The Rise of China
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Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world has been home to a single superpower - the United States. Over the course of the past 18 or so years since the Soviet Union dissolved, the United States has assumed great and greater authority in terms of geopolitical affairs and cultural dominance. This point was made by Mark Hertsgaard (783), who suggested that America's "habit of thinking it has all the answers" is one of the central explanations for its increasing vulnerability to terrorist attacks by state and non-state actors who see in the United States an ambitious, demanding and excessively authoritative global power with little real knowledge about the outside world. This essay will examine the related issues of terrorism targeting the United States, the status of the American empire, and the rise of China as another competitor for global influence. The arguments advanced by Hertsgaard (784-785) is that the united States had become the target of terrorist attacks such as that taking place on September 11, 2001, because the country and its leaders (as well as its foreign policy) tends to exert undue influence over the affairs of other peoples and states. After September 11, President Bush and his administration made it clear that American was embarked on a "War on Terror" and that other right-thinking countries should join in gladly. Hertsgaard (783) suggests that it is precisely because American foreign involvement is shaped to benefit American interest
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an "empire" as traditionally understood. Michael Cox (2-3) suggests that the Roman model of empire - which posits the existence and supremacy of a single nation-state which rules over substantial territory both actually and through cultural domination - has shaped the American geopolitical "reach" since the demise of the Soviet Union. His position is that the American empire is regarded domestically as an outgrowth of America's vaunted superiority in terms of representative democracy and its economic capacity to shape the global marketplace. How well the United States has actually managed to fulfill an imperial grand plan may be open to debate, but Cox (3) states that the Bush nation-building effort in Iraq and in other regions of the world is evidence that the U.S is attempting to create a sphere of influence that makes it a contemporary empire. Whether or not all roads lead to Washington as they once led to Rome may be less significant than the fact that American power is automatically brought into play whenever global hot spots or fault lines emerge.
Cox (5-6) also suggests that America has created an empire not by conquering and occupying other countries but by gaining sufficient economic, cultural, and political influ
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Some common words found in the essay are:
War Terror, Soviet Union, Mark Hertsgaard, War America, United China, Michael Cox, Al Qaeda, East Asia, Bedford/St Martin's, Affairs Jan/Feb, rise china, soviet union, terrorist attacks, american empire, hertsgaard 783, contemporary empire, global power, war terror, united allies, constitutes terrorism,
Approximate Word count = 1225
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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