American Power in the 21st Century
The Dominance of US Power
For better or worse we live in an age dominated by one country, the United States of America. The political events of the early years of the 21st Century are determined by reaction to and from the policies of the United States.
US Power has its basis in the following key elements:
- whelming military power
- technological superiority
- lack of any balancing powers
- domination of global financial institutions & banking
- cultural dominance - via movies and TV
- concentration of political power in the hands of a small and extremely wealthy elite
- a generally accepted agreement within the US that others must accept US standards
- the international power of US business
- large and effective intelligence systems
- the acceptance of a continual stream of economic immigrants
- an acceptance, within the US, of a common political philosophy and of America's destiny
- A "can-do" attitude to problem-solving
- effective control of Middle Eastern oil reserves.
The weaknesses of the US - some of which may not yet be apparent - are:
- alienation of support in many countries
- the potential for political corruption / misgovernance caused by the concentration of political power in the hands of elites
- the size of the illegal drugs industry and the role of criminal organizations in the US
- Peak oil, the time at which the world's oil reserves are unable to supply demand - at a time when the US imports most of its oil
- Failure to address the issue of global warming and climate change
- the secrecy surrounding its intelligence systems
- the failure to integrate its black population - as evidenced by the high proportion of the black male population in prison
- the size of the budget deficit
- the dependence for deficit funding on foreign buyers of US T-Bills
- Insular - with little knowledge or understanding of other countries and cultures - few Americans hold a passport
- The lack of water in the Western part of the country
- the size of the military - far larger than is required to meet any possible threat to the US and an over-concentration of resources [the size of its military complex was a big problem for the Soviet Union and contributed to its collapse].
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