Should the United States Use its Wealth to Influence in Foreign Affairs - Research Paper Example

Pierre Lucas Mr. Neal English IV April 26, The United s is the most powerful and wealthiest country in the world. We should be thankful for what we have and help out the less fortunate countries. What happens in other countries has an effect on the United States in some ways; therefore, we should be of an influence to them. We are a world together, and should not take this for granted. The United States should use its wealth and power to intervene to help protect our economy, prevent aggression and help gain world peace. By intervening in foreign affairs, the United States is in a position to help both undeveloped and developing nations to boost their economy. The U.S. has a large pull of both human resources and physical resources that have not yet been utilized. This can be used to help poor nations to develop and also improve their standards of living. There are so many countries in the world, especially in the sub-Saharan African, where citizens are still living below the poverty line. The mortality rate in such countries is very high and is influenced by factors that can be controlled, for instance poor nutrition, poor medical attention, and ignorance. By intervening in such nations, the United States can help to protect the death of a young one who is not yet born or save the life of a mother who might be in need of medical attention. There are many ways in which the United States can intervene in foreign affairs which include but not limited to giving of Aids and grants, technical support, and interning in countries experiencing a decline in the balance of payments. The United States has already shown its support in helping countries which are faced by major disaster such as the current earthquake that occurred in Japan, the tsunami that occurred some years ago, among other catastrophes. By intervening in such events, it does not mean the United States is trying to take control of such nations but it is simply trying to make the world a good place for one to live and enjoy life. This paper looks at the ways in which the United States has used its power and wealth to help nations faced with different challenges. It looks at how the United States is helping to curb terrorism, explains how the support offered by the United States citizens helped the victims of the tsunami, and demonstrates how the United States helped to stabilize the economy of Korea after it collapsed during the world war. This paper also looks at a situation whereby Britain suffered a crisis after the United States failed to offer its support. It concludes by looking at how the United States regulates its economy in order to make sure that its citizens are not exploited as it tries to help other nations. The United States supports the fight against terrorism Terrorism is a military warfare that is still prevalent today in many parts of the world. Terrorist mainly targets buildings in busy cities, towns and urban centers. The targets (buildings) are highly crowded, where most people carry out their daily operations. On the other hand, highly populated areas are points of attack whether there are existing buildings or not. For example the United States September 11, 2001 bomb ballast in New York City (World trade Center), was an ideal target for causing panic. Terrorists are pleased when they cause mass panic since this is their ultimate goal; the U.S is more vulnerable to this attack and has a reason to panic (Parker, 2005). Security should not necessarily come at the price of liberty but considering the current trend in the world and the regular attacks by the terrorist then nations are left with no option. The government has the responsibility of protecting its citizens from the threat of terrorism and this can only be through provision of tight security measures and restrictions. The United Nations’ (UN) Security Council imposed some restriction to democracies as a result of the terrorist acts. The restrictions included; denial of financial assistance to terrorist, refusal to support persons who have been involved in terrorist acts, criminalizing terrorist acts, encouraging states to be cooperative and offering assistance on information regarding terrorists. Many nations all over the world have been holding meetings and making attempts to combat terrorism. However, they have not been successful because their motive was not international but was for personal interests. Instead of fighting the disease they fought with the deceased which was not a lucid approach for combating terrorism. Most of the attempts to combat terrorism were focused in Islam which was considered as the greatest threat. Its values and customs were challenged and the Islam countries were believed to have formed an alliance of evil. However, this did not work because Islam was not the major cause of the acts but terrorists used to affiliate themselves with the Islam countries United States has entered into collaborations with other regional, international agencies and countries to fight the menace. For instance it has joined hands with the Australia government and other countries to dialogue with Muslim countries to stop the terrorist attacks. It has also developed a working relationship with Indonesia, the world largest Muslim country, to fight against terrorism. U.S involved other countries after recognizing that the fight could only be won through collaboration and use non violent interventions (Selden 110). The Tsunami disaster The Tsunami disaster that occurred towards the end of 2004 resulted in a huge burden on the community both in physical terms and psychological trauma. A big number of the population lost their lives and property worth millions of dollars was destroyed. In addition, members of the families that were deceased were left with psychological trauma that affected them after the event. The community and government were left with a major challenge of how to cope with the physical and psychological stress that was quite evident. Many individuals were not only in need of material assistance, but