Throughout the history of the US as a nation, Americans have had to pay the ultimate price of going to war. The nation that is America together with its founding values emerged out of wars that in the long run helped establish the country’s physical boundaries. The US began as 13 small and vulnerable colonies that lied on North America’s East Coast. Overtime, the 13 states underwent considerable expansion across North America and in the process subjugated and even exterminated the native population across New Mexico, Texas, California as well as Arizona. The country engaged in a bitter civil war and went ahead to acquire a significant number of overseas colonies. The US also took part in both the world wars, although it came late in each of the wars. Since assuming the title of the world’s most powerful nation in the 1900s, the US has engaged in a dozen wars and military interventions. Nevertheless, Americans have always believed that they are a peace-loving people and don’t view the country as a “warrior nation.” Millet and Maslowski (2012) point out that Americans have always had a mixed attitude towards war. They add that traditionally, Americans perceive themselves as peace-loving people who are unmilitaristic but in real-sense, they have never been unwarlike. According to Millet and Maslowski (2012), it is important for this paradoxical love-hate attitude toward war to be understood.
Walt (2011) opines that many Americans strongly believe that the US is a virtuous nation that loves peace, respects human rights nurtures liberty and which embraces the rule of law. Walt (2011) adds that Americans believe that the US, compared to other great powers of the world, behaves much better when it comes to handling of international conflict. This is a clear indicator that Americans do consider themselves to be essentially peaceful. Joseph (2010), points out that there are two distinctive ways that Americans are becoming peaceful. The first one and which he describes as the most proactive is the trend towards opposing war in principle and instead calling for negotiation, diplomacy, mediation and conflict resolution as the most ideal approaches to addressing international problems. According to Joseph (2010), this position calls for a significant reduction in the role of the armed forces in the international affairs by making the last option. He argues that those who are opposed to military intervention believe that the US could reduce its military budget by up to $100 billion. Having the military as a genuine last resort would also facilitate the re-organization of the military by making it less of an interventionary force. Joseph (2010) states that many Americans are already in support of policies such as reduction of nuclear weapons, support for the international criminal courts, multilateral approaches to tackling global threats as well as rigorous efforts to control the international arms trade. This clearly shows that a significant portion of the American population considers itself peace-loving. Many Americans have also become increasingly concerned about the cost of the different military actions the country is taking or is planning to take. According to Joseph (2010) this is another sign that Americans are becoming more peaceful. He points out that it has become more difficult for taxes, conscription and other sacrifices that need mobilization behind the war effort to be obtained.
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Another thing that shows Americans consider themselves peaceful is the contribution they have been making to peacekeeping missions. Starting from 2000, the US has advocated for and has continued to play a significant role in the UN peacekeeping (Smith, 2014). It is reported that being a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the US has consistently called for a bigger peacekeeping agenda which has seen the country’s annual peacekeeping costs go up to $ 2 billion (Smith, 2014). Starting from the mid-1990s, the US government has changed its engagement strategy with other countries, with attention being turned to supporting the troops as well as police contributions of other countries. The US has been funding training programs for possible UN troops mostly in African countries. Apart from that, the US has also emerged as the biggest provider of finances, airlifting services, equipment as well as training for African Union mission in Somalia and Darfur (Smith, 2014). This is an indicator of how much the US as a nation considers itself a peace-loving country.
Despite Americans seeing themselves as a peace-loving people, there is enough evidence that shows they are war-like. Walt (2011) points the US comes out as the most expansionist power in the contemporary world history. He states that that country started as 13 small colonies in the Eastern Seaboard but soon expanded across North America taking up Arizona, Texas, California and New Mexico from Mexico. In its expansionary quest, the US eliminated a significant population of the natives, with the surviving Native Americans having to be confined within reservations that were quite impoverished ( Walt. 2011). The US also managed to push Britain out of the Pacific Northwest by the mid-19 th century and in the process managed consolidate control over the Western Hemisphere. This clear shows that war and violence has been part and parcel of the US starting its early years. Since the pushing away of the British in the mid-19 th century, the US has engaged in numerous other wars which goes a great length to prove that the nation is war-like (Walt. 2011). The country’s conquest of the Philippines of between 1899 and 1902 resulted in the death of between 200,000 and 400,000 Filipinos, a significant portion being civilians. During the Second World War, the US was also responsible for the death of 305,000 civilians in Germany and 330,000 others in Japan by means of aerial bombings that deliberately targeted enemy cities (Walt. 2011).
It is also reported that during the Indochina War, the US dropped over 6 million tons bombs as well as large quantities of lethal defoliants such as Agent Orange. The US is said to have been directly involved in the deaths of over 1 million civilians during this war, a clear indicator of America’s war-like nature. The country is also said to have supported the Nicaragua Contra war in which up to 30,000 Nicaraguans died (Walt. 2011). The military action by the United States in the Middle East has also seen up to 250,000 Muslims losing their lives in the last three decades. In the recent past, the US has been going for terrorists in about five countries, using the Special Forces as well as drones (Walt. 2011). These missions have also been characterized by the killing of many innocent civilians. All these continuous engagement in wars have been characterized by heavy causalities, a clear indicator of the warlike nature of Americans.
Since its establishment, the US has achieved remarkable success and most Americans view this success as being the direct outcome of the Founding Fathers political foresight, the priority given to individual liberty as well as the virtues of the country’s constitution. However, the citizens as well as the country’s leadership have always had a mixed-attitude towards war. While some section of the population views military action as being essential to the country’s maintenance of its status as the world’s most powerful nation, some are of the opinion that military action is unnecessary. The different regimes that have been in power have had different approaches to foreign affairs which also include the use of military action. Democrats have always called for limited military spending and an end to the development of nuclear weapons. As such, the periods for which the Democrats have been in charge of the US government has largely been characterized by limited military action. On the other hand, Republicans believe that maintaining a strong traditional army is the key to having a strong and prosperous country. They believe that a stronger defense budget is the key to having a strong military. To this end, Republican regimes have in the past been characterized by a higher number of military actions. Understanding the paradoxical love-hate attitude toward war among Americans is important as it helps inform the future policies. It allows for critical analysis of the present and previous wars that the US has engaged in which in turn facilitates the establishment of better policies that will work better going into the future.
In conclusion, since assuming the title of the world’s most powerful nation in the 1900s, the US has engaged in a dozen wars and military interventions. Nevertheless, Americans have always believed that they are a peace-loving people and don’t view the country as a “warrior nation.” Many Americans strongly believe that the US is a virtuous nation that loves peace, respects human rights nurtures liberty and which embraces the rule of law. The fact that they are peace-loving is also reflected in the trend towards opposing war in principle and instead calling for negotiation, diplomacy, mediation and conflict resolution as the most ideal approaches to addressing international problems. Despite Americans seeing themselves as a peace-loving people, there is enough evidence that shows they are war-like. The nation started as 13 small colonies but was able to expand by taking over territories occupied by native communities. The country engaged in a bitter civil war and went ahead to acquire a significant number of overseas colonies. The US also took part in both the world wars, although it came late in each of the wars. Understanding the paradoxical love-hate attitude toward war among Americans is important as it helps inform the future policies.
References
Joseph, P. (2015). Are Americans becoming more peaceful? : Routledge.
Smith A.C. (2014). Peacekeeping Contributor Profile: United States of America . Retrieved from http://www.providingforpeacekeeping.org/2014/04/03/contributor-profile-united-states-of-america/
Walt, S.M (2011). The Myth of American Exceptionalism . Retrieved from http://foreignpolicy.com/2011/10/11/the-myth-of-american-exceptionalism/
