourselves off from the world, and one angry kid with all the guns is a very large target.
One has to wonder if the world is slowly looking at the United States now as no different from a North Korea or a Russia scenario. We are unpredictable, harsh, irrational, and completely absorbed with furthering national pride at the expense of the rest of the world. It is folly to think that globalization has completely torn apart borders, but it is equally naive to believe that acting with no friends and no honor is the best path to secure a future. There are many powerful nations, and all it takes is one economic bloc to turn the United States into the next Cuba. Sanctions can be crippling when you aren't the one dishing them out.
If a war of the worlds is coming, then we are preparing very nicely. Throwing caution to the wind and forsaking the international system for personal gain may help in the short term, but our actions will have drastic consequences as we trudge on. Anarchy in the United States is a mindset held by many in reference to the international community. We might succeed in making America great again, but if the cost is the world at large, then perhaps greatness should be forsaken for unity. As the tension builds, one never knows just how many cold wars we are from the next eruption on the international stage.
The United States has long taken advantage of its allies, while using economic bargaining to secure peaceful existence. The European Union is a clear ally in the spread of Democracy and Capitalism, two tenants central to the existence of the United States. It is this point that makes recent events troubling with regards to a peaceful future.
In an effort to bolster nationalism, our country has turned down a populist road that hoists American exceptionalism over international ideals. Trade agreements are thwarted by attempts to revitalize dying sectors of the economy, which has prompted aggression on many sides. While getting into a fight with Mexico or Canada might seem more inline with economic interests, waging war against the EU is akin to firing missiles at our last defense before the communist bloc. In a world filled with multiple proxy wars, fueled by cold war intentions, we cannot afford to support anarchy within the international realm.
The United States is hardening its stance towards the world. We have become impermeable and isolated, drawing upon anarchic visions for the international realm. Our self-preservation in a globalized world only makes our every move more scrutinized, every offense an imminent threat and every word a potential war. As our European allies crumble under uncertainty from recent events in Spain and Italy (not to mention Brexit), our response is to send tariffs to worsen the plight. In a multi-polar world, your strength is every bit measured by your own strength, as much as it is who you stand with. We have begun to cut ourselves off from the world, and one angry kid with all the guns is a very large target.
One has to wonder if the world is slowly looking at the United States now as no different from a North Korea or a Russia scenario. We are unpredictable, harsh, irrational, and completely absorbed with furthering national pride at the expense of the rest of the world. It is folly to think that globalization has completely torn apart borders, but it is equally naive to believe that acting with no friends and no honor is the best path to secure a future. There are many powerful nations, and all it takes is one economic bloc to turn the United States into the next Cuba. Sanctions can be crippling when you aren't the one dishing them out.
If a war of the worlds is coming, then we are preparing very nicely. Throwing caution to the wind and forsaking the international system for personal gain may help in the short term, but our actions will have drastic consequences as we trudge on. Anarchy in the United States is a mindset held by many in reference to the international community. We might succeed in making America great again, but if the cost is the world at large, then perhaps greatness should be forsaken for unity. As the tension builds, one never knows just how many cold wars we are from the next eruption on the international stage.
I share your frustration with this apparent quagmire of preservation of old ways of thinking. It seems so backwards that we are seeking to protect what can be considered old world markets while we put roadblocks up to alternative markets which are undeniably the future (solar energy, cryptic currency, etc.). In my post this week I pondered whether this can be considered just a polarity shift where the US is resisting recognition of a multipolar world or is it even deeper than this? Do you think we can maintain our current economic prestige in the world and simultaneously accept that the world is multipolar?
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