also psychosocial care to help them cope with the psychological trauma they went through (Tull 9). Most of people who were displaced from tsunami crisis lived in relief camps. Following the disaster, many people were concerned with what had happened and were ready to offer their help in order to help the victims recover from the psychological trauma they went through. A large number of volunteers from the United States and other parts of the world visited these camps to sympathize with the victims. They carried their toolboxes of psychosocial and trauma recovery activities which added confusion and amusement to the people who benefited from their activities as well as the authorities that were concerned with the recovery process (World Health Organization 5). The United States and Korea The Second World War saw the collapse of the state of the Korea that led to the division of the country in Northern and southern Korea. This decision was reached in 1945 right at the end of the war and the start of the cold war. At this time the international community had to intervene to rescue the country. The Northern Korea had threatened attack to the southern part and since it had more war equipment, it was clear that they could fight the southern part. The division and the deployment of the foreign troop led to the control of the southern part by the United States and the northern part by the Soviet Union (Steinberg 119). The United State military was deployed in the southern part in an effort to ensure that there was peace in the country. These troops were mandated to keep peace especially from the attack of the northern part. Immediately after the Korean War, South Korea’s economy was at a devastating state. The country depended on imported goods to cater for its needs. Many of the world countries were still shy to trade with the country. With the United States troop guaranteeing that peace were available, international bodies like the international monetary fund gained confidence with the country and started to extend aid and grants to help it come out of that situation. The United States at the time was the largest aid provider to the country. From 1953 to 1974, the grant had reached US$4 billion. Alongside the financial aid, the United States started building projects that were fully financed by the state (Nahm 26). The lending rate to Korea was reduced and the country was able to make massive expansion at the time. In this period, the goods that the country could produce were mostly low manufactured goods and there was the need for policies to implement that encouraged industrials developments. To facilitate the development of export trade, the United States opened its markets to the Koreans. During this time, it became the largest trader with the country. This strengthened the economy and there was the attraction of other countries; these included Japan and China. Alongside them gaining interest in the country as trading partners, the countries also advanced grants to the country to facilitate its development. The country experienced increased foreign direct investments and in 1980, the country experienced the first balance of trade surplus. This was as a result of increased demand for Korea manufactured goods in the world markets and the reduction in the oil prices (Nahm 72). The tourism industry was also growing fast and added to the foreign exchange docket. The Suez crisis There are instances when the United States has failed to offer its support and this has often resulted in dangerous situations. The Suez crisis is a notable event that occurred in Britain in 1956. It resulted in political divide in Britain and international conflicts. The crisis came about when Britain and United States failed to fulfill their promise of aiding Egypt in the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The Egyptian president opted to nationalize the canal so as to raise funds to construct the dam as opposed to when the canal offered free passage to all who used it. This brought about conflict between Britain and Egypt as they all wanted control over the Suez Canal. Britain and France joined forces against Egypt and at first they managed to defeat it but later on Egypt regained control over the canal in 1957 (Boyce 31). The crisis made Britain and France to feel defeated and at the end the gave up their African colonial empire The effects of the Suez crisis were very harsh and negative to the British Empire the major one being decolonization. It led to the fall of the British cabinet, severe oil shortages and also the banking system almost collapsed. These are very critical aspect of the economy and it makes the nation very weak as they touch on the vital areas of the economy like finance and governance. There was general weakening of Britain and France and also emergence of decolonization. The Suez crisis involved all elements of politics and led to the fall of the European colonialism, the rise of the Arab nationalism, the Israel- Palestine conflicts and the need to have the American power involved in search for a solution to the crisis. The Suez crisis has also brought about many misconceptions regarding political power and authority and also fears, ambitions and suspicions regarding politics (Hyam 475). Regulation of the U.S economy As far as it is a good move by the United States to intervene in foreign matters, it also has a duty of regulating its economy since it cannot be left to regulate itself. There is the need for government intervention in various strategic sectors of the economy though it should keep its control as minimal as possible. Regulations that are targeted at protecting the consumer have a positive effect on their lives; they are protected from dubious operations by banks and insurance companies. Credit card and debit cards have been used by some traders to exploit the general society and thus deteriorate their economic situation. If their operation is regulated then social-economies will increase. With protective regulation, the general public will have confidence with financial institutions operating in their countries a move that will raise