Sunday, March 29, 2009

Blog #10 - Does the world need a police officer?

One of the books that I've been reading lately is Colossus by Niall Feguson. The subtitle is also the focus of the book: "The Rise and Fall of The American Empire." In it, Ferguson discusses how Americans are not typical imperialists; during the Cold War (which we will begin studying soon), we had "an empire of invitation" and not one necessarily of conquest. We had allies, not territories to rule over (or at least that's how many of us like to see it).

We see these sentiments in speeches all the time. Before (1st quote) and after (2nd quote) we invaded Iraq, President Bush stated:

"The U.S. has no intention of determining the precise form of Iraq's new
government. That choice belongs to the Iraqi people... We will remain in
Iraq as long as necessary and not a day more. America has made and kept
this kind of commitment before in the peace that followed a world war.
After defeating enemies, we did not leave behind occupying armies, we left
behind constitutions and parliaments."

"We will help build a peaceful and representative government that protects
the rights of all citizens. And then our military forces will leave.
Iraq will go forwardas a unified, independent and sovereign nation... Other
nations in history have have fought in foreign lands and remained to occupy and
exploit. Americans, following a battle, want nothing more than to return
home."

Ferguson suggests that the U.S. could use its power for good in this unstable world today. He said that the United Nations is too fractured to be effective and that the members of the U.N.'s Security Council (like Germany, France, and China) have vetoed military actions. Compared to China or India or the Arab nations, the United States is best suited economically, politically, and militarily to lead the world out of chaos and into stability and order.

So, the question for you is about America and its role as the world's police officer: 1. Should America act as the world's police officer? If yes, why? If not, what should its role be?

Questions to consider:

50 comments:

Allison Woodberg (5th hour) said...

I do not think that America should try to act as the world police officer for several reasons. The first reason is that we already appear to be self centerd and conceited to the rest of the world, so why would we want to say “hey rest of the world, we are the best, listen to us and give us all the power”. As for the economy we are not doing the greatest job with that, so why should we steer the rest of the world? Another reason is that other nations could grow to resent the United States trying to be in control and that could create other problems. Also we do not want the United States to get to big of a head with all of that power.

Evan Fried said...

My opinion is that the United States should keep acting like a world police officer. In the short term the Iraq war is horrible but the future I believe, is incredibly bright for Iraq. When all the troubles going on in Iraq are settled they will be working on a clean slate to rebuild Iraq. It will no longer be a corrupt system led by Saddam with more corrupt people waiting to take over. The United States could have done numerous things to make this process go faster. A place like North Korea would probably gladly send off a nuclear bomb, but they know that if they did something like that then the U.S would send everything they have at North Korea and essentially bring North Korea into chaos and turmoil. If America hadn’t interfered with Hitler, there would be no Jewish people anymore and Europe would be a communist united nation. World War Two was horrible, but by interfering we rescued the future of millions and millions of people. When a conflict going on in other nations isn’t a huge issue and doesn’t need the help of the U.S is when I disagree. Sometimes it results in ill affects to us, such as the Yom Kippur war. I’ve never really learned about it, and I’ve only just heard about it recently for the first time, so I can only assume it wasn’t a big issue. But by interfering with that we lost our supply of oil and it resulted in huge consequences for the United States. –Evan Fried

Anonymous said...

Personally, I think the U.S should not be the world's police officer. We already are and we get into everyone business. That is why a lot of people have bad things to say about America. We need to leave Iraq as soon as we can and start trying to rebuild our economy before it start getting worst. We also should stop building bases all around the world. We do not need to be in every country at one moment.

Our new role in the world should be a neutral country that does not get into wars unless we are attacked or going to get attacked. we need to protect our borders for futures terrorist attacks and start getting better defensively.

The United States really should try to get a better image around the world. it will only help us in the long run and maybe help us to get more allies and help us in foreign policies. There is a lot of people with a negative image of the us, we really should try to show them how nice our country is.

Kyle Dewald 3rd

Anonymous said...

What do I think about America acting as the world’s police? There is a yes and a no to that question. It is obvious there are many problems with the world today and many problems with different nations that kind of really need to be solved and America is one of if the thee strongest and greatest country and if there was gonna be a world police one of the only countries that would qualify to play that role so in a way yes America should act as the worlds police because I think they really are capable of solving many problems, but then there is the other side of me that says no way should America act as a world police because we don’t have the right to get involved in countries business when we aren’t perfect either. So to that question it is a 50/50 on America being a world police.
Jacob Silver

Matt Trogu said...

I do not think that the United States should act as the world police officer because I think that we would be somewhat hypocritical. I think that the United States would be somewhat hypocritical because in past years we have told other countries what they can do and what they can’t do so if we are the new world’s police officer we could be labeled as hypocrites. Since we would not be the world police officers then I think that it would be better to monitor other countries rather than being in their countries 365 days of the year, telling them how to live their lives. Also if we would be the world police then we might move away from democracy and we could become more communist or even become a dictator of the world. I don’t think it would be very constitutional to force democracy onto somebody. These are the reasons why we should NOT be the worlds police officers.

