US Military Interventions: Policeman of the World?

This assignment examines the perception of the United States as the 'policeman of the world' through the lens of two real-life military interventions within the last five years. It analyzes the 2012 deployments to Libya and Yemen, focusing on their stated rationale of protecting US personnel and combating security threats. Additionally, it explores the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, highlighting the perceived threat of terrorism as a driving factor behind these engagements. The paper ultimately seeks to assess the validity of the 'policeman of the world' label based on these examples.

Running head: UNITED STATES MILITARY INTERVENSION BROAD
UNITED STATES MILITARY INTERVENSION BROAD
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1UNITED STATES MILITARY INTERVENSION BROAD
Following the Second World War and during, and post, the Cold War period, the United
States of America has emerged as the dominant force in international politics affecting the
relationships between nations (Hook & Spanier, 2015). The military activities and capacity
resulted in the country often being recognized as the “policemen of the world”. This belief is not
misplaced, since the United States has been involved in military activities in overseas countries
from time to time. This paper takes the examples of two real life US military interventions in
foreign countries in the last five years and tries to base on these examples to establish feasible
rationale on the perception on the US as the policemen of the world.
In September 12, 2012, the US President deployed a security force from the U.S. Africa
Command to Libya to protect the US personnel in the country. This action was in response to the
American post in Benghazi, Libya which had killed four American citizens, including the US
Ambassador (Bacevich, 2013). On September 13, additional forces were sent to Yemen to
combat the security threats there. It was stated that although these forces were prepared for
battle, they were solely deployed for security reasons of the US citizens in those countries and
would be withdrawn once they were no longer needed.
For almost ten years US has been at a state of war with countries like Afghanistan and
Iraq. The most significant reason for this is a threat against security and the aim to bring down
terrorism activities that are mostly undertaken by jihadist groups operating out of these countries
(Bacevich, 2013). Countless US military personnel and other equipment have been sent to these
countries in a rotational basis.
The activities of the United States military in abroad countries have seen
significant rise in the recent years, as well as the last couple of decades. The idea to identify the
country as the police of the world is, thus, not founded upon false ideas.

2UNITED STATES MILITARY INTERVENSION BROAD
References
Bacevich, A. J. (2013). The new American militarism: How Americans are seduced by war.
Oxford University Press.
Hook, S. W., & Spanier, J. (2015). American foreign policy since World War II. Cq Press.