Globalization

When I think of the US as a world power, the first thing that comes into my head is our military. Our military, by far surpasses any and all others. My first experience with foreign military came in 2003 when I worked in military logistics along side of a few British troops. Overseas I was able to work with both Japanese and Korean military men. I was very surprised with each culture- I guess because I have gone through Marine Corps military training; I expected a lot more from them. I remember thinking- wow- there is NO comparison!

The US has a military presence in just about every country- we dominate the world when it comes to military. We have the largest in terms of size (manpower) and the best in terms of military equipment (weaponry and defense vehicles). Every year the US spends around $700 billion on our military- that does not even come a little bit close to ANY other country’s military expenditures. We have over 1000 military bases and/or insulations all over the world. 737 bases are in foreign countries, and I think since 9-11 that 9 or 10 new ones have been established abroad (I think J).

When you think about it- most of our bases are on “US soil” (I think we just kind of rent the land for the others) so that means that we own the land on which the bases are built- the US, or I guess you could say the Pentagon is the biggest land owner in the world- that right there to me is WORLD POWER- we own most of the world so in most cases we cannot help but Americanize the rest.

Some of our bases are for training purposes, permanent basing for communications or military intel, land, sea or air operations and some are merely used as stockage areas or staging areas- it really does not matter what type of base it is- they all (the ones abroad anyway) give the US a vital presence in other countries. It is kind of like “outa sight, outa mind”- no country can forget the US.

Chapter 8 goes into detail explaining the US’s resistance to globalization from other nations- I don’t think it should be called resistance though- it’s just that no other country has produced anything else that comes close to what we have so why would we except any type of globalization from anyone else? It would be like “dating DOWN” when you go from dating a hottie to dating a not so hottie. The US because of its extreme power does not abide by many UN policies – the International Criminal Court for example- since the Bush admin- we do not follow the order of the ICC because (in my opinion - thanks to Bush) we think that other countries may persecute our people unfairly in a way to kind of pick on us because we have lost any and all popularity or good standing we may of once had. I think we are just trying to preserve some sort of order among states- it is our job because we are the most powerful, we are trying to spread something good- democracy and we have the means to defend ourselves, our ideas, our values that we have spread abroad and we have the means to defend those who accept us. We offer protection- and I don’t agree that we only offer protection those who conform to our American ways- we offer protection for those who have ethical and just views toward all of humanity- that should be every country and every person but unfortunately it isn’t. I don’t think that some sort of compassion for others is too much to ask of those who we protect and help when they need us- it is for the good of all of us J
I am sorry- sometimes I am way too warm and fuzzy :)