The U.S. is unarguably the most powerful country in post Napoleonic state system–contemporary world. A confluence of variables like; its gargantuan size, geographical location, Union Treaty, alliance system, liberal philosophy, military might and democratic institutions engineered their unprecedented rise to stardom in a comity of nations. In summary: the U.S. is from all yardstick, a resounding success story.
Not long after its emergence of the union on 7th July 1776, the country became a pacesetter and central player in global affairs. First, they led the crusade of abolition of transatlantic slave trade. Second, they played critical roles in the defeat of Germany and its axis in the First and Second World Wars. Many postulated that; minus their participation, Germany and her allies would have been the victorious block.
America’s global influence became undisputable after the Second World War. The war exhausted imperial West and socialists USSR–that automatically bestowed the U.S. leadership position in post second world war reconstruction and rehabilitation. And establishing of global institutions like the United Nations and its numerous specialised agencies. Technically, the U.S. was instrumental to creating of a new international system and fashioning of its grand rules of operation.
Most importantly, after the folding-up of the ideological war codenamed Cold War; the U.S. embarked on a roller coaster of exporting its political and economic philosophies globally. Because of the transitory uni-polarism setting, their political and economic philosophies became the global norm. Recalcitrant states faced array of punitive sanctions from the U.S. and her victorious allies.
In Europe, the U.S. led its NATO allies and militarily intervene in former Yugoslavia on humanitarian ground. In the Middle East, they projected their armed forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. And have troops and military bases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain and Qatar. The first Iraqi war named Operation Desert Storm was a liberation mission of Kuwait from annexation of Iraq.
In the Americas they went into Panama and forcefully took away their leader General Noriega. They have sent their military in Cuba in several overt and covert operations—in the name of promoting democracy and human rights. In addition to these, they have thousands of their armed forces stationed on land and high seas.
Where strategic and tactical variables barred them from enforcing their ideas militarily, they applied sanctions. Fellow members of the prestigious club of permanent members of the UN Security Council like China and Russia have time and again tasted the wrath of their economic sanctions.
The U.S.tied its foreign policy and developmental assistance to adherence to these principles. In many occasions, they have blocked their companies from operating in certain climes for lack of respect to these globally accepted principles they entrenched. Similarly, they have froze and confiscated assets of nationals and countries that violated their philosophies.
In recent years, the global police of morality and liberalism has demonstrated lost of bearing at the world stage and at home. They have become allies of dictators that don’t share their principles. Its leadership has made certified dictators like Kin Jung-Un of North Korea, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan of Turkey, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Victor Orban of Austria its role models.
Again, the U.S.has become a deal breaker and protocols reneger. They withdrew from NAFTA protocol a tripartite economic treaty between; them , Canada and Mexico. More, they walked-away from agreement of six powers and Russia on Iranian Nuclear deal. Still, they backslided from Paris protocol on climate change. They also buried their commitment to World Health Organisation (WHO) in the middle of Covid-19 pandemic.
Most devastating are developments at home–the U.S. We have seen and still seeing forceful crackdown on peaceful protesters advocating for racial equality. And police brutality against blacks and people of colour. It appeared, the U.S. had borrowed strategy of dictators of arresting protesters in unmarked vehicles. The president is dispatching federal troops to cities to dominate the streets without request from local leaders.
During the George Floyd protest, the leader of the free world, personally lead troops and their top military brass and dispersed peaceful protesters just to have a photo ops in front of Lafayette church . Similar brutalities were recorded against protesters across the cities. Portland in Oregon has become a city under an occupation of federal troops. Other cities like Chicago, New York are under threat of occupation by the federal forces.
The most disgraceful is resistance to tearing down of Confederate monuments littered across the country. The monuments are of people that fought against ending of slavery and the federalists. The irony is, resistance of demolishing of the monuments by federal leaders that the same Confederates rebelled against. Where is wisdom in keeping monuments that only remind people of the ugly past( original sin) that subjected fellow citizens to terrible inhuman conditions?
There is systematic voter suppression in many states. Voting centre are unevenly sited between blacks and white communities. In black and people of colour communities, people queue from eight to nine hours to vote. While the same process takes only a few minutes in whites’ areas. Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Arizona, North Carolina are some of the states with these systemic voter suppression.
There are states with obnoxious laws that require people who have been convicted of crime and have served their time in jail to pay fines to be eligible to vote. This is tactically targeting minorities that have a high percentage of criminal records. It’s an irrefutable fact that, most of the crimes on their record were products of a racist policing and judicial systems.
Clearly, the U.S.has lost its moral high ground at home and at the global stage. The morality and liberalism police is now the culprit-in-chief. What a moral meltdown of a great liberating power!
John Danfulani
27th July 2020