U.S. Powers

The United States is one of the most powerful countries in world. As a superpower, it has acquired the respect of the world. An unchallenged nation for many years, the United States has many powers that keep it an indomitable force. The United States may be too powerful using hard power, as well as soft power where two views of thought see each one as important.

Hard powers of the United States consist of its military and economic powers. American military is by far one of the well equipped and most strategic in the world. With a vast amount of troops available, any threat present can be handled and maintained by the U.S. The U.S. has enough money to support a war for many years; this can be seen from the aftermath of 9/11 when former President Bush sent troops to Iraq. With that, if the United States market crashed this would not only affect the people and nation domestically but also internationally. The U.S. is connected and tied with other nations economically. If anything ever so drastic happened the world economy would severely be affected. The type of power that could affect other nations thousands of miles away is something to consider when weighing the United State’s powers.

Absolute gain, a liberal thought, is used by the United States by determining the consequence of every action they take. A prime example of this can be the United States and Israel’s long-lasting alliance. Each one has partnered for mutual reasons, Israel possible for the U.S. assistance and the U.S. for a country who is not landlocked. It is seen as a more rational choice in international affairs; where as relative gain is more of a “take from those who have”. Relative gain can be seen more as a realist view, as its puts its interest more in the state rather, neglecting cooperation and other nations.

Soft powers of the United States consist of its ability to persuade, attract, and change cultural norms. As a superpower, the United States views on international politics are weighed heavily. If certain policies favor the United States, other nations will most likely have to oblige to these policies through persuasive maneuvers from the U.S. In discussion, we talked about how the U.S. can also set the agenda for international affairs. The United States also has the belief around the whole “American Dream” idea where anyone can be successful. It attracts many foreigners who have high hopes for a prosperous country to bless them with a better life. In addition, the state of American culture affects other nations in social settings. As a whole, the United States has been headed toward more liberal ideologies as they move away from customs. The essence of individuality is being examined more as Feminist movements and Gay movements have started seeing more airtime. Feminist movements have even been seen in the across the world. A few years ago in Libya, we saw Islamic women protesting against the Qaddafi dictatorship (http://www.thenation.com/article/177467/rise-islamic-feminists#). American culture continues to grow as more women take a stand and show their power. This puts more of a strain of governments to maintain leadership by accommodating their people's needs. 

A main concept for why the United States is such a powerful nation can come from legitimacy. Other nations actually respect and fear the United States for what it is able to do. If others see you as a threat that cannot be taken down, than the only result will be to partner and create a strong alliance. This alliance can be related back to the thought of absolute gain, where a state weighs each factor before proceeding with a decision.

The United States truly does have every factor that contributes to power. They use the realist point of view to enforce themselves as a threat, but a more constructivist approach to gain trust with other international states. Both of these tactics in play put the United States in a category of its own. This category manifests as other nations continue to allow the United States to be a dominant force in the world.