American Dominance 20th Century

How far have we come in the past 100 years? If we look back to 1900, quite a way baby, quite a way. The 20th century began with Queen Victoria still ruling England, the Romanov Tsars in Russia and the Imperial Manchu Dynasty in China. Cinema was something in its infancy stages and radio, TV, air travel and the computer were yet to be discovered. Today, democracy and free markets, in large part furthered by American example and might, are spreading the globe from the former Soviet Union states to Latin America. As one historian says of the present situation "Like it or not, the world is American" (Yemma 1).

If American culture and institutions like democracy and free market economies sweep the world, it is largely due to increased American intervention in formerly oppressive regimes. While our military might and global intentions do have limits, American culture has influenced every region of the globe. Hollywood, Madison Avenue and Corporate America are as responsible for this wave of international Americanism as much as our military intervention and might. As we head into the 21st century as the world's dominant power we know our global influence does have its limits, but the world is becoming increasingly Americanized from cultural, political and economic perspectives:

It may not be American the way Henry Luce and John Foster Dulles envisioned. Imperial Washington cannot simply work its will on the world. We are unab

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can deny that large amounts of aid are typically reserved for countries thought to be strategically important, but through acts of courage, generosity and vision the U.S. remains the lone superpower. However, despite the dominance of the U.S. in the 20th century, some argue that the changing nature of the world is going to undermine or make obsolete any kind of national dominance in the future "As has been seen in the Persian Gulf, the Balkans, central Africa, Indonesia, and elsewhere in recent years, the ability to move aircraft carriers about the oceans or to hurl nuclear-tipped missiles across continents does not guarantee peace, �Americana' or otherwise. And with �globalization' the new buzzword in international relations�especially in commercial trade conducted by massive corporations lacking national borders or loyalties�one-nation dominance may no longer be relevant" (Knickerbocker 2). There is no doubt that U.S. dominance during the 20th century is closely aligned with U.S. military supremacy, culminating in the development of atomic weaponry. However, this is not to say that America can rest on its laurels if it expects to remain dominant militarily in the 21st century. The Pentagon has recently completed a strat

Category: History - A