Yuli L. Torres B.

VI Semester

Does the US have a negative or positive influence in the world?

There is no doubt that since a long time ago, US has been strongly involved on world
affairs. Nowadays, it is one of the strongest powers in the world, and it is a reality that it
has influenced other countries not only economically but also culturally. Nevertheless, it is
worth to ask ourselves if this influence is negative or positive. In this way, I agree that the
effects of this influence have mainly been negative, taking into account that the US has
been the reason for many conflicts in the world, and other topics such as the immigration
problem and military power take the US as protagonist.

With regards to economy, it is said that the impact of US has represented many advantages
for the countries influenced. First, the capitalism has led to a supposedly economic growth
and increase of the commercial relations between the influenced countries and the world.
Moreover, it is essential to recognise that thanks to the United States’ influence through
TV, Hollywood and music, there is a lingua franca (English), by which we are able to
communicate and share our cultures and thoughts with other countries, overcoming
language barriers we would have without it, that is to say, communication between nations
has become easier somehow because of the US influence in the spread of English.

Although there have been some benefits resulting from the spread of the American
influence, there are still being lots of negative consequences regarding this country and its
influence in the world. As an example, if we go back through history, the US has a past of
imperialism that may be still echoing in its present. During the nineteenth century the US
expanded its power to many other nations not only economically, but also militarily and
culturally taking the name of American imperialism. This situation of taking power in other
countries is considered to be the cause of the majority of the conflicts that took place in the
20th century: for example, the Banana Wars in Latin America and the Caribbean where
hundreds of people died were caused because of the United States’ urge to maintain and
protect its commercial interests.

Nowadays, the situation has not changed too much. The US seems to keep taking part into
international conflicts, always seeking for its own benefit, as is the case of the fight for
petrol. There is also the fact that to get a visa to travel to the US the formalities are

History and Geography of English Speaking Countries

Bachelor in Arts: English as a Foreign Language
 Yuli L. Torres B.
VI Semester

complicated and almost hard to succeed, whereas Americans can have access to other
countries in an easy way, taking advantage of other countries and most of the time of their
resources (human, natural, economic), without thinking of the consequences for these.

To conclude, as it is mentioned before, I strongly consider the US has had a negative

influence on the world. We cannot ignore the fact that as one of the main powers in the
world, there is an obvious trend to influence other countries in any aspect. However, the
negative consequences have remained since the American Imperialism, and the United
States’ ambition to have control over other countries has not changed, therefore the more
influence is spread the more these other countries lose their customs, economic
independence and political independence.

History and Geography of English Speaking Countries

Bachelor in Arts: English as a Foreign Language