Anonymous said...

There are many strong countries in the world. The USA is one of them. But by far the United States is the strongest and for this we may have the role of being the policeman in the world. The US shouldn’t have this role just because we are more powerful then the other countries in this world. We should help the countries if they need help but unless they ask we shouldn’t try. To be the worlds police force would cost the US tons of money and soldiers, which we can’t spare at the moment. Also, when the time comes that we have enough we will probably lose most of them and so we will be back where we started. The other countries around the world would have to pay the US for their deeds and also supply maybe a small amount of soldiers in order to help out. The US alone could not be the police force of the world without some help from the countries that we help and protect. Being a policeman still gives pay and so the US shouldn’t go unrewarded for what they have done. This is how the US should be if they are to become the world’s police force.

Ben Doozan

Tim T. said...

Should America act as the world police? I think there should be a world police but it does not have to be all America, it can be some of the allies or another country that wants to step up. It would be smart to have the U.S as the world police because every other county looks at us as a super power. There are many up side for America be the world police like, If we went into these countries then they would have to pay for our serves because police do cities a serves and they get paid for it, maybe this would help Americas image by making us look like heroes and peace makers or it could hurt Americas image by say we want to change ever government into a democratic government. If you look at the big picture we already the world police by, every war that we have gone into we have acted like police by taking care of the rebels or taking out the corrupt government like, WWII and Iraq war, the leaders were trying to take over the world but America stepped in. America should be the world police but more countries need to help.

Kevin Luyckx said...

The question is does the US have to be the world’s police officer? And I don’t think the US should be the worlds police officer because of one main reason, if we get involved with another countries issues that we had no businesses being involved in that may possibly piss that country off. An example off this is Teddy Roosevelt was in office. The Japanese-Russo war. The Japanese won a war they had vs. Russia. Those two countries then couldn’t figure out what to do after the war was over so the USA stepped in and I believe they made Japan modernize. Which really pissed the Japanese off. They would never forget how the USA got involved and some say that the USA stepping in lead to the attacks on Pearl Harbor. That would be like if you got into a fight with your brother outside and your neighbor came over from across the street and told each of you that you were both grounded. I’d be pissed. Your neighbor had no right, and in this case the USA had no right to jump into foreign affairs. Lets say all the countries in the world held a meeting and they voted to let the USA be the “world’s police officer” that would be different we could then be concerned all we want. But in my opinion until that day happens the USA should only deal/get involved with matter s that pertain to the USA only.

Kevin Luyckx

Dallas Paritee said...

Dallas Paritee
I don’t really think that America should be the world’s policemen. We don’t want countries calling us an empire because that’s what we came from and fought against. This can be a problem if countries think that we are trying to take over and attack us. The U.S. economy is bad and we are currently in a recession plus in a war with Iraq. There are just too many problems with the U.S right now. In the future there could be a possibility of this happening but where would we get the soldiers and money? There could be a draft but that is highly unlikely to happen. The other big problem is always money or the funding. This could turn into a problem not only because of this massive recession but it could cause inflation and then prices will rise. Don’t get me wrong but there can be an upside to this we can have countries pay for our services. This is one way we could benefit and for the soldier issue we could raise benefits for soldiers and then we could get more people to join this team of national policemen.

Lisa Surnow fifth said...

When looking at America through other countries perspective, I think that they see us as somewhat of a nosey bully in a way. We believe that just because we have the strength and funding to act as a world wide “Police Officer,” doesn’t mean we necessarily have to, but in most cases we do. There have been many cases where chaos would have formed if the United States didn’t step in to help out and create a more calm and stable way of solving things. One example where if the U.S didn’t help, the entire world would have been hurt badly is the Gulf War. Saddam Hussein was taking over Kuwait and slowly moving into Saudi Arabia’s borders. Now if the U.S didn’t move in and help push Saddam back into his own borders, we would have had a corrupt dictator controlling almost all of the worlds leading exporter of oil. With that happening, many economies would of collapsed causing further conflicts. So even though people look at the statement that says America is a policeman, doesn’t necessarily have to be seen as a negative thing. We help when we are called on and try to solve problems that would blow up in everyone’s face if we weren’t there.

Sam 5 th hour said...

I think that the US should not be the world’s police officer because I will widen conflicts with other countries that are not involved. Also it cost a lot of money to get involved. Part of the reason we are in a recession is because the US gets involved a lot with conflicts over seas. I also think that if everyone is going to benefit from the war and we are going to fight it that other countries should pay for it too. I believe if we fight then our cost should be low. We must get other countries involved to be able to afford a war.

Ismail K said...

