America in the World's Briefings

Those briefings without active links are yet to be published.

What America Has Given The World
American Aid to the Developing World | America's Economy Drives Global Entrepreneurship and Prosperity | America's Role in Space Exploration and Development | America and the Second World War | The American Military and its Role in the World | America and Scientific Research and Development | America as the World's Policy Laboratory | The Ten Best Things America Has Done Since World War II | The Contribution of American Political Thinkers

Anti-Americanism
Will anti-Americanism End if Barack Obama Becomes President? | Strategies for Combating anti-Americanism | Trends in anti-Americanism | The Varieties of anti-Americanism | The Geography of anti-Americanism | Hollywood and anti-Americanism | Michael Moore | Noam Chomsky | Global Media Organisations as the Second Superpower | The Responsibilities of America's Friends to Tackle anti-Americanism

American Society
America and Race  | America and Crime | Religion in America | The Role of Government in America | Health Care in America | America and Immigration | America and the Environment | The Constitution of the United States: A Foreigners' Guide | Ten Surprising Things to Know About America | The Ten Most anti-American Films | America's Prison Population

American Foreign Policy
The United States and Israel | The United States and Human Rights | The United States and Latin America | The United States and Iraq | The UK-US Special Relationship: Myths and Realities | The UK-US Special Relationship in the 21st Century | The United States and Iran | The United States and Korea | The United States and Hiroshima | The United States and the Cold War

Alternatives to America
China | The United Nations | The European Union | Global Governance

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Global Governance

Today it is argued that there are global problems such as war, terrorism, climate change, world hunger, inequalities of condition, diseases such as HIV/AIDS and human rights violations that are beyond the capacity of nation-states to ‘solve’. Therefore, some form of transnational political authority above and beyond nation-states (including democratic ones) is required to address these problems. This is proposed as a desirable alternative to American global leadership.

American aid to the developing world

America is sometimes attacked for its lack of generosity in aid to the developing world. The reality, when all forms of aid are considered, is of very high levels of generosity.

Government aid
In 2006, the United States government gave $23.53 billion in overseas development assistance.[1] In absolute terms, this is the highest figure, almost twice the $12.46 billion given by the UK, the next highest. As a share of the American economy, it is, however, a low figure by comparison with most wealthy nations (0.18% as opposed to an average 0.31%).[2] This latter figure is often used in isolation, and presented as demonstrating America’s lack of generosity and lack of engagement with the outside world, but is not a complete picture.

Will anti-Americanism end if Barack Obama becomes President?

In all of our briefings, our authors aim to make a reasonable case and supply the facts and referencing to support the argument made. But some briefings make a more controversial case than others. We consider this one of our more controversial briefings.

Most surveys of global opinion suggest that Barack Obama is the world’s preferred candidate to replace George W Bush.  This has led many observers to believe that a victory for Barack Obama will largely end the anti-Americanism of recent years.  The reality is more complicated.

Any new President has an opportunity to begin restoring America’s standing in the world
Whoever is elected on Tuesday 4^th November 2008 most of the world – rightly or wrongly - will be glad to see George W Bush’s presidency come to its end. His international approval ratings are very poor. Any new President will have an opportunity to give America a fresh start. John McCain’s differences with the Bush administration on environmental policies, Guantanamo Bay and aggressive interrogation techniques such as waterboarding make him better placed than almost any other Republican to appeal to fairer-minded international citizens.

America and Crime

One of the most prevalent ideas about America is that it is a dangerous place to live. The global stereotype remains that America is a largely lawless country, where death stalks the streets of major cities and where casual visitors are vulnerable to being gunned down by paranoid neighbours or policemen. But in fact the picture of America that emerges from a careful review of the evidence is one of a relatively crime-free society.

The United States and Israel

That America is a friend of Israel is well known. While this is often explained as owing to an unrepresentative Israel lobby, the underlying explanation is American public opinion. Pro-Israeli feeling is very strong among ordinary Americans, who see in a fellow settler nation a functioning democracy surrounded by hostile undemocratic states. The record of American foreign policy is also clearly far from slavishly pro-Israel and anti-Arab, with America often aiding other nations in the region.

The myth of an all-powerful Israel Lobby
If the notion of an all-powerful Israel lobby dictating American foreign policy ignores the central fact explaining why American policies have so often, though not always, been pro-Israel.

The United Nations

When considering the alternatives to American global leadership, the United Nations is often offered as a desirable alternative. Inevitably, however, the UN embodies the flaws of the nations that make it up.