mobilized funds. When resources are mobilized, loans are more affordable. Lower rates of interests facilitate international trade and the benefits brought by globalization will be enjoyed. Increased trade among countries benefits consumers and the economy at large. Consumers will have a wide range of goods and services to choose from and thus an increase in consumer satisfaction Regulation measures put by United States financial institution was triggered by the great depression and world financial crisis of 2008; if the regulations are well administered, chances of such incidences will be reduced. The effects of financial crisis, though started in United States, were able to paralyze the entire world since United States of America is a major player as a consumer and producer in the world. The purchasing power of the Americans was reduced and thus demand for exports and home produced goods reduced. This led to reduced gross domestic earning of the world. Companies closed down and trade suffered greatly. If regulatory measures are put in place, then such incidences are not likely to occur in future. This will empower global social-economies. Capitalism in the United States Boltanski & Chiapello in their book “The New Spirit of Capitalism”, on page 47 says that wealth created by one person is wealth to the general society. They are of the opinion that if theft is not used, then an individual should be left to accumulate wealth. This is the trend that the world has taken. The world is changing radically in production of goods and services. Resources are limited and deserve to be utilized to their maximum to ensure that the world is able to feed its population. The populace on the other hand is increasing drastically. The increase in population calls for more innovation to maximize utility of natural and artificial resources available. One of the ways that governments have done to ensure maximum utility of resources is to encourage capitalism in their economies (Boltanski & Chiapello 485-501). Capitalism is an economic policy / tool used to refer to a move by the government aimed at minimal participation in production but allowing private people to compete freely in production. In a fully capitalism economy, the government role is to facilitate trade and production through actions like provision of social needs like road and good working environment. Private sector is left to compete, however some sectors are better controlled by the government, for example, the energy sector. The system has been employed in major developed countries like United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Since the Second World War, United States has assumed the position of the largest world economy; this has been attributed to its economic system. It has embraced capitalism in its economy and blended it with free trade. This has been thought as the reason for its fast economic development. It has embraced international trade where it is a net exporter. In the protection of consumers of financial services, the government is mandated to ensure that financial institutions operating in their economy have a strong financial base; this is why it requires that a certain financial reserve be kept with central bank to cater for unfortunates. The same funds are used to regulate the operation of banks. Other than the central government, the recent created Financial Regulatory Agency to operate in United States is mandated with the task of overseeing consumer lending and give regulations in complex lending (Forbes 24). As far as this is a good measure to ensure that consumers get quality services from financial institutions, it will affect the policy of free trade. Free trade gives players equal opportunities and leads to innovations. The requirement of a capital reserve is seen as a close monitoring and control of financial institutions operation United States government has a powerful consumer financial bureau that cracks down abusive credit card and mortgage operators. This is in the efforts to ensure that the consumers (i.e. companies, households, and small-scale businesses) are protected against irregularities by financial institutions. When there are no irregularities investors will be willing to invest in the economy. The Obama government regulates the amount of money that banks should use in speculative businesses to a maximum of 3% of its borrowed capital. This move was enacted to reduce huge financial losses, which have occurred in the past from such speculations. The move protects savers money. Banks can easily bet in financial markets with the same money that they have collected from the public; this is what the government aims to limit. The resultant of this is to give the public confidence with the banking institution and they can be assured that their money is safe. With strong financial institution, the investing environment in a country is improved, with more investment both foreign and local increased, jobs created, household financially empowered, more resource mobilization and cycle repeats. Works Cited Boltanski, Luc and Chiapello, Ève. The New Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Verso, 2005. Boyce D. Geroge. Decolonization and the British Empire, 1775-1997. Revised, Britain: Macmillan Press Ltd. Forbes, Steve. "Capitalism: A True Love Story." Forbes 184.7 (2009): 24. Hyam, Ronald. ‘Understanding the British Empire.’ Illustrated, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Nahm C. Andrew. Korea: A history of the Korean people (2nd ed.). Seoul: Hollym, 1996. Parker, Geoffrey. The Cambridge History of Warfare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Selden, Mark. War and State Terrorism: The United States, Japan and the Asia-Pacific in the Long Twentieth Century. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. Steinberg, David. Korean attitudes toward the United States: changing dynamics. London: M.E. Sharpe, 2005. Tull, Matthew. “The psychological impact of the 2004 Tsunami,” about.com 2009. Web. 28/4/2011 World Health Organization. “Psychosocial Care of Tsunami-affected Populations,” WHO, 2005. Web 28/4/2010 Read More