I do think the world needs a police officer. I don’t think it should only be the U.S though. If the world has a police man, it will bring order and stabilization to lawless places. It will ensure that markets are open and resources will keep moving. The U.S. also has the strongest and most experienced military. But we already are too involved as it is. Also like what happened in Iraq we could widen or broaden the conflicts if we get involved because some countries like to work things out themselves. Also it will cost a lot of money because we will be using our military 24/7. Unless we can get other countries to help pay the expenses which is why I think the U.S. shouldn’t be the only police officer. Also we don’t have enough military personnel unless we have a draft which is highly unlikely or we would have to bump up pay and benefits for all soldiers which would add to the tons of money we would already be spending. So if we can get 2 or 3 world powers to help the U.S. help solve world problems then it would be good. But if that doesn’t happen then the U.S. should not be the world’s police officer.
Ismail Karabulut

Anonymous said...

Tyler DeWald 3rd

I do not think that the United States should act as the world police officer but at the same time there has to be a nation or a group of nations who takes care of the undeveloped nations. As the world stands today, America is just not ready to go in another war or conflict with other nations. We just don’t have enough troops, even though a draft is unlikely to happen we just need more troops to help “police” the countries we invade. Not to lead anyone with the wrong way but what the United States is doing is not a bad thing to do. Someone has to bring order and stability to lawless places; for example, Iraq, Iran and North Korea. I’m not sure if I am the only one but our war history is quite something to be proud of. Overall, we defended nine countries, some being empires, Ottoman and Austria-Hungarian and losing one war to Vietnam. I did not add the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan because one the wars are not over. Two because they do not belong in “win” or “lose” columns. In some ways we won and others we lost the war. However, as being the world police we had to get into these conflicts making us, as Americans as policeman.

Allison Smart said...

There are many aspects to being a world peacekeeper or a world policeman. Although there are some good attributes to this there are also some bad ones. Some of the good things that could come out of it is if we were to be the world policeman we might be able to bring order and control to the world. We would be able to settle disputes between countries peacefully, hopefully, before any fighting started. One good reason why we should be the world policeman is that we have a strong military. Also the United Nations has failed to step up to take this role. They don’t want to take control and are often divided on the decisions that are made. But if we did take on this role that would just add to all the other responsibilities that the US holds. We could get too involved in other countries affairs and make them mad. This in turn could widen that already forming conflict. If we were in every war that occurred between feuding countries then that would cost us a ton of money. The Iraq war alone has put us in a huge national debt. After considering many aspects to this question I believe that we should have a minor role in helping the world. We shouldn’t nose into other countries business unless it begins to involve the United States. So should we have the main role of world Policeman, NO. This job should be left up to the UN not the US alone.

Brandon Kauth said...

Should America act as the world's police officer? Yes I do believe that America should be the worlds police officer. I think the United States is the most powerful and successful country in the world today. The United States should lead by example and if some other country is going something that is clearly wrong, we should step in. I think other countries would agree with the United States and support them. The United States has to be careful to be so nosy in other countries business. If that problem has an impact on the United States then we should take action. If we don’t take action, then who will? Would we let the bad countries get away with horrible things? I think not. Obviously there are some drawbacks to being the worlds police. It can lead to more US troop deaths, plus the rising cost of the conflict we are fighting. We are the most sophisticated and one of the smartest nations in this world, I think we should use that for the good. Maybe one day we will be repaid back with all of our favors. This is why I think the United States should be the worlds police. (they did make a sweet movie about this)

Johanna Hilbert said...

I think there are many different factors playing a role.
Let’s start with America and its people. I’ve noticed that all Americans are super patriotic and sometimes still live in the past. They are so proud of the wars they’ve won, especially WW2. They see themselves as something special. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, times have changed and it would sometimes be good if they look at other countries and their political standpoint.
Then, there is the Government. Many times it made the right decisions for example it led other countries into peace and helped rebuild. But lately it made some really bad choices; the worst of all, in my opinion, lying to its citizen about Iraq.
It is also very interesting to look back in history when America stepped out to help. After WW2 America was the force that rebuild the entire European continent, that was weakened in every possible way. In the 90s it was the leader of the international community to help in the Bosnia conflict.
Nowadays there are still conflicts going on for example in Darfur or Sierra Leone. It seems like America doesn’t want to step in because there is no benefit for them. Possible other factors could be the bad economy and the lack of troops.
In my opinion America suffered a lot from the ongoing Iraq war. People have lost the trust in their government and the international community as well. I think America has always been an amazing country, who I’m just still learning to understand. It is faster than other nations (especially the European ones) who just sit and talk and talk. However, they might not as quick start a war. They are more the negotiators.
I don’t really know whether I see America as an “International Police officer”. It should go out in the world, show support and not seem too sure about itself, because otherwise nations will turn their heads and think that America just wants to know everything better let’s them figure out it. I think that’s wrong. I believe in working together and solving conflicts together.

Luke Szczurek said...

