American Exceptionalism: US International Interventions Since 1990

Going through the history of International relationsdisease. Iraq was the strongest military power
in the post- cold war era, you can observeamong the Arab states. This may have been their
several political crises originating from the militarycrime. Another reason dealing US intervention in
and clandestine operations of the United States.pulling out Iraq from Kuwait is "not to keep oil
This overflow of international crises dealing withprices low, but to keep Washington, Wall Street,
America's operations are better defined as" USand their allies in charge of setting oil prices" (qtd.
interventions". This concept of intervention is ain. Noam Chomsky, 1991)3. "It's been a leading,
well- known term in the political history of thedriving doctrine of U.S. foreign policy since the
world, especially during the 90s in the United1940s that the vast and unparalleled energy
States, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton'sresources of the Gulf region will be effectively
presidency. Not a single country has ever meddleddominated by the United States and its clients,
with international affairs irrelevant to its countryand, crucially, that no independent, indigenous
than the United States, However, in some periodsforce will be permitted to have a substantial
Soviet Union was playing US exceptional currentinfluence on the administration of oil production
role in the world. Through history, it has beenand price." (qtd. In. Noam Chosky, 1991)4.The
proved that US foreign policy is basically laid uponother crucial intervention which is called a
its national interests, whether political or"humanitarian intervention" ocuured in Bosnia and
economical. These policies are mostly legitimizedYugoslavia during 1993- 1995 and 1999. Other
by expressing moralities and ethical issues. But theso-called "humanitarian interventions" were
motivation attracting US to persue such policies iscentered in the Balkan region of Europe, after the
to introduce himself as a new economic and1992 breakup of the federation of Yugoslavia.
political ruler for the world, as William BlumThe U.S. watched for three years as Serb forces
indicated; "The engine of American foreign policykilled Muslim civilians in Bosnia, before its launched
has been fueled not by a devotion to any kind ofdecisive bombing raids in 1995. Even then, it never
morality, but rather by the necessity to serveintervened to stop atrocities by Croatian forces
other imperatives".1The end of Cold War providedagainst Muslim and Serb civilians, because those
United States with a kind of unprecedentedforces were aided by the U.S. In 1999, the U.S.
preponderance over other countries. US economybombed Serbia to force President Slobodan
and its defense spending a much greater than itsMilosevic to withdraw forces from the ethnic
rivals, "its economy is 40% larger than theAlbanian province of Kosovo. The bombing
second country. U.S. military spending ($343 billionintensified Serbian expulsions and killings of
in the year 2000) is 69 percent greater than thatAlbanian civilians from Kosovo, and caused the
of the next five highest nations combined" (qtd. in.deaths of thousands of Serbian civilians, even in
Zoltan Grossman, 2001)2. US is now ruling thecities that had voted strongly against Milosevic.
world in higher education, scientific research andWhen a NATO occupation force enabled Albanians
advance technology so that others can hardlyto move back, U.S. forces did little or nothing to
catch up with this superpower. This extraordinaryprevent similar brutality against Serb and other
strategic position of the US is a great implicationnon-Albanian civilians. The U.S. was viewed as a
for its foreign policy. When Soviet Union has gone,biased player.1998, in Sudan the US had missile
US leaders can pursue their goals withoutattacks on a pharmaceutical plant alleged to be
worrying how others will respond and these goals"terrorist" nerve gas plant. Over 30000 civilians
will undoubtedly affect other countries. During thewere injured. US blocks UN war-crimes inquiry at
90s, United States had the most number ofthe Security Council.
international interventions all over the world,The last but not the least intervention is still going
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
interventions are as follows: 1990 in Iraq (Gulfforces oust government of Saddam Hussein and
War), 1991 in Haiti, 1992-1994 in Yugoslavia, 1993-established a new government. Since the
1995 in Bosnia, 1994- 1996 in Haiti, 1995 in Croatia,September 11 attacks on the United States, most
1996- 1997 in Zaire (Congo), 1997 in Liberia, 1998people in the world agree that the perpetrators
in Sudan, 1998 in Afghanistan, 1998 in Iraq, 1999need to be brought to justice, without killing many
in Yugoslavia, 2001 in Macedonia, 2001 inthousands of civilians in the process. But
Afghanistan and so many other sanctions signedunfortunately, the U.S. military has always
in UN Security council against Iran, Iraq and Cuba.accepted massive civilian deaths as part of the
All of these military interventions can be definedcost of war. The military is now poised to kill
through the idea of New World Order first statedthousands of foreign civilians, in order to prove
by George H. W. Bush, which US administratorsthat killing U.S. civilians is wrong."It is a big idea: a
have always been thinking "they" are to realizenew world order... only the United States has both
this "Order"- believed to be a real disorder bythe moral standing & the means to back it up."
others- by all means.Here, we will be discussingFormer President George Bush, USA Jan. 29,
some more important interventions. 1990, After1991What is today very much apparent is that
Iraq invades Kuwait, the U.S. deployed forces inUS is showing its crisis management all over the
the Persian Gulf which turned Washington againstworld roling as an international police. The final goal
its former Iraqi ally Saddam Hussein. U.S.US is trying to obtain is "the extension of its
supported the Kuwaiti monarchy and the Muslimpolitical and economic hegemony as wide as
fundamentalist monarchy against the secular Iraqpossible".References:
regime. US drop more bombs than in all of1. Blum, William. "A Brief History of US
Vietnam or World War II, the air campaign killsInterventions: 1945 to the Present", Z magazine,
between 100,000 and 200,000 Iraqis and destroysJune 1999. See also Blum
civilian infrastructure. US allow Iraqi helicopters use2. Grossman, Zoltan. "A Century of US Military
of "No-fly Zone" airspace to crush the uprising.Interventions: From Wounded Knee to
Relentless bombing for more than 40 days andAfghanistan", Znet, September 2001. Web Site:
nights, against one of the most advanced nationsAcademic.evergreen.edu
in the Middle East, devastating its ancient and3. Chomsky, Noam. "Gulf War Pullout",
modern capital city; depleted uranium weaponsZmagazine, Febraury 1991. Web Site:
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
facilities; poisoning the atmosphere to a degreecurrently doing her MA in American Studies at the
perhaps never happened anywhere; buryingUniversity of Tehran, Institute for North American
soldiers alive, deliberately; sanctions continued toand European Studies.She is mostly interested in
this day multiplying the health problems; perhaps ainternational relations, US foreign policy and US
million children dead by now from malnutrition andcinema.