Warmonger II.

This is coolbert:

 America the Warmonger II?

Again, among some foreign and domestic observers, the U.S. appears to be an imperialistic, expansionist, warlike, aggressive world power. Much more so than other nations around the world. America is equated to the strongest and most dominant world power since Imperial Rome, two thousand years ago. A nation more to be feared than respected!

Is this assertion true??

It is undeniably true that the U.S., in it's history if over two hundred years now, has fought more than it's share of wars. Five major wars in the twentieth century alone!! And counting expeditionary forces, punitive interventions, etc., the U.S. has engaged in something like two hundred instances of military action, at home and abroad!! [this is in all likelihood counting military actions against the various American Indian nations].

Taking ONLY the above into consideration, it would appear that America is a VERY militaristic nation, akin to Imperial Rome. Currently the ONLY nation in the world that can PROJECT military power to all parts of the world, seemingly at whim.

Other considerations however, HAVE to be taken into account when evaluating whether the U.S. is indeed or not a militaristic world power in the manner of ancient Rome.

Four times in it's history, the U.S. HAS been the dominant military power in the world. And four times the U.S. HAS unilaterally disarmed.

And done so without external prompting.

At the end of the American Civil War [1865], the Union forces were the most powerful military force on the planet.

Put together that proper combination of ground and naval forces unequalled among the world's powers.

Also lavishly equipped by the newly acquired industrial might of the northern states.

 In the aftermath of the war, however, America disarmed. [the entire U.S. Army at the time of the American Indian fighting wars numbered about 10,000 men].

[personal note: The U.S. military has always tended to have a balanced fighting force. That correct combination of ground, naval, and now air forces that make it an efficient and effective fighting force. Some nations may have had at one time a larger naval force [Britain], and other nations may have had a larger ground force [Russia], but the U.S. put together the most powerful military in totality, taking into account ground, naval and most recently air forces].

At the end of World War One [WW1, 1918], the U.S. once again found itself having the most powerful military in the world.

A military once again possessing the proper combination of ground and naval force.

Again, lavishly equipped.

A military backed up by the now MOST powerful industrial base on the planet.

A military not decimated by four years of previous attrition war as practiced by the European powers.

In the aftermath of the war, however, the American military disarmed. [at the time of the start of WW2, the American Army [100,000 men] was sixteenth in size among the world's powers, trailing even Romania].

At the end of World War Two [WW2, 1945], the U.S. again found itself having the most dominant and powerful military of all nations on the planet. Again, as before, that proper combination of ground, naval, and now air force, all lavishly equipped, and SOLELY possessing atomic weaponry. Not only the most militarily powerful, but also possessing the most powerful, by far, economic, financial, cultural, and influential society on the planet. In the aftermath of the war, however, America disarmed. [at the beginning of the Korean War, the U.S. military had only one infantry division and one air wing deemed capable of being rated combat ready!!].

At the end of the "Cold War" [1990], the United States emerged again, after a forty-five struggle with the Soviet Union, as the sole dominant military power on the planet.

That correct combination of as usual, lavishly equipped ground, naval, air force, and atomic weaponry made the U.S. military way and ahead of all other world powers or combinations of world powers.

Societal the U.S. is also dominant in a manner that no other power has been since Rome, two thousand years ago.

And dominant world-wide!! In the aftermath of the Cold War, however, America disarmed. Ground forces have been cut in half. As have naval forces. And a plan has been devised and has being implemented for some time now to cut atomic weaponry by over 95 %!! From a stockpiled arsenal of something like over 30,000 nuclear warheads [mid-1960's, tactical and strategic], the goal is to decrease the atomic arsenal until about 1,000 warheads will be on hand. This should be considered to be extraordinary!!

I am sure skeptics will say that disarmament proves nothing. That the U.S., due to a variety of constraints, MUST disarm, whether the U.S. ruling elite wants to do so or not. That unilateral disarmament on four occasions IS NOT a sign of altruism and good will and peaceful intentions. And the skeptics do have reasonable arguments. It may be that technological advancements and budgetary restraints render a large, bloated military, armed with a profusion of nuclear weaponry just not desirable or necessary.

Nonetheless, these clear and consistent patterns of disarmament on four occasions over a long historical period is surely an indication of peaceful intentions. World powers with aggressive, warlike, expansionist designs do NOT behave in this fashion! Obviously the U.S. IS the world's dominant military power, and will be for some time to come [primarily by default]. But, aggressive, warlike, expansionist?? NO!!

coolbert.