I dont think that the United States should act as the worlds policeman. I think this for several reasons. If they get involved in a conflict between to other countries that can upset other countries and possibly started a war with us involved. If that were to happen we would have americans getting killed for no reason. I think the United States would stay in more peace with more countries if they just dont enter conflicts. I wouldnt like to have another country come to America and tell me how to live my life and completely change everything ive been doing for years. This is why i think its a dumb reason to be the worlds policeman.

Amanda Sloan said...

I do not think that the United States should act as policemen. This is because if we act as policemen the we will have many problems. Some problems that would be caused are if there are other world wide issues then we are the police and we would have to get involved to resolve the problem. If we do not end the conflict that both sides agree with or want then that country or countries will be mad at us and it will cause more problems for the United States. This will also cost millions of dollars which we can't afford to spend because of all the money we have put toward the Iraq War. Another problem that would be an issue if we got involved in this is that we don't have enough military. We could have a draft to get people in the military but that would be very unlikely. These reasons above are the reasons why i don't think that the United States should act as a police system.

Mike Mafrice said...

I don't think the U.S. should feel the need to become the world's police officer. We have our own problems right here in America. When we tried to step in Iraq and act as the police officer look how that turned out a long-term war costing billions of dollars and nobody knows when it could end. Other countries could become scared that the U.S. is gaining too much power and revolt against us. Also we don't have enough military to spread across the world and I know America doesn't want a draft. I feel the U.S. is stepping in too much already and should back off the last thing a struggling country wants is somebody else telling them what they can and cannot do. The U.S. should not force other countries into believing what the U.S. believes and when we do that it is as if we are trying to create an empire. We should only step in arguments that concern us why are we trying to make peace with everyone its clearly not working. Yes we are one of the only countries that can be the world police officer but i feel that it should not be our job to be looking over other countries.

Elaina Gardner said...

When it comes to the United States being the ‘world’s police’ I think that it’s something that would be in a way inappropriate and I think that other countries would think we were rubbing there noses in the success we have had. I also think it would be hypocritical to tell other countries not to do things that we’ve done ourselves. We would be ‘putting ourselves on a pedestal’ and making it seem like we personally think we are better than the rest of the world. We have done a lot of good but we’ve made a lot of mistakes as well and we honestly have no right to tell other countries what to do and what not to do. I think we could set examples for the rest of the world and we could try to help in dire situations but I don’t think that we should try to be the world’s police. Instead we could concentrate on fixing our own problems rather than trying to fix others’. We need to get control of our money issues and we need to fix our war situations as soon as possible and we need to stop trying to be a mentor when at the moment we should be the mentee.

Joe Wallace said...

I strongly believe that he US should not be the world’s policemen. There are many reasons to support my opinion. First of all the US can’t afford to be the policemen for the world, literally. When we get involved and spend money in affairs that don’t even concern us the money is obviously just wasted. Another reason is that when the US tries to step in they usually just end up making things worse. Many times we even turn all countries involved against us because of the way we try to play policemen. The final and probably most important reason of them all is that the world does not need a policeman! Countries can solve problems by themselves and it is not fair for the US or other countries to depend on the US to solve all of their problems. Just look at the examples of Iraq and the Gulf War. In both these instances the US was trying to solve a problem in another country and in both the examples the US lost soldiers, money and turned countries against us. That is why I believe the US or any other country for that matter should be the policemen of the world, because the world doesn’t need policemen!

bobby haag said...

I do not think America should act as a world’s police officer. Just because our country may be stronger in more areas than other countries in the world, does not mean we should go tell others how to live. Those other countries have there own way to do things, even if it seems wrong to us. Also, they may not want us coming in their lands and telling people what to do and what’s wrong or right. I honestly think we should just plan on worrying about our country rather than those others because America is not doing so well itself. So overall, I say no to the idea of a world police officer.
3RD bobby.h.

Anonymous said...

I don’t think America should act as the worlds “police officer”. If we were to take this role there could be consequences and need for help in doing the policing which in it defeats the purpose of only America being the police officer. The downsides to becoming this overseer are that it will cost us money. The money that it would cost would be unbearable at this time because of the economy. There would also be a large increase in the number of casualties. This means that we would either have to set up a draft or make going and getting yourself killed for the government look like an ice cream Sunday. With all of this responsibility we would need help. We would need our allies to send us soldiers and money. When this happens I feel like we would lose our title as a police officer because we would be getting help. Also with the title as the police officer of the world it could be taken as a threat to other countries. This could then cause our enemies to strike at us because they feel that we are taking over them. The all would end in chaos and destruction.
Ryan St. John

Jake Chmara-5th hour said...

