Is it the Time For USA to say farewell to arms and usher in an Era of Peace and Harmony?

Question

I dont see any gain frrom this constant war Policy.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, it may not be as simple as that. The reality is that the world is more peaceful now than it has been in several hundred years. The reason given for this by many schollars is the extent to which the curent international system is unipolar, that is the extent to which there is one super-power.

I know that may be a distasteful idea, the U.S. as a force for global peace but hear me out. If you look at the last 300 years the periods of greatest instability were during times of multipolarity, especially in Europe. The Napoleonic Wars, WW I, WW II the greatest conflicts of each age were driven by divergent national interests and little to govern international standards of fair play other than who had the most power.

During the Cold War a bi-polar system developed and international stability was remarkably high in spite of the tension during the period. The ability of both powers to control their respective spheres of influence brought to the world a peace it had not know in hundreds of years.

Finally, with the end of the Cold War and the development of a unipolar system, other than the current war in Iraq, nations have been surprisingly peaceful. Europe, bound by the treaty obligations of N.A.T.O which the United States developed, and the political unification of the same via the E.U. established based on a policy paper written by the U.S. and submitted to France as a framework for such development, has been overwhelmingly peaceful in spite of the close proximity of many ethnic and religious groups.

As far as the "constant war" policy goes, there is no "war" the U.S. is actively fighting. I do not mean to say we have not declared war. What I mean is that the war has been over for years, what the United States needs to fix in its policy is how it builds the peace following war. That would require a farewell to old ideas and a willingness to pay the tab after we attack a nation (look back ot the Marshall Plan and Europe as an example of what U.S. arms matched with U.S. resolve can bring)

Answer 2

Dr. O, you nut!

Peace and harmony isn't the dominant facet of human nature. Tribalism is. Sure it would be great if we could all stand on a hill holding hands a sing the Coke song together, but our ancestors only survived because they were willing to battle and, if need be, slaughter opposing tribes for scarce resources. We form exclusive groups, weather it's a clique of friends or a nation state, and everyone on the outside becomes the "them" opposed to our "us".

I'll be the first to concur that this mentality hardly benefits us today, but it's nevertheless part of who we are. There is hope, though, given that we in western cultures are far less tolerant of violence than we used to be. After all, people of a few hundred years ago wouldn't have given a second thought to exterminating the Iraqi people and starting over. These days we wring our hands over what is an inconsequential skirmish. That's a good thing, though.

Maybe in a few hundred more years we'll all be on the hill drinking Coke together. Not in our lifetimes, though.

Answer 3

I don't like the current war either, and I think it was a mistake that will contribute to many future problems for Americans and our friends; however, the U.S. getting rid of military strength and arms would only be a sign of weakness to our enemies. We must always remain strong and able to completely obliterate anyone that dares to attack. There will never be complete peace, but knowing that we can unload an a*s-whoopin to anyone that jeopardizes our safety is a positive thing.

Answer 4

The U.S.A. does not create conflict in the world. That is done by dictators, power hungry fascists, greed, etc. Unless you have some magic pill that will cause all men to act like angels then there will always be war. As the lone superpower in the world it is our OBLIGATION to come to the aid of the repressed and down trodden. If you don't like it move to Switzerland or better yet France.

Answer 5

The US already has seen their best times.
Already China is using up more than 60% of all the concrete in the world -the only thing missing for the taking over is more energy.

If you compare the nightly skyline of cities like Shanghai to those of...uhmmm...LA or NYC you will know Im right.

Just take a look
http://www.cs.uky.edu/~jzhang/CIS/shanghai1.jpg

Huh?

Answer 6

Invite Kim Il Jong, Assad, Ahmadinejad down to the ranch in Crawford? Make smores. Break out the guitars for a few good rounds of "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore". Tell ghost stories.

Hey..they're all regular folks.. just like us.

Answer 7

No, in the present day he has his palms finished attempting to handle the commercial mess bush left in the back of, as for the youngsters, properly the deaths of over 5,000 American troops, i assume substitute into his thank you to shrink the form of youngsters we can ought to worry approximately for the subsequent era, unsure how most of the extra six hundred,000 disabled troops will handle generating babies after having been uncovered to DU, (depleted uranium).

Answer 8

its an unproven method of capitalism, hile the never ending war is an extreme economic multiplier.
I'm not saying that peace will not make money, but is it enough money for thoses that have a vested intrest in this administration policy?

BTW, check out my question about closing down the yahoo message boards tonight.
thanks.

Answer 9

How can we usher in an era of peace? Half the world would love to take arms against us.

Answer 10

That's an "Alice in Wonderland" question.
What makes you believe we can bring peace to the world all by ourselves.
Are you so sure that all those kind and considerate countries wont jump on us like a cat on a mouse?
Peace agreements have been broken more often than you might care to imagine.