As published in the

Pasadena Star-News - December 7, 2005

San Gabriel Valley Tribune - December 7, 2005

Whittier Daily News -December 7, 2005

Why we are the world's police force

by

Gerald Plessner

December 7, 2005 - Why must the United States be the world's police force? That's the question people ask whenever they worry about or question American foreign policy. It's a question that goes back almost to our Nation's founding.

When our fifth president James Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 he told the world that we would protect and manage the affairs of the Western Hemisphere and that European nations should stay out of our back yard.

Most Americans believe that the Monroe Doctrine was meant to protect our smaller cousins to the South, but that was only one of the results. Perhaps more important, the Monroe Doctrine protected our interests in dominating the region both for our own security and our exploitation.

Like most acts of imperialism, the Monroe Doctrine had both self-interest and benevolent purposes, but on a one-hemisphere scale.

While imperialism has always been about business and security, American imperialism has always had a patina of benevolence, whether about bringing religion to heathens in the Philippines, removing corrupt governments in Nicaragua whose main offense was resistance to American businesses, or just grabbing rich territory from weaker nations such as in Hawaii.

Because we now live in a world community and not in the one-hemisphere world of yesteryear, we have become the world's police force, like it or not.

And that is why the weakened position our president now faces is so critical to our security at home and our interests around the world. The current position of America in the world has been vividly described by security analyst Peter Zeihan in a recent issue of the Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report. (You can find the entire report at https://www,stratfor.com)

Here are some of Zeihan's observations about our ability to defend our interests world-wide.

NORTH KOREA - "Anytime the United States is distracted, North Korea tends to be able to ferment crises that get concessions from its neighbors . . ."

CHINA - (and) China need not worry overmuch about the United States taking advantage of the social unrest that Beijing's softly-softly economic reforms trigger."

ISRAEL - "Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will have no reason to do more than give the occasional polite nod to American requests . . ."

IRAQ - "Iraq will go from bad to worse . . . Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran have little reason to cajole groups to come to the table and every reason to manipulate events to their own likings . . ."

RUSSIA - "We are sure to see much more traditional thinking in efforts to construct a multipolar world: attempts at hiving France and Germany away from the rest of Europe; heavy diplomatic engagement with the would-be powers like India, China and Venezuela; a resumption of technical efforts with Iran's nuclear power program; reinsertion of Russian influence into North Korea and Syria."

EASTERN EUROPE - In what the Russians call their borderlands, Russia's Gazprom natural gas monopoly recently announced raises in natural gas prices that will hit Baltic states, Ukraine and Georgia, causing hardships that will encourage people to want to get closer to Russia.

CENTRAL ASIA - "Russia is happy to pick up the pieces of Washington's post-Sept. 11 Central Asia security policies for itself. U.S. forces have already been ushered out of Uzbekistan, and a U.S. diplomatic and economic presence is really only welcome in Kazakhstan --- and even there only on specific terms."

All of this brings us to the unhappy realization that America's power and influence, exalted by the neo-Conservatives as the reason for a unilateralist American approach to foreign affairs, has been squandered as a result of the false ideology, incompetence and leadership failure of the Bush administration in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.

As a result, North Korea will remain a terrible danger. China will remain a totalitarian state, the Israeli-Palestinian crisis will linger even longer, Russia will slide back from its experiment in democracy, Iran could come closer to becoming a nuclear power, Eastern Europe will move closer to Russia and the Turkic nations of Central Asia will remain under Russian influence.

If our world has a chance to become safe, we must work with other nations to advance freedom and safety. It is in our interest to do so. And that is why America must remain strong, both militarily and morally. It's also why we will probably be the world's police force for a long time to come.

About the author: Gerald Plessner is a Southern California businessman who writes regularly on issues of politics and culture. He would be pleased to hear from you and may be contacted at gerald@geraldplessner.com.