I think that the United States should be the World’s police but I think that they should have limits and should act with moderation. I agree that we have the most power of any country and that we are the most equipped to serve as the World’s police, but I think that in the past we have taken it too far. I think that we have gotten involved in some conflicts that are not necessarily our business and interfering with foreign affairs that do not have anything to do with us. For example, the conflict in Iraq. We do not really have a need to be there. We do not have much business there and we are in a way, acting like bullies. There are many conflicts that we should intervene in, but we need to be careful and not get too involved. The World needs a police officer to help control conflicts and affairs between countries, and the United States is the country that is best suited to this job. We must carry out this duty, but we must also maintain control and regulate our involvement.

Barry Clay said...

Blog #10 - Does the world need a police officer?
I think that the world does needs a police officer because we need someone to regulate conflicts. However In the Past, the U.S. has not proven itself totally in the interest of the needy country, for example some say we entered Iraq for oil. If there is a policemen of the world I believe a committee of respected yet powerful countries should be formed much like the UN consisting of more than one county with access to considerable political and military power. The U.S. though needs to gain back respect from other countries before we can even think about policing them. The U.S. doesn’t seem to have the same level of support of the citizens anymore and as a result the motive to protect other countries can be lost quickly. Another reason why we cannot afford to police the world is we would have to choose what conflicts are big enough or small enough to actually take action in. For example the U.S. will probably not get involved with a huge conflict if India and China were to go to war but they probably would get involved with a smaller middle eastern conflict. But if a global committee decided on these issues then more effective and mature decisions will probably be made.

Donavin Camarata 5th hour said...

Do I think that the United States should be the worlds police man? Well I do think that we bring order and stability to lawless places or to places in need of aid. In a weird way we are uniquely qualified to be the police man of the world, cause we help ensure that markets are open and resources keep moving. We also have the strongest and most experienced military. Some bad things though about the United States for being the worlds police man is were sometimes don’t mind our own business (an example would be the golf war). But if you think about it who is can take our place? The U.N. cant cause their divided, European Union isn’t always united but, China could however. Seeing as were already too involved as it is, we could potentially widen or broaden initial conflict if we get involved. We spend TONS of money being the police man- We need to have other countries get involved in expenses. But now that we have been this “police man” for too long, now it seems there is no turning back, because if we just leave our place people in need of our aid will crumble and falter. So essentially though we aren’t seen as the nicest “police man” it seems we are most fit for the job.

Anonymous said...

I believe that the United states of America should not be the worlds police officer because if America where to stick its nose in every other countries business then first of all there would not be enough of the military in America to police everyone and people, countries, would start to get aggravated with America trying to play the role of "God" in the world. If countries were to get angry with the united states then they would not back us up when we need it for instance when we or if we are to go to war in the future and other countries that supply the united states with recourses would make it difficult to get those recourses, making life on the average American more difficult.
I believe that America should offer assistance when other countries look for it and only when other countries look for it otherwise we will end up with more and more enemies.

Eric Bruning
Hour 3

Tyler Porritt (5th) said...

I do think that the world needs a policeman. One reason the U.S. would be the right country for the job is that we have the strongest, most experienced military. We have the ability to bring order and justice to lawless places. The U.N. and the European Union are often divided on what stance to take in situations, and the U.S. could deal with the problems of the world. If we were to be the police officers, it would be necessary to proceed cautiously in everything that we do. We would have to be careful not to get ourselves too involved in other conflicts, or broaden the original conflict. Also, we would not be able to pay all of the costs of being a police officer. Countries that benefited from our services would have to pay us a fee so that we can continue to do our job. We also do not have enough personnel to be everywhere in the world at one time. Each country that benefits from our services should aid us in military personnel, while the U.S. is still coordinating the effort.

Anonymous said...

Melanie Eiten
In my opinion I do not think that
the U.S. should be considered the “policeman” of the world. I think that the U.S. should lead by example: you could say that the U.S. should act as the police chief who shows all the other policemen how to be good at their job through demonstration.

In history we have destroyed many world powers; we broke away from the British, fought the French the British and the Spanish. During WWI we fought the Ottoman Empire and during WWII we fought the Japanese, then fighting the Germans turning into the Holocaust. And finally we fought the Soviets during the Cold War. We have also helped to create many new world powers.

Still the U.S. needs to be mindful that there are many countries that are built on people’s beliefs and ways of life. Though they may not be like ours that does not mean that they are wrong. As a police chief our county should act to assist those who ask for help and act for those countries that need order and stability showing them how to maintain that through example. As a police chief we do need to make sure that markets are open and resources keep moving, for that is a benefit for the whole world.

Anonymous said...

Do not think that the United States should act as the world police officer because I think that we would be somewhat hypocritical and we already have a lot of power. I think that the United States would be known as hypocritical because in the past we told other countries what they can and can’t do so if we are the new world’s police officer we could be known as hypocrites. Since we would not be the world police officers then I think that it would be better to watch other countries other than being in their countries 365 days of the year, telling them how to live their lives. There are just too many problems with the U.S right now. The other big problem is always money or the funding. This could be a big a problem not only because of this recession but because of inflation and then prices will rise. There is also more reasons why the United States shouldn’t act as the worlds police officer but right now this is the best answer I could think of. 
Christen Knight

Chris Webberly said...

