Article Title
War IS the American Way of Life
Abstract
The war against terror following the September 11 attack is in keeping with the long history of American foreign policy. Various “doctrines” issued by one president after another since the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 are really incremental expansions of that original statement of hemispheric dominance aimed at encompassing the entire globe. The westward expansion to the Pacific coast and beyond to the Philippines, Hawaii, and the interventions in the nations of Latin America are early stages in the development of American hegemony. After intervening in the First World War, Wilson tried to dictate the peace. The rest of the century found a massive buildup in military strength with concomitant bellicosity. Setting themselves against a more recent history of global cooperation, key ideologues within the Bush Administration have used the tragic events of 9/11 to set in motion a comprehensive plan for the United States to act unilaterally, without respect for international institutions like the United Nations, to achieve “full spectrum dominance,” that is, total control in all areas, political, economic, and military across the globe.
Recommended Citation
Atwood, Paul L.
(2003)
"War IS the American Way of Life,"
New England Journal of Public Policy: Vol. 19:
Iss.
1, Article 12.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/nejpp/vol19/iss1/12