An American Empire

A small war is more than just a petite battle or a smaller-scale war fought by a small number of professional U.S. soldiers; believe it or not, small wars have contributed to the solidity of America's notable military reputation. With disregard to other theories and beliefs, America has never been an isolationist power-- it has "been involved in other countries' internal affairs since at least 1805"; America’s small wars have played a large part in the development of what author, Max Boot calls “an American Empire”.

There are many people who fear “American hegemony”, most of these fears root from misgivings due to the cold war; unfortunately, these people are a threat to the future success in any conflict the United States may go up against. Most of the opposition consists of people who are anti-Bush, citizens who would deem their beliefs liberal, and the media who is involved in the never-ending attempt to get rid of the United States’ current administration. The United States is almost like a team, the results are positive when it works together, and there is no inner turmoil. If there is all of this upheaval among citizens, no one is going to be satisfied with the results.

The facts, reinforced by Max Boot’s novel, The Savage Wars of Peace, are that small wars are more important than we have ever known, that is if we even knew about them while they were going on; surprisingly, small wars are commonly left out of histories of the United States.

Many critics voice that the United States should mind its’ own business, but at the same time the whole world expects the United States to intervene when there are international issues, or provide the most aid when natural disasters in places other than the United States’ territory occur. Is this an equally split argument? Maybe, unless there is a blatant truth to one of the sides.

Historically, Americans have had a responsibility to free foreign nations from any negative positions they have been put in, especially if the result is greater freedom. The United States of America is a true hegemon -- the United States is the largest economy and has the most powerful military. In turn, the world expects the United States to battle terrorists, provide aid for natural disasters, and ultimately save the world.

Something that critics seem to ignore is that generally, most of the occasions in of which America has intervened, it has been for idealistic and humanitarian reasons, not for what critics normally assume, big business and corporate interests. Boot identified four distinct types of small wars: Punitive, "to punish attacks on American citizens or property”, Protective, "to safeguard foreign territory", Pacification, "to occupy foreign territory", and Profiteering “To grab trade or territorial concession". These small wars have been fought from the Barbary Wars in the early 1800’s to the Gulf War in the 1990s, to present-day America, with Iraq.

If a state or country is in need of rebuilding, inevitably, it will get there with or without the help of anyone else. However, one opinion argues that logically, the help of a mother or father nation couldn’t hurt, and the opposition is wholly against the United States intervening. Protestors cross-country in the United States are demanding that we pull our troops out of Iraq. Truthfully, if the United States pulled out prematurely, negative consequences would follow, and no one would be satisfied. Application of Boot’s theory of ‘limited war’ to the current situation in Iraq could be that of a positive one. It’s time to nurture a mutually friendly, sense of equality, but strong presence in each town. Now the chances of that actually happening currently, is another story!