America’s idea of becoming the world’s policeman is somewhat of a good idea. We would be able to make money and profits off of other countries from what they give us for protecting them from other countries. But, in another sense, it would be a bad thing to be the World’s policemen because we would be blamed for most of the wars, among other things, even if we weren’t involved in the first place.

Jake Prosyniuk 3rd Hour said...

Should the U.S act as the world’s police? I think not. We are no longer the stable country that we might have once been, and we have hid our economic instability for years, but now that image is beginning to present itself to the world. Our military power may be superior to others, but we cannot afford to handle everyone else’s problems, without being paid by the countries that benefit. There’s another problem though: in the conflict, whom do we decide to help, and are our choices to help that country the right ones? We cannot just trust that our decisions are always the right ones, hopefully after recent wars the American people will realize that. This leads me to my final point, that it is just not our place to do it. Those who are affected by them should resolve the conflicts, so stepping in and choosing who is right isn’t the correct thing to do. Perhaps we should be working towards total nuclear disarmament instead, to reduce the risk of these conflicts getting out of hand. After all, that is what we should really be concerned about: weapons powerful enough to destroy vast amounts of land and people, and lots of them. The fear that we will become weak because of this is unjustified, because nuclear warheads are an offensive weapon; just because we can’t blow the other people up more doesn’t mean we’re weak, and being weak won’t even matter when we’re all dust at the bottom of a crater.

Anonymous said...

America’s idea of becoming the world’s policeman is somewhat of a good idea. We would be able to make money and profits off of other countries from what they give us for protecting them from other countries. But, in another sense, it would be a bad thing to be the World’s policemen because we would be blamed for most of the wars, among other things, even if we weren’t involved in the first place.

Chris Webberly 3rd hour

gauri gupta said...

Does the world need a police officer? The answer to this question is yes, the world does need someone who could regulate law and orders and stabilize the lawless places. It needs someone who could ensure that markets are open to all and the resources keep moving. I think US is uniquely qualified to do this at this moment because Europe and the Arab nations are too divided. At the same time India is a developing country itself and is not in a state to take charge of the world, it has a lot of internal matters to resolve first. China could/could not do it.
The point of America being the world’s police officer is valid because it has shown qualities of a peacemaker in the past. It has the ability to resolve conflicts. Though there have been bad decisions take but overall it has that capacity to handle the world. At the same time we do not want to project US as an empire because this is what got us to war in the first place, there are a few drawbacks to this as well. Firstly, by doing this we open ourselves to hatred and new enemies. The one who do not like are decisions may turn foes; it opens us to foreign attacks. secondly this is going to cost a lot of money so more countries should come up and pay us for our services provided(even local policeman and fireman are paid for their services and looked upon as hero’s). Thirdly are army is insufficient. We will have to make the offer of joining the military look more lucrative and attractive. All this is not an easy ting do to. With so many problems already we should not think of taking any more new ones.therfore the idea is of becoming a world police officer is not bad but the time may not be favorable.

Katie Nicholls, 5th Hour said...

For this question, I think it could go either way. America should and should not act as the world’s police officer. The upsides of America being the world’s police officer are that we would bring order and stability to lawless places. We would step in and help create order and discipline to their country or area. We would also ensure that markets are open and resources are going to keep moving. We have the strongest and most experienced military, so we could obviously create order and discipline. Some of the downsides of having America as the world’s police officer is that we are already too involved as it is. If we continue to try and boss other countries around, they might get frustrated with us and it would widen and broaden conflicts that we already have. Also, it’s tons of money, and in the condition our country is in right now, I’m not sure if we could handle spending that much money to provide for other countries’ faults. We also don’t have enough personnel; we might have a strong and experienced military, but if we don’t have enough people, then where would that get us? So having America as the world’s police officer could be a good or a bad thing.

Alana Walker (5th Hour) said...

No, I do not think America should act as the world’s police officer, unless the help is asked for, and it wouldn’t put the U.S. in an uncomfortable position. At the moment America is not doing so well financially, and ALLWAYS helping out would cost A LOT of money. Since we do have the strongest military, maybe other countries could help out with financing. It should be a global effort. Another issue is having enough personnel. Enlistment rates are dropping and eventually we will not have enough people to be “the world’s policeman”, so in a time of need America may be faced with a draft, which is something really nobody wants. In order to raise enlistment rates, the pay and benefits may need to be increased, but can America afford that? Also America can’t solve everyone’s problem, if a country we have allies with is in the wrong, we couldn’t just send our troops after them. In the end we could wind up with more enemies than allies. The only time we should be able to act as “The World’s Policeman” is if the outcome could affect us (as what happened with the Gulf war). To make a long story short, I think America shouldn’t act as the “Worlds Policeman” unless asked for the help.

