American Exceptionalism: US International Interventions Since 1990

Going through the history of International relations inchildren dead by now from malnutrition and disease.
the post- cold war era, you can observe severalIraq was the strongest military power among the
political crises originating from the military andArab states. This may have been their crime. Another
clandestine operations of the United States. Thisreason dealing US intervention in pulling out Iraq from
overflow of international crises dealing with America'sKuwait is "not to keep oil prices low, but to keep
operations are better defined as" US interventions".Washington, Wall Street, and their allies in charge of
This concept of intervention is a well- known term insetting oil prices" (qtd. in. Noam Chomsky, 1991)3. "It's
the political history of the world, especially during thebeen a leading, driving doctrine of U.S. foreign policy
90s in the United States, George H. W. Bush and Billsince the 1940s that the vast and unparalleled energy
Clinton's presidency. Not a single country has everresources of the Gulf region will be effectively
meddled with international affairs irrelevant to itsdominated by the United States and its clients, and,
country than the United States, However, in somecrucially, that no independent, indigenous force will be
periods Soviet Union was playing US exceptionalpermitted to have a substantial influence on the
current role in the world. Through history, it has beenadministration of oil production and price." (qtd. In.
proved that US foreign policy is basically laid upon itsNoam Chosky, 1991)4.The other crucial intervention
national interests, whether political or economical.which is called a "humanitarian intervention" ocuured in
These policies are mostly legitimized by expressingBosnia and Yugoslavia during 1993- 1995 and 1999.
moralities and ethical issues. But the motivationOther so-called "humanitarian interventions" were
attracting US to persue such policies is to introducecentered in the Balkan region of Europe, after the
himself as a new economic and political ruler for the1992 breakup of the federation of Yugoslavia. The
world, as William Blum indicated; "The engine ofU.S. watched for three years as Serb forces killed
American foreign policy has been fueled not by aMuslim civilians in Bosnia, before its launched decisive
devotion to any kind of morality, but rather by thebombing raids in 1995. Even then, it never intervened
necessity to serve other imperatives".1The end ofto stop atrocities by Croatian forces against Muslim
Cold War provided United States with a kind ofand Serb civilians, because those forces were aided
unprecedented preponderance over other countries.by the U.S. In 1999, the U.S. bombed Serbia to force
US economy and its defense spending a muchPresident Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw forces from
greater than its rivals, "its economy is 40% largerthe ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo. The bombing
than the second country. U.S. military spending ($343intensified Serbian expulsions and killings of Albanian
billion in the year 2000) is 69 percent greater thancivilians from Kosovo, and caused the deaths of
that of the next five highest nations combined" (qtd.thousands of Serbian civilians, even in cities that had
in. Zoltan Grossman, 2001)2. US is now ruling thevoted strongly against Milosevic. When a NATO
world in higher education, scientific research andoccupation force enabled Albanians to move back,
advance technology so that others can hardly catchU.S. forces did little or nothing to prevent similar
up with this superpower. This extraordinary strategicbrutality against Serb and other non-Albanian civilians.
position of the US is a great implication for its foreignThe U.S. was viewed as a biased player.1998, in
policy. When Soviet Union has gone, US leaders canSudan the US had missile attacks on a pharmaceutical
pursue their goals without worrying how others willplant alleged to be "terrorist" nerve gas plant. Over
respond and these goals will undoubtedly affect other30000 civilians were injured. US blocks UN war-crimes
countries. During the 90s, United States had the mostinquiry at the Security Council.
number of international interventions all over theThe last but not the least intervention is still going
world, approximately 17 cases in which the moston. In 2003, to pursue its post 9/11 policies, US
important ones occurred in Middle East. The majorinvaded Iraq with large ground, air and naval forces
interventions are as follows: 1990 in Iraq (Gulf War),oust government of Saddam Hussein and established
1991 in Haiti, 1992-1994 in Yugoslavia, 1993- 1995 ina new government. Since the September 11 attacks
Bosnia, 1994- 1996 in Haiti, 1995 in Croatia, 1996- 1997on the United States, most people in the world agree
in Zaire (Congo), 1997 in Liberia, 1998 in Sudan, 1998that the perpetrators need to be brought to justice,
in Afghanistan, 1998 in Iraq, 1999 in Yugoslavia, 2001without killing many thousands of civilians in the
in Macedonia, 2001 in Afghanistan and so many otherprocess. But unfortunately, the U.S. military has
sanctions signed in UN Security council against Iran,always accepted massive civilian deaths as part of
Iraq and Cuba. All of these military interventions canthe cost of war. The military is now poised to kill
be defined through the idea of New World Orderthousands of foreign civilians, in order to prove that
first stated by George H. W. Bush, which USkilling U.S. civilians is wrong."It is a big idea: a new
administrators have always been thinking "they" areworld order... only the United States has both the
to realize this "Order"- believed to be a real disordermoral standing & the means to back it up."
by others- by all means.Here, we will be discussingFormer President George Bush, USA Jan. 29,
some more important interventions. 1990, After Iraq1991What is today very much apparent is that US is
invades Kuwait, the U.S. deployed forces in theshowing its crisis management all over the world
Persian Gulf which turned Washington against itsroling as an international police. The final goal US is
former Iraqi ally Saddam Hussein. U.S. supported thetrying to obtain is "the extension of its political and
Kuwaiti monarchy and the Muslim fundamentalisteconomic hegemony as wide as possible".References:
monarchy against the secular Iraq regime. US drop1. Blum, William. "A Brief History of US Interventions:
more bombs than in all of Vietnam or World War II,1945 to the Present", Z magazine, June 1999. See
the air campaign kills between 100,000 and 200,000also Blum
Iraqis and destroys civilian infrastructure. US allow2. Grossman, Zoltan. "A Century of US Military
Iraqi helicopters use of "No-fly Zone" airspace toInterventions: From Wounded Knee to Afghanistan",
crush the uprising. Relentless bombing for more thanZnet, September 2001. Web Site:
40 days and nights, against one of the mostAcademic.evergreen.edu
advanced nations in the Middle East, devastating its3. Chomsky, Noam. "Gulf War Pullout", Zmagazine,
ancient and modern capital city; depleted uraniumFebraury 1991. Web Site:
weapons incinerating people, causing cancer; blasting4. Ghahghaei did her BA in English language and
chemical and biological weapon storage and oilliterature at the University of tehran. She is currently
facilities; poisoning the atmosphere to a degreedoing her MA in American Studies at the University of
perhaps never happened anywhere; burying soldiersTehran, Institute for North American and European
alive, deliberately; sanctions continued to this dayStudies.She is mostly interested in international
multiplying the health problems; perhaps a millionrelations, US foreign policy and US cinema.