Why Pax Americana Is Important

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the American brand has had a rough go of late. I studied in Geneva in 2006, and traveled around Europe (mostly northern Europe) for a month or so and was exposed to some of the raw anti-American sentiments that were in blossom then. Upon meeting someone and introducing yourself as an American you had to immediately flash your anti-Bush credentials for fear of verbal abuse or bodily harm. Many Europeans I met felt personally offended that we might want to depose Saddam Hussein without their complete approval or assistance. In the case of France, their government was too busy ignoring the UN sanctions and doing business with Saddam to educate its people on the benefits of a Middle East without Saddam. I am in agreement with Christopher Hitchens on the issue of Saddam Hussein's Iraq: why did we wait so long? But anecdotes aside, hatred of Americans, and the American way of life (which some Europeans believe includes obesity, illiteracy, ignorance, arrogance -- essentially solipsism) is very real.

I think only an inaccurate appraisal of international affairs views the Pax Americana as imperialist, unfortunate or even unnecessary. With the number of naysayers on the rise, and lots declaring the end of the American age nigh, David Paul Kuhn schools us on the necessity of Pax Americana. And for all the anti-globalization and anti-trade folks (or whatever you are--sometimes it really isn't clear), make special note of the emboldened sentence,

...The upside of Pax Americana is rarely highlighted. Between 1976 and 2006, the number of "free" nations more than doubled, from 42 to 90, while nations "not free" fell from 68 to 45, according
to Freedom House. There are 123 democratic countries today, compared to, give or take, 22 in 1950. One Australian government report found that between 1972 and 2006, 67 dictatorships had fallen. Half the world's population was in poverty in 1950. Today, about a fifth of the world remains impoverished.

The world's progress during Pax Americana is no accident. The United States could do more. But between 1946 and 2000, in constant year 2000 dollars, the United States gave about $1.5 trillion in foreign aid--that 50-year total, even while excluding billions in private annual aid, likely dwarfs all other nations. A success story of post-war U.S. aid, Japan, is now a top government donor.