As I sit here pondering the question of what the greatest threat to global peace and security is, I can’t help but to agree with some of the people in class who are arguing that global warming and environmental issues are currently one of the biggest threat to the world. However, instead of jumping into the eco-friendly bandwagon, I would like to bring the issue back home to a national level.
To make it a short statement though, the reason why I feel that global warming is a major global threat is because the earth is slowly deteriorating due to society’s irresponsible actions. Whether it is the harmful chemicals that is affecting the ecosystem or the carbon emissions that is polluting and damaging the atmosphere, the accumulation of all these factors will eventually destroy earth (for the lack of words). People say that we should not be concerned with environmental issues because we won’t be affected for many years. However, are we really going to wait until major natural disasters to take action? Are we really going to be the “assholes” that is causing everyone to struggle in order to live, considering that our generation is the one polluting the most? It is crucial that we take into consideration the effects caused by our actions and figure out how to reduce the amount of damage on earth.
That being said, let’s look at the global threat issue from the United States. I feel that the biggest threat the United States faces today is its self-identity and the way it views itself has a hegemonic state in the world. Ever since the end of World War II, the United States became the hegemonic nation in which it assumed the “Big Daddy” position to administer global issues. With its mission to spread democracy to other countries and establish peace, the United States protected its allies and the nations that were willing to change its governmental structure. Since the economy in the United States was basically the only one left standing and booming after the war, it had more than enough funds to help other countries develop.
For the next few decades, United States did very well in creating and maintaining good relationships with other nations. Unfortunately, ever since post 9/11 the nation has been economically struggling. With all of the money spent in the war, the United States had no choice but to borrow money from other nations causing the country to go into debt. Nevertheless, the United States still continues to use its hegemonic authority to deal with international issues. Whether it is supporting Haiti with its earthquake or bringing Palestine and Israel into agreements, the United States is there to assist other nations around the world. However, I feel that the United States is overestimating how much it can do. It has come to a point where the country needs to bring itself back home and figure out how it can help itself and its own economy before helping other nations again. This is something that President Obama mentions in his National Security article back in May 2010. Instead of spending money (that is not even ours) to help other countries, I feel that the United States should first focus its agenda in reshaping America. Once the economy is growing again and there is not much debt left, the United States may go ahead and help the world again. We have to keep in mind that the United States is a hegemonic state, but it’s not here to be “Mr. Mom.” It is not able to handle and please every single state in the world at the same time.
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