instances the United States has succeeded or failed to lead the rest of the world effectively

 instances the United States has succeeded or failed to lead the rest of the world effectively

The United States has evolved over the years and positioned itself as a global leader. Today, the United States is sought for guidance by most countries across the world. The US holds the current status courtesy of its rich economic, military, and political superiority, which directly affects the global economy. In the process of trying to guide the course, the United States has shown effective leadership and failed at some point. Along with this discussion, this paper will highlight some of the instances the United States has succeeded or failed to lead the rest of the world effectively.

The United States of America has failed to rally countries around the world to protect the environment. In April 1970, the Earth Day in the United States was always marked by the noise of school children cleaning up rubbish, while college students participated in demonstrations in a bid to raise the need to protect the environment[1]. Apparently, almost everyone talked about how best the environmental problem could be fixed in the United States and the world at large. Everyone was well aware that human aggressiveness contributed to air, water, and air pollution. Man has, however, continued destroying the environment through the combustion of fossil fuels in engines which are then emitted into the air. Other rejects include sewage, toxic chemicals, and heaps of rubbish, which have torn the environmental fabric that has so far sustained the earth for thousands of years. Nevertheless, in a bid to strengthen their economic standing, the United States and other countries have failed to provide leadership in environmental conservation by engaging in destructive industrial practices like building of machines using technology that has proved detrimental to the environment and tear it apart every day, thus, driving the rest of the world to a self-destructive course.

The United States has failed in leading the world into spirituality, onto which it was founded. Despite America becoming one of the most influential nations in the world in the 20th century, they have failed to accommodate spirituality. This is to imply that the United States has been unable to play its role as a world superpower, which has detrimental effects on the mind. Therefore, the United States should accept the role it plays as a superpower and impacts its influence during such times. For instance, most American children have grown relating to television as their babysitter, where they have learned immorality and situation habits[2]. Besides, they have failed to identify the family as an establishment of God. They have also disregarded the Bible and treat it like any literature book and even welcomed the drug culture, which has been emulated by the rest of the youths in the world. Worst of all, the government has made the American children assume welfarism and socialism, which has taught them to believe that the world owes them a living. Consequently, being a superpower, the rest of the world has followed suit.

Tolerating impunity. The terrorist attack on the United States of America on 11th September 1999 changed it forever. After the attack, President Bush administration came up with a document called the National Security Strategy, which spelled America’s shift in matters of foreign policy. The document stated that the US would willingly attack any country that posed as a threat to its security, which was founded based on preemptive war. The superpower first implemented the strategy against Iraq in 2003. The United States’ act of protecting its territories was not a problem, but how it implemented the National Security Strategy was not procedural. The decision by the USA to go to war with Iraq split European countries and drew condemnation, which caused antiwar movements across the world. The decision was reprimanded by the then Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, who faulted his colleagues for refusing to debate the war. By going to war with Iraq, the United States broke international law and the United Nations Charter. It is worth noting that America went to war with Iraq without the approval of the United Nations. By failing to observe the United Nations Charter, the United States was trying to tell the rest of the world that it thrives on impunity and little can be done about it.

The USA has failed to show sanctity to human life. America has been unable to give direction to the rest of the world in terms of the sanctity of life and upholding Christian values on which America was founded. First of all, it will be fair enough to consider as a steadfast defender human beings’ right to life and a longtime advocate of Judeo-Christianity values and beliefs. However, Bill Clinton had opinions that were contrary to those of George Bush, including giving room for abortion on demand. During a convention organized by Bill Clinton, Robert Casey, an Irish Catholic Governor, stood up to speak and requested to talk about children that had been denied a chance to live because of abortion since Roe v Wade. Casey was told there was no room for the kind of discussion. However, when a leader of a homosexuality movement stood up at the convention, he declared that Bill Clinton and his running Mate Al Gore were a perfect march that supported same-sex marriages. Going by this, Bill Clintons’ tolerance of homosexuality, it is hard to understand how a country that was built on Christian values could support homosexuality and denounce abortion. The global leader(USA) has shaped the world’s perception of abortion and homosexuality, and everyone has followed suit because of the precedent that was set by the superpower.

Although racial discrimination has been a common practice in the United States of America, this age and era, the superpower should have found a mechanism of doing away with vice. In 2015, the United States experienced shocking murders involving nine black parishioners in Charleston by a white supremacist. The white supremacist a picture of himself holding a Confederate battle flag. America is doing very little to protect Blacks living in the country going by the gun-shooting incidents involving the. Blacks feel threatened and unwanted in the United States. In other words, the government should come up with policies that would see all Americans treated equally regardless of the color of their skin.

The USA has been instrumental in promoting economic globalization. When Bill Clinton began his first, he signed the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), an agreement that saw the movement of goods freely in Canada, USA, and Mexico without payment of import duties. In his speech, Clinton told Americans that economic globalization is an inevitable path that cannot be avoided and that it will promote prosperity. He further assured Americans that NAFTA would create over 1 million jobs in the first five years of its signing. Since NAFTA was signed, other countries have followed suit by partnering to promote free movement of goods among their countries because of the precedent that was set by the superpower. The signing of NAFTA coincided with the end of communism, which opened the whole world the popularity of market capitalism and the ideology of non-government interference in economic activities. Leaders applauded the initiative of the United States as a great mission that will promote worldwide freedom.

Besides, the superpower has also advocated for human rights. America has, throughout history, confirmed its position on defense of human rights. In ancestry, color, religion, place of origin, color, and cultural background, American is one of the countries that is the most diverse. Americans are not united by any mystique of soil nor blood. One factor that has set aside America from the rest of the world is the energy it puts in fighting for human freedom and setting the pace for the rest of the world. America has proved to the rest of the world that it stands for more than financial just financial prosperity. Despite the shortcomings the world superpower has, it has effectively given direction to the rest of the world in regards to human rights. Most developing countries refer to the United States whenever a subject of human rights is mentioned.

To wrap up, having analyzed the areas the United States of America has provided leadership in and the areas it has failed to offer expected guidance, it is fair enough to conclude that the failures outweigh the successes. The superpower has been on the frontline in matters of environmental destruction, especially in this era of global warming.US has also failed to lead the rest of the world into spirituality. This has eventually led to individuals picking up bad habits that have now spread to the rest of the world. The invasion of Iraq by the USA displayed the highest level of impunity in regards to the international law and the United Nations Charter, which did not approve of the attack. However, despite the failures, the USA has successfully advocated for human rights and significantly contributed to the rise of globalization.

[1] Foner, Eric, ed. Voices of freedom: A documentary history. Vol. 2. WW Norton & Company Incorporated, (2008):311

[2] Foner, Eric, ed. Voices of freedom: A documentary history. Vol. 2. WW Norton & Company Incorporated, (2008):320