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America as Superpower

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America as Superpower

As a superpower, the U.S. possesses the material ability to monitor world events and

intrude whenever there is conflict in any country. During the Cold War, America took the Soviet

Union down to thwart its effort to promote communism. As a result, various confrontations arose

during the war such as Domino theory affiliated with the Vietnam War and later terrorism came

after the Cold War leading to America’s involvement in the Afghanistan war. This paper

transcends into discussing the role of America in these confrontations as a superpower.

Beginning with the Domino Theory, it was a policy during the Cold War that favored the

easy spread of communism among nations. However, America was against communism. So, the

government established containment to counter the impact of domino. The containment led to the

U.S. declaring that it would prohibit the spread of communism (Schultz, 1). Vietnam was the

center of everything in the sense that if it went Communist, then every other Asian country

would follow the path in a year. This implied that other Asian nations would be under the

domination of the Soviet Union or Communist china (Caplan, 2; McNamara, 3). Already, North

Vietnam was under communism and had lured three countries namely Cambodia, Laos, and

South Vietnam into communism.

On the other hand, the U.S. was losing the Cold War and felt the need to ‘contain’

communism. As a result, America sent military advisors to Northern Vietnam to assist the

French to fight for their colonial power (McNamara, 3). However, things changed gradually and

France shifted the focus of the war to communism. The military advisors from the U.S.

continued trickling in South Vietnam and by 1963, more than 16,000 Americans had been

deployed to advise the South Vietnamese troops (McNamara, 3). Later, under the new

administration of Johnson, more U.S. troops were sent to South Vietnam when North
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Vietnamese attacked the American naval forces. This made the Americans contain North

Vietnam creating an indication that no country would embrace communism in the next ten years

or so.

In the Post-Cold War confrontation, America has experienced various conflicts mainly

terrorism. Terrorism emanates from rogue nations that do not want to see other countries

enjoying peace (Brian, 4). A memorable incident occurred on 11th September 2001 (9/11) where

Osama and Al Qaeda organized a terrorist attack against the Americans that left the World Trade

Center and the Pentagon destroyed as well as other people who died in a plane crash. President

Bush then initiated a war on terrorism aiming to destroy Al Qaeda and the Taliban government

responsible for terrorism. Along with this, the Americans wanted to ensure that Afghanistan

would never be a safe place for harboring terrorists (Victor, 5). American troops went to

Afghanistan under orders to overturn Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The main focus to bring down

Osama Bin Laden while at the same time provide safety to innocent citizens in Afghanistan. So,

the American troops would protect the cities as they strategized on how to capture Osama. Later

after about seven years, the American troops successfully overturned the Taliban but more troops

continued being sent to Afghanistan to prevent the rejuvenation of the Taliban group. After

almost a decade of staying there, the American troops attacked Pakistan under directive orders

from President Obama and in the process brought down Osama Bin Laden. Such a move reduced

terrorist attacks magnificently although Victor (5) denotes that terrorist groups in Afghanistan

continue to hold more territories as they seek to control the main government. As a result, the

present administration of President Trump continues to deploy more troops in Afghanistan to

protect the citizens and strategize on winning the war on terror.

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To sum up, the United States has sacrificed their troops’ lives to offer Americans

protection against rogue countries. American citizens enjoy a conducive work environment and

peace due to sound decisions the government has made in the past and present to keep America

safe. Currently, the U.S. is the superpower and it will always fight for what is appropriate just to

ensure that the world’s operations run smoothly.

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Sources List

1. Schultz, K. (2018). HIST: Volume 2: Since 1865 (5th ed.). Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage

Learning.

2. Caplan, B. (2019). The Domino Theory Reconsidered - Econlib. Retrieved 2 February

2020, from https://www.econlib.org/the-domino-theory-reconsidered/

3. McNamara, R. (2020). Why Did the US Enter the Vietnam War? Retrieved 2 February

2020, from https://www.thoughtco.com/why-did-us-enter-vietnam-war-195158

4. Brian. (2017). What is a Rogue State? Retrieved 2 February 2020, from

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-a-rogue-state.html

5. Victor, D. (2018). Need a Refresher on the War in Afghanistan? Here Are the Basics.

Retrieved 2 February 2020, from

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/world/asia/afghanistan-war-explainer.html