Rise to Globalism

Before the World War II, the American policies could be referred to as that of isolationists as most of the Americans felt that the problems of other nations, especially the war in the nations, did not affect them. They avoided getting involved in the war unless they felt threatened.   During the First World War, the Americans had used up most of its resources in the war which significantly injured the economy of the United States country. This is the prime reason why they sought to keep away from any war. For example after world War I, they set up  reforms on the immigration act reforms which set the quotas  on how many immigrants from the different races would be allowed to the US. This action was taken to ensure that high-class jobs were made available to the Americans only.  The other sanctions included the neutrality act that restricted the merchants from interacting with the belligerent ships as the Germans continued to sink the American ships, in violation to the Sussex pledge.

However, the World War II changed the notion of the Americans concerning war as they became internationalist. The war convinced them that the problems in the world finally catch up with everyone, therefore; it is essential to help in the creation of solutions to problems.   After the World War II, the Americans turned to the generation of interventions, reflected through the passing of the Marshall plan, as in this plan the Americans agreed to lend money to Europe to use it to repair the economy.  In addition, there was the spread of communism after the world war two from the Soviets and the Chinese, and the US could not afford to overlook the events in other countries. The United States government supported the autocracies that generally align with regimes set by Marxist. For example, the Americans passed the Truman Doctrine that would be used to prevent Greece and Turkey from falling to communism as a policy of intervention. This was emphasized more when Eisenhower Doctrine extended its coverage of Truman’s doctrine to the Middle Eastern countries.  The Eisenhower policy was used to restrict Russian influence the supply of oil, open to the United States and the western countries. Under this policy, over 14000 American soldiers were sent to Lebanon   at the request from the pro western countries. The Berlin Air Lift that illustrated Americans support and interventions after World War II exemplified this.

The possession of the nuclear weapon gave the Americans a leverage compared to the other foreign nations.  This allowed the US to use the Brinkmanship strategy of massive retaliation in the brink of war. The massive retaliation reflected American readiness   to use the nuclear weapons on the countries that refuse to back out of the war. The massive retaliation and the Brinkmanship relied on intimidating the Soviet Union and china, as it was considered as much cheaper than building up of the conventional armed forces. In addition, the foreign policies were also shaped by the domino theory. This theory claims that if any country within a region falls to the communism the other countries would have to follow quickly (Ambrose & Brinkley, 1997).

The era of American intervention in the foreign affairs ended in formulation of Good Neighbors policy that used 1930s. However, the US continued to have significant influence to politics in Latin America using the covert operations to bring forth political changes. For example, in 1954, American intelligence supported openly the overthrowing of the government of Jacobo Arbenz from Guatemala.  They claimed that Jacobo’s government supported the agrarian revolution of land reforms. His order on the expropriation of the unused American land from an American fruit based company triggered to coup. The participation of American government in revolts was demonstrated during the Cuban revolution, approved by the United States until Castro began filling key posts in his government with the communists. Furthermore, American worked to improve their relation with the Soviet Union. The Americans believed that the best way through to improve the relationship with the Soviet Union would to use the face-to-face meetings, meetings or conferences. They organized the first meetings of the head of states, organized in Geneva in the year 1955. Even though, there was no substantial result there was a clear indication of the reduction in tension amongst the countries. Eventually the tension between the Americans and Russia began to lighten up over time, and both agreed to reduce the chemical and nuclear weapon stockpiles.

The last conflict, supported by the united states government was the Gulf War in which president Bush  used strong military force in Kuwait to prevent the occupation of the Iraqis’ in the small country.  In conclusion, there has been a magnificent change in the way American government influences foreign countries policies.  The changes have occurred from before the first world war throughout the world war and finally after the world war II. This change in the influence of American politics in other countries in the effort to provide interventions to the war hit countries has significantly improved the foreign relationship with these countries. After the World War II, the Americans turned to the generation of interventions, reflected through the passing of the Marshall plan, as in this plan the Americans agreed to lend money to Europe to use it to repair the economy.