The modern United States of America is the most powerful nation that has ever existed, sporting the largest economy in the world, hundreds of military bases worldwide, and over 35% of worldwide military spending. The U.S. has also constructed a global network of alliances that has remained the world’s status quo, ushering in an era of unprecedented peace and order. To see how exactly the U.S. got to this point, one must go all the way to the country’s founding – formed through an act of treason.
Rebellion, Expansion, and Immigration
The British Empire was the world’s most powerful country in the 18th century. It had just bested France and Spain in the Seven Years War and now held vast control over much of North America. There was just one problem: it had heavy debts from the war. So, naturally, the British levied high taxes on their colonies in North America. This would prove to be a mistake, as the angry colonists, who had no representation in Britain’s parliament, resisted any attempts at taxation. This all came to a head in the American Revolution, where, against all odds and with aid from France and other countries, the ragtag Americans emerged victorious against the world’s mightiest power.
After its independence, America expanded throughout the early 19th century, doubling the size of the country with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and acquiring Texas, Florida, and much of what is now the Western United States through a series of purchases and wars. A lot of this came at the expense of Native Americans and declining European empires. Americans had an ideology of Manifest Destiny, that they were destined to settle the entirety of North America. Post-Civil War America featured thousands of miles worth of arable land, vast resources of all kinds, plenty of natural harbors, and two oceans, the Atlantic on one side and the Pacific on another, acting as defense barriers. Even at this point, America already had an enviable geography. Yet the debate now turned to the question of American expansion beyond what it had now.
The extent of U.S. territory, post-1865
Secretary of State William Seward carried out the ambition of American expansion, securing Alaska from Russia in 1867 but failing to acquire the Danish territories of Greenland, Iceland, and the West Indies. This was because Congress, which had jurisdiction over territorial expansion, had a lot of members who were skeptical of the United States getting more and more involved on the international stage. They were motivated by the first President Washington’s desire not to involve America in foreign affairs and also by racism – many White Americans did not want to see the U.S. absorbing more “inferior races’ This did not deter the advocates of expansionism though. With the Industrial Revolution developing America into an economic powerhouse and concentrating more and more power in the federal government, this made it easier for expansionist presidents such as William McKinley to unilaterally advance their goals.
Despite domestic opposition, President McKinley conducted the Spanish-American War in 1898, easily defeating the declining Spanish Empire and in the process acquiring Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The U.S. expanded in the Pacific, annexing the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1898 and taking control of Wake Island in 1899 and American Samoa in 1900. In 1903, the U.S. took a slice of Panama meant for the Panama Canal and occupied the Dominican Republic in 1916. It also secured the American Virgin Islands in 1917. Such rapid expansion in far-flung territories allowed the United States to become a truly global power, with the U.S. using its newfound global influence to advance its commercial and military interests by installing pro-American regimes in its Latin American neighbors and playing a diplomatic role regarding Western presence in China.
The World Wars and the United Nations
World War I demonstrated just how powerful the U.S. had become. America had intervened in the late stages of the war, helping deliver victory to the Allied Powers and securing it at a presence at the Paris Peace Conference. President Wilson advocated the most ambitious foreign policy initiative yet – forming an international organization called the League of Nations which would promote global peace and cooperation. While the League was formed, isolationists in Congress blocked the U.S. from joining, dooming the League from the start. American foreign policy again centered on isolation following the end of the First World War, largely due to the Great Depression.
America’s isolationist foreign policy that had been established during the 1920s and 1930s would not last long. The Second World War broke out with Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939, and while the U.S. was initially officially neutral, President Franklin Roosevelt established the country as an “arsenal of democracy’, providing military equipment to the Allies. The U.S. would not sit idle for long, as the ambitious Japanese empire in the East sought to expand on its own, posing a threat to American possessions in the Pacific. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 brought America into the war. As World War II destroyed the world, the U.S. was brought out of the lingering effects of the Great Depression and was ushered into an economic boom as a result of its massive military and industrial buildup. Amidst the victory of the Allies in 1945, the United States of America was the only major power to emerge with its homeland unscathed from the horrors of war and was also the only major power equipped with atomic weapons. Old World empires such as Britain and France were in ruins post-war and were losing control of their colonies, which dealt considerable damage to their power and influence and left the U.S. as the sole major power in the Western world. Under the leadership of Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, the U.S. sought to never have a war on the same scale as World War Two had been on.
