In 1989, The Berlin Wall was destroyed by the American forces, and the fall marked the end of a 42 year long Cold War. It was now time for the forces involved to make peace and get down to building their countries. This phase opened up a new world of improvements for the United States as far as the political, social and economic spheres were concerned.
Politically speaking, at the end of the 20 th century, the United States emerged as the strongest government in the world, due to its victory in the cold war. Since then, many countries have been looking up to the country for military interventions and aid whenever they are faced with war threats from rival countries. This is attributed to the fact that the US military force is well trained and more advanced in skills and weapons than most of the first world countries (Moss, 2013). Also, the country has been involved in diplomatic talks as far as foreign interventions go. This is in trying to bring peace between warring nations of the world, or even rebel forces within a particular country as was the case for Somalia in the 1990s as part of the UNOSOM team that saved thousands of lives. However, these kinds of involvements have also put the country at loggerheads with powerful countries that have interest in the said warfare. Therefore, to be on level ground, the government put forward a few policies to govern their military involvements which require military interventions to meet the following criteria. They should only be employed when the issue concerns national security interest. ]
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Consequently, the interventions should strive to achieve clearly defined, decisive, attainable and sustainable goals (Moss, 2013). But this rise in power equally came with its share of envy and resentment from other nations and individuals, and America has since experienced multiple terrorist attacks, both domestically and on international realms. Countries and cell groups have launched multiple terror attacks on the government, forcing the government to launch operations to counter the attacks. However, the government has had to organize the operations in such a manner that minimizes casualties as much as possible. To do this, a few policies have been put in place, including the Preference for Capture policy which seeks to advocate for capture operations as compared to the use of lethal force. Another policy is the Standards for the Use of Lethal Force which dictates that the need to use excessive force should be adopted only when the life of another person is in danger, and absolutely no reasonable alternatives can be applied. The government has since then had to improve the security apparatus and the intelligence unit to implement programs and operations that rely more on information to snub terrorists (Biden, 2013).
Economically, the Cold War was instigated by the global struggle over the control of natural resources; food, energy, and raw materials. This scramble, in addition to the effect of the destructive weapons used during the war, had a massive impact on the environment, and by the end of the war, the catastrophe that befell the natural setting compelled the emergence of global environmental awareness to redeem nature. The United States signed the National Environmental Policy Act that drafted and implemented environmental laws, regulating pollutions. Some of the policies include hazardous waste policy and risk control policy, all of which seek to monitor and regulate activities that directly or indirectly alter the composition of the environment, while at the same time enhancing its productivity. These policies have encouraged production through incentives and inducements that promote the manufacture and processing of merchandise. The establishment of businesses under these laws and regulations help create employment, avail goods and services, and increase the circulation of money, which all leads to improvement in the living standards of American citizens (United States War Department, 1944).
From the social sphere, the emergence of America as a superpower ultimately led to the expansion of its industries which boosted its productivity. And as this phenomenon improved the living standards, there was the desire to purchase modern homes that befitted the acquired social standings. This led to The Housing Bubble, a condition in which the price of housing escalates following the rising demand for houses. Americans rushed to buy homes in speculations of further escalating prices, and since housing supply is limited, the rush only worsened the situation, and immigrants seeking refuge in the country at around that time added to the housing problem, so the government had to enforce policies that regulated the immigration has it looked for ways to sort out the housing problem. The main policy that was enforced at this point and is still being stuck to is the 1920s quota system, which dictates that each nation in the world is to be allotted a quota of 2% of their nationality that were already in the country by 1890. Even though the act has since observed a number of exceptional events in which it has had to be lifted temporarily, it continues to be followed so as to regulate, not really the number of immigrants arriving at the country, but of the population recorded in the country. This was meant to accommodate immigrants at their time of need, and later on, when situations improve in their home countries, they could be taken back to help ease the congestion created (Alvarez, 2017).
Reference
Alvarez, P. (2017). A brief history of America’s ‘love-hate relationship’ with immigration. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/donald-trump-immigration/517119/
Biden, J. (2013). Fact Sheet: U.S. Policy Standards and Procedures for the Use of Force in Counterterrorism Operations Outside the United States and Areas of Active Hostilities . Press Release, Washington, D.C.
Moss, G. D. (2013). Moving on: The American people since 1945 (5th Ed.) . Pearson.
United States War Department. (1944). Beware… Drink only approved water. [Poster]. Retrieved from http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101454782
