What can the US do to help improve the views and opinions that other countries have of our foreign policies.?

Question

Foreign Aid, Humanitarian Aid, Military Aid, etc. We have had the military power to destroy just about any country in the world since 1939, but we don't and haven't since ending world war 2 used these weapons. We haven't aggressivley attacked any country without reason. We just don't want nuclear bombs to fall into the hands of Middle Eastern extremest who blow up their neighbor every time they get a new shipment of Russian tanks. Is that not a fair foreign policy?

Answer 1

Very simple answer - stop cowboy diplomacy and go back to giving equal respect.

Answer 2

The biggest problem the US has is the common (and wholly justified) perception that the US and Israel are really the same country. The blind, unquestioning support and the military aid the US gives Israel has caused many around the world to view the US as a servant of Israel. Together with the notion in the US that it is improper to say anything bad about a jew or be branded guilty of a hate crime, the US has boxed itself into a corner where now any atrocity that Israel commits against any of its neighbors is viewed as a direct assualt by the US as well.

Casting off this identity with Israel would go a long way to boosting the standing of the US in many parts of the world.

Answer 3

The U.S. has supported many questionable governments in the
past-including Saddam Hussein! Speaking of which,whether the
invasion of Iraq was justified is a matter of opinion.
The best way for other countries to think better of the U.S.
is to get a new President-and to be more selective about who
becomes President in the future. Maybe it's time for Americans
to go back to grass roots,instead of letting candidate selection
be on golf courses and back rooms-especially after the dismal
performance of the Republican Party in that regard.

Answer 4

I honestly don't know and question why we should care. If our foreign policy reflects what is in our national interest I could care less what opinion other countries have. In almost every case where we have tried to act for unselfish reasons it has either backfired or gotten us zero credit from other countries.

Answer 5

It is the media, my friend. They only express the negative "evil America" stereotype to the world making the people of other countries scorn us without knowing the truth. The governments do not want to support us because it is unpopular with the people and would hurt their country.

Answer 6

The best thing we can do about world opinion is ignore it. They will respect standing up for what we believe much more than trying to get on their good side.

Answer 7

Wow, talk about propaganda!!!

These foreign policies aren't for the best of the world (other countries). These foreign policies are for the best of the United States. US must do what it takes...to stay a global superpower.

Of course, we cannot allow such things to happen. I mean come on, who wants to loose power.

So let me see, it is okay for us to have nuclear weapons, and test more than 500 nuclear weapons in less than three years (not to mention the environmental damage it did) and obliterate entire islands that don't even exist today but we can't give other countries the right to defend themselves. Any other country (except Israel of course) that tries to do anything related to nuclear technology is strictly "punished" by sanctions and what not.

So we let Israel "have the right to defend itself" but we can't let Palestine do that.

Since we are a nuclear power, it is okay for us to use an atomic bomb on two cities full of civilians (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) when WE see its okay...but nobody else can do that.

Isn't it amazing how things like "ethics" and "morality" go right out the window when you need something.

Israel is given more aid than any other country out there. There are plenty of starving people in Africa dying of droughts, wars, and famine...but Israel gets all the weapons and "full cooperation". I don't think that is a fair foreign policy.

The only thing that US exports are weapons.

Let me see further, US supports what Israel is doing in Lebanon, which includes bombing innocent civilians which INCLUDE WOMEN AND CHILDREN, bombing residential areas, turning entire cities into ruin, severely crippling their infrastructure, attacking and killing UN officers, and shooting at RED CROSS ambulances.

Woooooowwwwwwwwww, I am amazed what a fair policy this is. US is the only one to veto the decision to force Israel to stop.

And mind you, the UN is nothing but an acting front (which by the way is powerless to really do anything as we can all CLEARLY see). TWO countries literally against the rest of the world...oh that is very fair.

You tell me, why does the permanent security council get these powers. Why the hell are they even permanent? If it is truly a "Unites Nations" to represent all the countries, then why do some have more power than others? Why do we have the "great five" in the permanent security council and then the others get a rotated seat with not enough powers.

"but we don't and haven't since ending world war 2 used these weapons."

You are seriously mistaken. The US military arsenal is a lot more sophisticated than it was 60 years ago and YES, those weapons have been used, again and again and again. Go back and read your history...not the textbook version where the US is always the good guy. We have used napalm (on civilians). We have used bombs with shards (on civilians). Air strikes and missiles are launched from afar like cowards because we are too afraid to go in.