Anonymous said...

As an American I think that it is very important that we act as a police because government doesn’t really want to do its job and there for someone has to step up to the plate. It is important that everyone is able to work together because with that in hand we are able to get more accomplished with no problems intact. This way would also be an easy way because most people feel any way that when a president is elected the changes that we have to go through are dramatic. As a country it would be amazing to see us all come as one and pitch in here and there and goals can be reached within a desirable amount of time. Team work is a very important factor in the economy and we should all work out the problems as one. Anything is possible it just takes a big push to get us started.

Jack DiLaura said...

I think that the U.S. should not police as much as it has been, but as long as we are the top country we should try to help with conflicts that affect us and the rest of the world. I think that the U.S. should do some policing, but not enough to turn the countries against us, like Iraq. I think that while Iraq could be considered a failure right now, it could be a success someday, depending on what happens with their government. But I also think while someday this could be a success, there were many mistakes made with planning. I think that we should also consider which conflicts will affect us the most, and get involved with those. We don’t want to make any mistakes like some people think Vietnam was, or Iraq. We should make decisions based on what is most important to us. We should also plan better than we have with Iraq. We should plan much earlier, so we have time to change it as needed.

Katie Robinson said...

America should be acting as “the world’s policeman”. In the past, America taking up the responsibility of ‘policing the world’ has caused some problems, but it has done more good than it has done bad. Taking up this role has helped many more people than it has hurt. America has brought order and stability to lawless places in the past, and it will continue to do so in the future. Now that America is seen as “the world’s policeman”, it can’t just halt all of its expected responsibilities. For decades, the U.S. has kept markets open, and resources flowing. America is also the country that is most fit for the job. The U.S. has the strongest military, is the most experienced, and the most united in its causes. With other places being more divided, and less able to help the rest of the world, if America isn’t policing the world, who would be?

Anonymous said...

I believe that the United states of America should not be the worlds police officer because if America where to stick its nose in every other countries business then first of all there would not be enough of the military in America to police everyone and people, countries, would start to get aggravated with America trying to play the role of "God" in the world. If countries were to get angry with the united states then they would not back us up when we need it for instance when we or if we are to go to war in the future and other countries that supply the united states with recourses would make it difficult to get those recourses, making life on the average American more difficult.

I believe that America should offer assistance when other countries look for it and only when other countries look for it otherwise we will end up with more and more enemies.
Eric B.

Sarra Serhane said...

I believe that the United States already acts as if we are the world’s police officer. We already bring order and stability to lawless places. An example of this is the war in Iraq. We invaded Iraq to capture Saddam Hussein and free its people. Yes, this is a very caring gesture on our part but, this has put caused of national debt to increase significantly. I don’t believe that we should act as the World’s Policeman. We are too involved in other country’s business. This makes other countries angry with us. Making other countries could make the initial problem that we are trying to police even larger. Also, when we help out other countries it is very expensive and we eventually will not be able to afford to help ourselves if we are paying to help out other countries. Furthermore, we don’t even have enough soldiers to help. The only way we could get more soldiers is to raise their pay and increase their benefits. Lastly, we are acting as if we are an empire even though we do not want to be called that. If the United States became an empire, we could create enemies and put ourselves in more danger of being attacked. I do not think that we should continue acting as the world’s policeman.

Sarra Serhane
5th hr

Anonymous said...

Paige Peak
I don’t think America should act as the worlds police officer because it basically means war I don’t know why American troops are in Iraq right now are we at war or helping there country? America seems to act as a protector for other countries and waste money while our country isn’t doing so good either. While we are in Iraq trying to “protect” they are over here attacking us. My attitude is its not our my problem the United States problem or the Presidents problem to protect other countries. If the countries need protecting they could try changing their government such as a democracy instead of a dictatorship that could work.

Anonymous said...

Dylon Madgy(Third Hour):
I dont think America should act as the worlds police officer, because it shouldnt be up to one country to govern and control another country. Because the U.S is seen as the worlds "superpower", we feel obligated to step in and interfier with another forgien coutrys war. America should actually be at the mercy of China, and other coutries that the U.S is in debt too. We rely on other countries for so much that i think we should only interfeir with forgegin affairs if we as a country are threatened and endanged, or if the opposing coutry requests our aid, or if we are in an alliance with that country. America should take on a democratic role, and only engage when necessary. Its against democratic belief, to invade a country at war without their request. We should take a role that focuses on our country and its people first, and only get involved with overseas affairs if it will protect our country and if asked upon for help by another coutry in need for protection. By invading Iraq, we have accomplished nothing but death tolls and war reparations. It saves our country Money, citizens, and regains the focus on our own country which is in poor condition itself.

Anonymous said...

