English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

English - Essay Example American foreign policy has transformed to one that shifted from the traditional conservatism, to a modern liberalism that takes a keen interest in world affairs. It is also vital to note that, as a global superpower, it would be questionable for the USA to take a back seat at what is happening on the global scene... Introduction United States of America has come a long way from dealing with internal issues to one that is now a global superpower. This power is in terms of its advancement in technology, political ideology, military, culture, and society in general. Any sober mind would observe that all these were advancement the US earned after a bitter struggle by scientists, technologists, men and women in uniform and every sector of the United States. Hard work, dedication, vision and the desire to be the very best were some of the values that laid the foundation for such impressive achievements (Brooks et al., 2003). Accordingly, such advancements accelerated the shift from an iso lationist foreign policy to the current global force that the federation has earned. The years immediately after the 1865 were probably the foundation years in which unfolding events of the world put the country’s military capability to test (Arthur et al., 2007). Pockets of war that ensued after the 1865 civil war were Japan conflicts, Colombia hostilities, Uruguay conflicts, Formosa conflicts, Nicaragua and China conflicts (Arthur et al., 2007). The US responded with military action, in many cases, to protect her interests in the conflicting countries. Such conflicts were particular of smaller magnitude given that a lot of military involvement later followed that redefined the strength of the US in newer terms. Most importantly, it appears that the engagement of wars that followed later were what actually defined the position of the US in the global map in as a military power and as a leading global ideologist. These wars were the First World War, the Second World War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, Eastern Europe wars, the Gulf war and the Middle East wars. Entering all of these wars was a test for what the United States believed in in terms of right of nations to liberty, free determination of the masses, playing neutral in external aggressions and foreign policy of non-interference with European affair. Without knowing, such wars were silently laying the foundation for a change from Isolationist policy to a new one where the United States had to be worried about the forces that surrounded her in the larger volatile world. In essence, wars and political ideologies resulted in the transition from an isolationist foreign policy, in America, to one in which the nation is now a global superpower (Arthur et al., 2007). The United States embarked on this course staring with her involvement in the WWI after the Zimmerman telegram and German’s blatant disrespect to neutral shipping (Winkler, 2000). The Road to Global Superpower When the WWI broke out in 1914, the United States policy of non-interference with European affairs kept her at bay. The war began with factions such as the Triple Entente and Triple Alliance. Fought on Europe soil predominantly, the war saw Britain, France and Russia rise in arms against offensive from German, Austria-Hungary and Italy. The US