The only difference is that US learned in WWII, not to kill everybody at once...because it makes them look bad...so we are going to do it slowly...one village at a time...massacre a few civilians...and then move on...slowly...and then massacre more civilians. We are not going to detonate a hydrogen bomb and destroy everything at once. We will do it slowly so the damage doesn't look as bad.

"We haven't aggressively attacked any country without reason."

First of all, who defines the reason? Who says that the reason is good enough to wage a war...that's right...the US gets to say what is bad enough and when it is bad enough to "aggresively" invade other countries.

Let's see some more.

Iran (which on the axis of evil by now), the shah was removed (with the help of US) and the "Islamic extremist governments" that is in control today was put there (with the help of the US).

Afghanistan (the home of the most wanted terrorist by the FBI), the king was kicked out also (with the help of the US). The Taliban were formed and powered with plenty of money and weapons (with the help of the US).

Al-Qaida and their philosophy of "Islamic Extremism" has been in Afghanistan for over 30 years. Why didn't we attack and eliminate them before if we truly have the power to "destroy just about any country in the world" and if the USA really wanted to spread "peace, justice, and democracy" in the world.

In Iraq, the same exact story. Saddam Houssein has been power...all of his life basically and he was put there with the help of the USA (and there is clear evidence of CIA's involvement). It is a known fact, that he committed genocide against the Kurds as early as the 1980s...so why the hell do we wait until more than twenty years later to invade Iraq, capture Saddam, and put him on a trial.

Oh and I almost forgot, just to let you know, just because US is occupying (and controlling) Iraq, their lives are not any better not easier. In fact, THEY ARE WORSE!

If we really wanted to do what Bush said we were going to do, then wy the hell are we still there? Saddam's trial just ended...and they just announced the "arrival of the troops back home is FURTHER DELAYED".

And these are just some of the examples.

Let us see further. We declare Al-Qaida THE TERRORIST GROUP and Osama Bin Laden is most wanted. So we invade Afghanistan, practically take over Afghanistan, we have BEEN there for almost SIX years...and we still haven't eliminated Al-Qaida nor have we captured Osama Bin Laden.

What does that tell you? (Be honest now!)

This means that either...the oh great US of A is not as macho militirastically as they like us to think. I mean come onnnnnnnnnnn, how can we not catch ONE guy...he is ONE person against the world's strongest army and the mind-blowing technology that people can't even imagine

OR

the real purpose was not to go in to eliminate Al-Qaida nor to capture Osama Bin Laden.

Hmmmmmmmmm, so if we assume the first one...then WE SUCK and those gorrilla fighters in the dry mountains of Afghanistan, armed with old and outdated technology (more than 30 years old) and nothing but their will and determination...are much much better than the so called "the most powerful army in the world".

If we assume the second one, then Bush has been lying to us for the last 5 years. He has been constantly lying to us. He has been wasting mine AND other taxpayers hard earned money for some god-knows-what objective...which has apparently not been acheived yet (unless it was to just occupy Afghanistan) while at home, we can just use that money to oh I don't know, EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN, feed the hungry, provide medical care to the poor who need, AND SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY FROM SEVERE BANKCRUPTCY.

US has been involved in almost all of the wars, most of the time indirectly, committed during the last hundred years. US economy drives from war. We need wars in other parts of the world to have a better economy here.

But we don't like it when the war is brought to our own homefront.

So it is okay for us to get people to fight.
It is okay for us to force them.
It is okay for us to then supply them with weapons so that they can kill each other.
It is okay for us to take sides, to give an unfair amount of advantage to one side, and then not let the weaker side not even have the right to defend themselves when it is in our own economic interest.

I'll tell you what is happening. US is getting scared of loosing. But change is imminent. US will not be the world superpower as it has been for the past hundred years. History bears witness that greater nations before us have crumbled and nothing but their ruins remain.

The Byblonians, Persians, Turks, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, The Muslim Empire, and the oh so great British ruled the globe. It was said that the sun never set on the British Empire and see what they are today...nothing but like a pathetic little loyal dog who only barks if and when his master tells him to.

He who is in power writes the history.
He who controls the present, controls the past.
And he who controls the past, controls the future.

In answer to your question, "Is that not a fair foreign policy?"
No, that is not a fair policy.

In answer to your question, "What can the US do to help?"
Make it fair!

Remember, one man's terrorist is another man's martyr.
There was a time when George Washington and Ben Franklin were called terrorists.