MAry seymour
America SHOULD act as the worlds police officer. Many countries need a little stability and need to be more disciplined. I know that i try to avoid trouble in order to stay out of trouble with my parents. this is a simular situation to US as a police officer, because it would slow chaos and halt violence. Iraqi's are distroying their culture and heritage backround and if we are there to protect it, we can probablty preserve their schools, museums, and national symbolic buildings. I think it would help out other countries a lot, just until they can handle having an independent country where the people can control the country. There are so many riots going on in Iraq and we need to help them by keeping the streets empty at night and stoping all of the stealing. There is also a ton of violence there and we could help by maybe taking some of their weapons and controling what goes on outside of their homes. We should also help stop the deconstruction of buildings and houses because as we saw ion the video, the people will steal ANYTHING and we should stop them form taking slabs off of great buildings.

Bryce Tallitsch said...

What would be the world be like if there were no police authority to keep the world under control? Could mankind be responsible and make good decisions?... I don’t think that man kind to do it. Even with the police and military you see things on the news everyday about people harming other people, and imagine what kind of chaos would take place if we did not have upper authority. It would be like Iraq everywhere you went, people walking around with guns murdering people because there would be nobody to stop them. Crime and drugs would be everywhere. Governments would fall because if there was no control how would a government have power. It’s a sad truth about how uncivilized mankind really is, like in the book Lord of the Fly’s, when some boys are stranded on an island and their faced with no authority over them, and what happens to people when rules are not upheld. In the book the kids become uncivilized; they start acting uncontrollably and start murdering each other just because they don’t agree with each other. That’s exactly how I think the mankind would act if they were put in that situation worldwide. So yes this world, right now needs police officers and authority to keep from chaos happening.

Anonymous said...

No I do not believe that the United States should act as if it is the world’s police officer for many reasons. One may reason as to why I feel this way is the simple fact that it could possibly lead to many problems for America. Which would be really bad seeing as how though the United States has a lot of problems as it is now. Another issue that could arise from this situation is the fact that the other countries involved may not like the idea of the United States running things. This may cause the other countries to react in a violent manner, which the United States may not be able to handle. Also, the United States should not act as if it were the police officer of the world due to the fact that the United States is not in the best condition money wise. They can not afford to spend money on/in affairs that do not concern them. Otherwise it will be considered as much needed wasted money, that could’ve been easily used somewhere else. Also, I feel this way because I personally believe that the world is fine as it is right now, and there is no need to mess with success.
Ms.Allacia Gibson

Anonymous said...

CHANEL

**I do not think that America should act as the worlds police officer becuase there would end up being even more war. If America was all in other countries business then there would denfinetly be some conflict. By becoming other countries police officer it could put us in even more danger and give us a greater chance of being attacked from contries all over the world. This would give us the look of thinking that we are much better than the other countries and saying that our way is better. To a certain degree we are the police of many countries but taking a little to much control of the world would cause confusion and anger. Despite the fact that taking to much control could affect the rest of the world i believe that we should still focus on things that affect us and other countries. That seems like a pretty good reason to be in their business.

Anonymous said...

here is the america police officer one:

There are many reasons why and why not America should be the world’s police officer. But in my opinion, I don’t think America should do that. First of all, how much money would it take to patrol everything going on the entire world? Not only that, but who would be paying for it, the countries we were helping? We would have to raise the pay for soldiers and the army to get more people to enlist. Also, at this time I believe America should be involved in other countries’ affairs because it may just make them upset if we intervene without their consent, and it would just end up causing more problems. At this time of financial distress, America should be focusing on rebuilding the country economically before it spends a lot of money to watch out for everyone else. Of all countries, we are one of the best fit for this position, but it is just not something that we’re ready for at this time. Maybe when we have our own problems figured out, we’d be in a good place to help other countries, but we’d have to be very careful about not bothering anyone and spending our money wisely.

Sydney

Danielle Madgy said...

I believe that the world doesn't need a police officer because by having one you could create more conflicts between countries. There are other ways to solve issues besides getting involved. It might also tell other countries that we think we are of a higher power, which isn't true. They might feel the need to discriminate or attack against us. Instead I think there should be a Peace Chair or something like that, which includes trusted people from all countries; such as congressmen, ambassador, or president. It should make treaties and try to resolve issues in a peaceful matter; without getting weapons invovled.

Josh Cecile said...

I believe that the U.S. should only be the world police officer in some situations. One situation for example is Iraq, I think they should have stepped in and put the law down, and keep the country under control. By standing idle they only let Iraq slip into chaos. On the other hand I think we shouldn’t stick our noses in when lets say, two countries are going at it, and we have absolutely nothing to do with it. We are in no danger, and the war would never broaden to us. In this situation we shouldn’t go play policeman because we will only end up getting in the war, creating more debt, and more problems, etc. But if this war just so happens to broaden to America, then we should get into it, obviously though of course, because if we want to defend our country then it is an obligation. We should only be a world police officer if the time calls for it, not if we feel like it.