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Initiative has played a pivotal role in the development of the United States ever since immigrants began to settle in the country in the 17th century. The English Pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth harbor were among the first to arrive, followed by waves of other immigrants searching for a new life. The Statue of Liberty welcomed many of them at the port of New York, becoming the symbol of a happier and freer world.
This beginning gave Americans a sense of mission. They were building a new world, and this implied saving or changing the old world.
This concept can be said to have driven the U.S. response to World War I. While initially the United States adopted an isolationist position and preferred to remain neutral, eventually it entered the war under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson. After the war, Wilson was a leading figure in creating the League of Nations, for which he won the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize.
Wilson attempted to bring U.S. idealism to the global stage. He wanted to put an end to the wars between dynasties, religions and states that had brought chaos and conflicts to Europe and the world. The League of Nations was supposed to be a better solution than the mere balance of power that had never brought lasting peace.
However, this plan to create a better world order was crippled. The United States actually backed down from the leadership role Wilson envisioned, and did not even join the League after the U.S. Senate refused to ratify its charter. The vision of collective security failed, and Japan, Germany and their allies withdrew from the League to pursue their own national interests, leading eventually to World War II.
The Allied victory in World War II gave the United States another chance to take up the mission of leading the world. Working through the United Nations and other international bodies such as NATO and the World Trade Organization, the United States exerted global influence. Throughout the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union competed for world power, but with the Soviet collapse in 1991, the United States became the world’s only superpower.
Former U.S. President George W. Bush took full advantage of this opportunity to exert U.S. power in the world. His attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan can be seen as a commitment to the U.S. desire to change the world. He wanted to get rid of weapons of mass destruction and destroy safe havens for terrorists to make the world a safer place. At the same time, he represented American power and preeminence in a way that was not welcome in some parts of the world.
Current U.S. President Barack Obama has a different approach, but possibly an even bigger commitment to changing the world, as he has demonstrated with his diplomatic initiatives.
But the world trend is toward globalization, and new powers like China, India, Russia and Brazil are emerging in the world. Will the United States be able to maintain its role as a world leader under these changing circumstances?
So far, the United States has justified its global interactions in the name of the “public good,” pursuing democracy and free trade around the world, as well as its own national interests. But the complexity of the world means that one nation cannot solve the world’s problems.
The unexpected financial crisis that originated in the United States and spread around the world is a good example of a situation that has required multinational cooperation. The United States has had to rely on China’s financial reserves to get through the crisis.
There are many other areas – fighting terrorism, preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, reducing greenhouse gases and controlling piracy, for example – that require great resources and manpower. The United States cannot shoulder these burdens alone.
Apart from resources and capability, another question has arisen concerning the U.S. global leadership. Until now, the United States has stood as a beacon of freedom and democracy, which have been popular ideas that have attracted many other countries since World War II. Western civilization has been the model that other countries have tried to follow.
But it is not the only model. The rise of Islam around the world has posed a challenge to this model, for example. Other countries are also resisting simply copying this model. One of the challenges of the global era will be to harmonize different cultures, religions, and political approaches.
The United States can only be a leader as long as that role is acknowledged by other states. With new challengers, especially China, on the scene, countries may choose not to take the U.S. view on issues ranging from trade to finance to military development.
If the United States is to continue in its world leadership role, it may have to adjust its mindset to accommodate a much wider range of ideas, interests and partners on the global stage.
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(Dr. Zhang Quanyi is associate professor at Zhejiang Wanli University in Ningbo, China, and a guest researcher at the Center for the Study of Nontraditional Security and Peaceful Development at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. His research interest revolves around the creation of a world state. He can be contacted at qyzhangupi@gmail.com. ©Copyright Zhang Quanyi.)
