Overall has the influence of the USA on the world been a force for GOOD or BAD?

Answer 1

How can you quantify something as overall when it is so tightly tied down to different regions in the world. You think about middle east alone and you have different groups there alone with Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan et al chanting praises while the others proclaiming holy war on US!
You cant just say that this is for overall good and that the cause/ end result justify the means. This is what is happening in some places and it has come back to haunt US, do you want to hear terms like "Bloody October" from your favorite cable network ever so often?
On the other hand you have developing nations in South East Asia, whose economy has boomed like anything thanks to outsourcing and people can afford a much better life there. Having said that, problems are arising from this as well: cultural and traditional values are being lost and so forth.
Another issue is turning a blind eye when it suits US. They did it in China, then Afghanistan and let Taliban thrive, Musharraf in Pakistan and so on, they are doing so in Africa as long as they get the Minerals and Oil (Nigeria is bloody good example) and the problem is that other countries are learning from it and doing the same. Look at China now employing the same tactics, especially in Africa, of clout through grants and getting big contracts for Oil and turning away from internal matters.
So you think about it and I have only listed less than a percent of what can be said!

Answer 2

The influence of the USA has been a good one and a bad one. It has been a good one because it teaches certain parts of the world that they shouldn't mess with terrorizing this country and just maybe some will leave this country alone now. However, it is bad because it has further upset other countries that were mad at us enough before and are just boiled now. The USA influence on the world has been more bad lately because I think the world can easily see that many members of the government can't get along with each other and see eye to eye on many of the issues pertaining to this war. If we don't stand together on this issue, we will tear our ownselves apart, the other countries won't need to do it for us. We will destroy our own selves with the decisions being made here. The government must all agree on something and the people should be allowed to be more involved. We do live here, after all.

Answer 3

The only way anyone can answer with any certainty is by questioning what might be the state of the world if USA hadn't been an influence.

Answer 4

I believe that the overall influence of the USA on the world has been good.

The US has striven over the decades that it has drifted away from isolationism to be a positive influence in the world's diverse cultures and economies.

True, the US has attempted from time-to-time to influence the politics and economics of the 3rd world and even the former Soviet Republics and China, throughout Asia and South America;overall its attempts have been oriented towards inspiring liberty and so-called democratic values. Sub silencio, one could argue that these values were merely a gateway to a much darker agenda.

Many nations around the world have considered the meddling and economic entanglements to be similar to imperialism and colonialism. But I think this was mostly well-intentioned.

Part of the post-isolationist record involves the Cold War. Frankly I do not disagree with the national interest in seeing the Soviet Union fall or the Chinese turn to a market economy.

Totalitarian regimes have always represented a threat to the peace and wellbeing of the world as a whole. The attempt to stop the so-called spread of communism ala the "domino theory" was a well intentioned plan designed to improve the world and keep it free.

True, the USA has needed raw materials from other nations, and been willing to trade for those materials. However hostile nations have in the past created issues which may have, from time to time, necessitated actions on the part of the USA, which depending on perspective, seemed imperial and colonial in nature, in order to keep the flow of those materials into our country.

Overall, however, I see the influence as positive.

Think of it this way. What would the world have been like if the Nazis and the Japanese had won WWII? Or if the Soviet Union had succeeded in encircling the US and using economic and military power to prevent necessary materials from coming into this country?

Do you think they would have been kinder, more forgiving, or any less exploitative?

I doubt that. I think that we are the good guys compared to the competitors.

Answer 5

paducah_billy and dave k
"give more to charity than any 5 other nations combined"

"The level of aid to other needy nations and peoples both in crisis, and in stages of their development is unparallelled"

You are having a laugh

Americans are regularly told by politicians and the media, that America is the world's most generous nation. This is one of the most conventional pieces of 'knowledgeable ignorance'. According to the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the US gave between $6 and $15 billion in foreign aid in the period between 1995 and 1999. In absolute terms, Japan gives more than the US, between $9 and $15 billion in the same period. But the absolute figures are less significant than the proportion of gross domestic product (GDP, or national wealth) that a country devotes to foreign aid. On that league table, the US ranks twenty-second of the 22 most developed nations. As former President Jimmy Carter commented: 'We are the stingiest nation of all'. Denmark is top of the table, giving 1.01% of GDP, while the US manages just 0.1%. The United Nations has long established the target of 0.7% GDP for development assistance, although only four countries actually achieve this: Denmark, 1.01%; Norway, 0.91%; the Netherlands, 0.79%; Sweden, 0.7%. Apart from being the least generous nation, the US is highly selective in who receives its aid. Over 50% of its aid budget is spent on middle-income countries in the Middle East, with Israel being the recipient of the largest single share"

Answer 6

The good influence of USA has been declining in the past few decades while the bad influence has been increasing. We have squandered our good will for several decades instead of continue to build good will around the world. We were once looked up by the majority of the countries around the world whereas now we were looked down by the majority.

When we reassert and demonstrate our leadership instead of bullying behavior, we will return to being a force for GOOD and less for BAD.

Answer 7

Don`t be too quick to judge the American nation. Nothing, be it a person or a country can be influenced by anything, unless it wants to be influenced. America has had an excellent influence on the world in so many ways, they far out number any bad influences. The USA can rightly be proud of many things that it has given to other nations. Those of us that can remember the pre-Bush America, already know that, it is so sad that he has done much to tarnish those things. Despite Bush, the US has been a good influence.

Answer 8

The influence of the United States of America upon the world has been by and large for the good. It comes from the concept of fare law and justice and in the rights of man. Not only are Americans prepared to fight for their own liberty and freedom, they have proved time and again that they're also prepared to fight for other people's freedom too.

There's no doubt in my mind that without American influence in the world, it would be a much more dangerous place.

Anyone, even the most hardened terrorist, is not going to come out on top, because once the people have tasted freedom, liberty and democracy, they are reluctant to ever give it up.

Go tell it to the Marines.

Answer 9

Ignorant, self based, remoted, grasping and mean. In a international of rapid nutrition and swifter divorces, the place to start? i'm a element of the disillusioned toddlers of united states of america. I see plenty hypocrisy and greed in our u . s .. no person cares approximately one yet another anymore. (that is all approximately ME. mentality) Now, to the alternative, I easily have seen plenty attractiveness, and extra kindness every day. possibly we are seeing the errors of our approaches? I might desire to truly wish. for each action, a reaction. I see united states of america because of the fact the recent Rome, and Rome fell.

Answer 10

Good influence, most definitely. The Declaration of Independence has been an inspiration for many countries, such as Vietnam, France and Canada. This country was built for freedom and it has always stood for that principle, even when people don't necessarily agree with its decisions at a particular moment.

If the USA didn't exist, there wouldn't even be a UN. Hitler would have won World War II. Many countries would be nowhere near as developed as they are today.

I'm glad its here.