Representatives of 50 countries at the United Nations Conference on International Organization, in San Francisco in 1945. Source: AP
The United Nations was created to replace the failed League of Nations, with its charter explicitly prohibiting wars of conquest like the ones that had been waged by the Nazis and the Japanese. It would serve as a forum where the international community could weigh in on disputes and would ideally serve as a place where countries could settle their differences through compromise rather than through war. The U.S. secured itself a permanent on the U.N.’s Security Council, ensuring it remained a leader within that institution for years to come. However, America was not done creating its new global system. The Bretton Woods agreement which was brokered in 1944 in New Hampshire led to the creation of a global financial system aimed at preventing another Great Depression and World War. This would eventually result in the establishment of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. With the creation of these institutions, the U.S. instituted its own international system on the world – a new world order of sorts.
But there still remained one more threat to America’s quest for global supremacy.
The Cold War and Beyond
The democratic West and the communist East had been allies in the Second World War, and with its conclusion, the U.S. now saw the Soviet Union’s expansion in Eastern Europe and elsewhere as a threat to its international vision. Aiming to deter Soviet aggression toward Western Europe, the U.S. and its Western allies created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military organization with the aim of stopping Russia from invading other European countries. The Americans retained the massive military powerhouse it had built throughout World War Two, now seeing it as vital to retain its global influence. The U.S. also adopted a strategy of “containment”, aimed at preventing the spread of communism throughout the globe. This meant the U.S. now had to exert its influence everywhere all the time.
As a result, the U.S. was pulled into alliances with countries it would never have been aligned with – countries such as Saudi Arabia, Japan, and South Korea – as it saw them as bulwarks against communism in their respective regions. The U.S., motivated by Soviet competition, created hundreds of nuclear weapons and even landed a man on the moon, further proving its military and technological might. The recognition that either side launching a nuclear weapon would result in mutually assured destruction discouraged the West and the Soviets from destroying each other, with each side instead reverting to proxy wars such as those in Korea and Vietnam to advance their influences. The U.S. also both covertly and overtly intervened in dozens of countries with the aim of stopping communist influence. This ranged from propping up sympathetic dictators such as those in Iran and Chile to supplying anti-communist rebels with aid and money such as those in Afghanistan and Nicaragua. The Cold War saw the U.S. intervene in hundreds of disputes around the world, forming friendships, rivalries, and relationships with just about every country. American influence could now be felt in every corner of the Earth.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the U.S. could have easily dismantled the vast military and diplomatic system it had formed. Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton decided not to do that, instead deciding that the United States of America, now the world’s sole superpower, must remain an active manager of global affairs. NATO remained intact even as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and Washington continued its support for nations like Israel and Japan to prevent war in those regions. The end of the Cold War and the continued existence of the global system America had created ushered in an era of peace and prosperity. Indeed, we are living in the most peaceful of times. Major powers, deterred by nuclear weapons, are no longer actively going to war against each other. Diplomacy is now the norm for resolving global disputes, and the system put in place by the Americans continues to ensure relative peace for the international community. Pax Americana remained in place, for better or for worse.
America Today
The America of today remains the world’s sole superpower, with significant economic, military, and cultural influence. The U.S. dollar is still the world’s default reserve currency, and the global institutions created by the U.S. are still in place. The U.S. Army remains one of the largest armies in the world, with the U.S. Navy and Air Force being the largest in their respective fields. American songs, literature, and media are consumed all over the world, exuding a great amount of soft power and cultural influence. America remains on top, for better or for worse.
The fate of whether or not the American-led global system will continue to last may be decided in the 2024 election. As President, Kamala Harris would likely continue the traditional foreign policy that President Biden had carried out. On the other hand, Donald Trump, during his initial four years in the White House, pulled the U.S. out of several international treaties and agreements and attacked traditional alliances with partners in Europe and Asia. Indeed, the Republican Party under Trump has become more isolationist – its members are now more hesitant to intervene internationally, as demonstrated by Congress’s hesitancy to advance Ukraine aid. A lot of Americans share that sentiment too; they feel that domestic problems should be prioritized over foreign relations.
There is a reason why the world cares so much about an election not happening in their country. The United States has become so entangled in world politics that it is hard not to mention the U.S. at all. November’s election will decide the future of U.S. foreign policy, and how the world will proceed from there. Will the United States choose between continuing to advance the international system of alliances it has built or becoming disinterested in international affairs? How America votes in November will decide the direction and the future of the international order.
Emil Ordonez, a political science major at Fordham University, is the founder and editor-in-chief of Polinsights. He has been deeply passionate about politics and history since learning every U.S. President at the age of five. He was compelled to start this blog after meeting many people who were misinformed or had become apathetic about how society worked. He hopes to provide factual knowledge and insights that will encourage people, especially the young, to get more engaged in their respective communities. In his free time, he edits for Wikipedia and makes maps for elections. He aspires to work in Congress or even the White House in the future.
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