Doctrines in the US - Essay Example

By now, the American foreign policy makers should have already adopted a unified doctrine that should be applied by subsequent US presidents. The reasons given below show why a unified doctrine is the best way forward for America: History exists to teach and those who do not take the lessons of history to heart are always bound to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. In the 19th century, America did not bother with the occurrences outside of their borders (Carp 259). During the Spanish-American war and indeed during the Roosevelt Corollary, the stance was largely maintained except it had a twist.

Instead of America just minding its own business, it was going to act as a broker of regional power. Many historians considered the intention of America as a power broker as just an act of lip service. Action was finally taken by the then president Wilson who decided to commit American troops in the 1st World War and marked the first real intention that the country had the desire to take world affairs on its heels. However, even before there was a chance for the country to prove itself as a leader of world affairs, it instead retreated and chose to support a League of Nations.

The next spur to action was occasioned the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941, which signaled the entry of America into the world war. The dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 was also a major wake up call which marked the end of American participation in World War II. The 2nd world war was the only time that America chose to act on the world stage and since then has worked vehemently in a bid to containing and eventually defeating communism. This brief history of the American action shows that the country had largely acted as a sole entity not wanting to be involved in world affairs.

It was only after the attack on Pearl Harbor that the country realized that the isolationist stance was only going to hurt it in the long term. The advances in technology pose an even bigger threat to the security of the citizens of the United States as well as peace and stability on the international stage. The war on terrorism is going to be a long and protracted one aided by technology and religious sycophancy. The reluctance of the US to pursue the terrorist prior to the occurrences of 2001 was very costly for Americans.

Therefore, there is need for one doctrine in order to avoid such occurrences from happening again in the future. The way that America conducts itself on the world stage in the name of fighting terrorism should be scrutinized so that it aids in the attraction of allies rather than the formation of adversaries. Already, there is a perception that America acts unilaterally when fighting terrorism which creates an aura of anti-Americanism which can only be detrimental in the future efforts by the country to fight terrorism.

Long-term allies like Germany and France feel that America should channel its efforts on the war on terror through multilateral institutions like the United Nations. Currently, US presidents do no consultations with world leaders before taking any action. President Bush literally went into Afghanistan and Iraq amidst opposition from many quarters in the international scene. President Obama recently invaded a sovereign country, Pakistan, and conducted a raid without involving any other leadership.

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