A Commentary From The Times -- U.S. As The World's Policeman

America Is Still The World's Policeman
-- Times Online

The world benefits hugely from America's global dominance. Long may their involvement last.

Is America still the world’s policeman? Yes, but it’s also a lot more than that. The US occupies an unparalleled place in the international order as, in effect, the alternative to world government. There exists no supranational organisation that exercises sovereignty, and there is highly unlikely to be one in our lifetimes. Democratic nation-states, by virtue of being democratic and therefore responsive to national mores, will not cede the sovereignty necessary for the UN to be able to impose its will on miscreant states. In the absence of world government, the US fills the gap as the provider of global public goods. This role has been cogently analysed by Michael Mandelbaum, the International Relations scholar, in his book The Case for Goliath.

Despite the current ructions in the international financial system, these public goods encompass the economic sphere. They include the provision of an international reserve currency and the principal support for an open trading system. In diplomacy, they include the role of mediator for intractable conflicts, such as the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. (America’s role as honest broker in bitter conflicts long predates the much overestimated Jimmy Carter at Camp David. Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his mediation efforts in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05.) But the most important global public good is collective security.

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My Comment: Unfortunately for the world .... the U.S. can no longer be the world's policeman. The cost is enormous, and the energy that is drained to fight these wars (with most of them now being small wars) .... has resulted with the consequences of being involved becoming far more worse than not being involved.

The U.S. will probably be focused on what is their national interest ..... not what is the world's best interest. Personally (after 7 years of Afghanistan, Iraq, and scores of small wars) .... I believe that this is probably the best choice.