 

America and Immigration

After the attacks of 11th September 2001 on the United States, the government greatly enhanced security measures at the borders, in an attempt to keep dangerous people out. For some time it seemed that immigration and travelling to the United States was a casualty. However, this did not last. Lately the US government has been making strides in increasing immigration and travel to the United States without compromising on security. While things are not perfect, the United States continues to accept more immigrants than most countries and overall numbers are steadily increasing.

America and the Environment

Americans are often attacked for being indifferent to environmental degradation. This impression is sustained in part by a number of myths that do not survive proper consideration.

Myth: Americans do not care about the environment
Fact: America has adopted numerous policies with a view to environmental protection, including a host of uniquely stringent restrictions on domestic drilling. As of 2008, 23 laws aimed at environmental protection have been passed at the federal level, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Energy Policy Act, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the Ocean Dumping Act, the Pollution Prevention Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.[1] When it came to the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, the US led efforts to ban chlorofluorocarbons which were destroying the stratospheric ozone. America disproportionately funds environmental activities undertaken by the United Nations and other bodies.

The UK-US Special Relationship in the 21st Century

It is received wisdom for many that Tony Blair’s desire to make Britain a bridge between America and Europe, and to support the United States in the war on terror, meant Britain was walked over. This was most commonly expressed as the idea of Blair as President Bush’s ‘poodle’, who did as he was told and got nothing in return. In reality, Blair requested and received much.

The UK-US Special Relationship: Myths and Reality

Myth: America did not support Britain during the Falklands War
Fact: To the frustration of Margaret Thatcher, the Reagan Administration was divided between the ‘Atlanticists’ who favoured Britain and the ‘Latinistas’ who opposed America coming out in support. But Thatcher succeeded in persuading President Reagan that backing Britain had greater value than supporting the existential, geographical pull of Argentina. US Defence Secretary Casper Weinberger led America’s effort to support Britain and supplied the UK military with much needed equipment such as submarine detectors, missiles and aircraft fuel.[1] That Britain was able to win this argument when there were divisions within the US Government is evidence of British influence not impotence.

Hollywood and anti-Americanism

In all of our briefings, our authors aim to make a reasonable case and supply the facts and referencing to support the argument made. But some briefings make a more controversial case than others. We consider this one of our more controversial briefings.

American foreign policy is widely recognised as the main explanation for current levels of anti-Americanism but other factors can contribute to the problem and create an environment which makes anti-Americanism easier to breed. One of those factors is the output of Hollywood.

China

When considering the alternatives to American global leadership, China has emerged as the most likely power to supplant the United States in the Asia Pacific region.  But Chinese policies consistently suggest a “Pax Sinica” will countenance (and nurture) authoritarian regimes and neglect human rights and humanitarian aid; ignore proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; support state sponsors of terror; undermine global free trade principles; promote a state-mercantilist “Beijing consensus” agenda, ignore environmental despoliation and damage to biodiversity; and demand that Europe, the United States and Japan bear the full weight of Climate Change sacrifices.

The United States and Latin America: Myths and Reality

Myth: With the United States preoccupied by the war on terror and Iraq, ties with Latin America have deteriorated substantially in recent years
Fact: The US preserves strong relations with the majority of nations in the Hemisphere. It has negotiated free trade agreements with eleven of Latin America’s 34 nations and provides extensive free trade access to most others.  Nine of the agreements have been ratified and implemented and the other two (with Colombia and Panama) are currently pending before the US Congress.  Assistance and funding have substantially increased for a wide range of assistance programs.  Strong support for Colombia, where the security situation has improved dramatically, has helped bring this nation back from the brink of failure.  Despite differences on trade, relations with Brazil are on a solid footing.

The United States and Iraq

In all of our briefings, our authors aim to make a reasonable case and supply the facts and referencing to support the argument made. But some briefings make a more controversial case than others. We consider this one of our more controversial briefings.

Ten questions and answers on America’s involvement in Iraq.

Did the US go to war for oil?
No. In fact the United States imports only a small portion of its oil from the Middle East. Most US oil imports come from secure sources in Canada and Mexico. The primary reason for resuming hostilities against the regime of Saddam Hussein (halted after the ceasefire at the end of Operation Desert Storm in 1991) was that Iraq failed to meet its obligations under the ceasefire agreement, particularly with regard to declaring the state of banned weapons programs. Iraq’s December 7, 2002 “full and complete” weapons declaration was particularly troubling, recycling past denials and containing little new information, making it clear that Saddam Hussein was unwilling to abide by the agreements signed in 1991. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC, the administration was deeply concerned that Iraq possessed nuclear, biological, and chemical and might share them with transnational terrorist groups.