Global issues

Answer Imperialism can be broadly defined as socio-political or economical domination political entities over weaker nations. While the word had considerable meaning in the eighteen and nineteen centuries when the British and other European nations has expanded their territorial rights across the world, the film Gandhi has shown that it can be replaced by the word globalization. As per the film, Gandhi had brought his own set of values in the far off region of South Africa and had practiced them in his legal profession. He had advocated non violence and had motivated the native Africans to fight against the British injustices through non violent agitations. Britain had expanded its empire by military power whereas US has primarily increased its influence and domination through economic supremacy and expansion of trade across the world.
Answer 2
Ferguson believes that liberal imperialism can be a good thing primarily because it provides the countries to expand its business across the regions and thereby establish more effective economic supremacy over the nations (Ferguson, 2004).
Answer 3
Terrorism is an act of violence and intimidation against innocent people to meet the vested political goals and religious fanatics’ demands, committed by terrorists. They have no moral and infiltrate the society by luring the weak and the vulnerable common man who is then used as medium to commit the heinous crimes. That is the reason that terrorist outfits like Al Qaeda are difficult to combat.
Answer 4
Powell Doctrine defines the defense strategy and states that the military power should be used as the last resort and all resources and tools should be used in the war to conquer enemy (Healy, 2003). It encourages nations to employ diplomacy and negotiation techniques to avert war and therefore, significantly restricts imperialistic tendencies of America.
Answer 5
United State has increased significant influence in the world polity not only because of its military power but also as the biggest, richest, scientifically most advanced and economically established nation of the world (Johnson, 2004). Ferguson and Johnson have reiterated that in the recent times, America has been sidetracked from its public welfare policies to the use of military power to declare its military supremacy and domination over the weak nations. Zakaria has also compared US influence to that of British Empire and has emphasized that the British empire disintegrated because of lack of effective economic policies and though America’s considerable influence across the globe can be termed as America’s economic empire, it is also threatened by vested interests and ‘ political dysfunction’. If America is to maintain its status, it needs to evolve with time and meet the challenges of the emerging new economies and political dynamics with new vision and liberal outlook (Zakaria, 2008).
Answer 6
Johnson’s ‘ Four Sorrows of Empire’ is powerful book that categorically condemns the defense and foreign policy of America. According to him, in the last few decades, America has increasingly resorted to military power to establish its military supremacy. The post cold war scenario had made United States more powerful and wilful. The American war against Vietnam which dragged on for more than 15 years is a classic example of American autocracy in the international arena. After 30 thirty years, it had repeated the same folly with Iraq war bringing untold miseries to the respective nations. It also destroyed and demoralized the American army while lowering its credibility in the eyes of the world. Both the wars were basically a declaration of America as superpower and symbolic of its bullying tendency. The author has emphatically declared that wars had just served the purpose of satisfying the vested interests of the few people and emptied the state coiffeurs with total disregard for the general welfare of its people.
Reference
Johnson, Chalmers. (2004). The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic. Metropolitan Book.
Ferguson, Niall. (2004). Colossus: The Price of America’s Empire.
Healy, Gene. (2003). Powell Doctrine. Available from: [Accessed 8 July, 2009].