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“I fear that all I have done is awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve
-Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

Those words were spoken after the battle of Pearl harbour by Admiral Yamamoto, who was in charge of the attack. To this day, those words still ring true. Before America was dragged into World War 2 kicking and screaming, America was happy to look after its own affairs and just about ignore the rest of the world, those days will never be back again; America, is here to stay. All we can do is hope they don’t destroy the world as the rest of the world sits on the sidelines.

Pre-World War America was a quite decent, well being nation. Much unlike today, sure, they had Manifest Destiny, but that was a minor goal in comparison to what other nations were trying at the time. Manifest Destiny, or the belief that America should control the entirety of North America, was arrogant, it was lofty and it has almost been accomplished. Effectively, America controls Canada; Mexico almost doesn’t count anymore since it is so completely backwards economically, so that is almost full domination of North America. Yes, America did have dealings with foreign powers; The Great War is a prime example. However, these dealings were not extensive, nor were they long lasting. America reached her hand into Europe during the Great War and pulled it back bloody, that ensured twenty years of the isolationist movement taking hold of America. George Washington himself stated American foreign policy up to the World War, “'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances, with any portion of the foreign world--so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it.” And so, when we look at current events and ask ourselves why America is so overbearing and intrusive into the affairs of others; we realize that the blame rests solely on the feet of Japan.

“December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy.” That was the day that America changed for good. America on that day resolved itself to always guard against the possibility of another attack like that, not by treating others with respect; in fact they began a tradition of treating everyone else as though they were unimportant. America’s solution was to be constantly vigilant of the possibility of attack, by being everywhere and knowing exactly what is going on at any given time. What makes this decision all the more troublesome is the high degree of arrogance that is attached to America in regards to her influence of World War 2. America firmly believes that it was the saviour of all during the terrible war, and though it may very well be true that England could not have defeated Germany alone, Russia was already on the offensive at the time that Germany declared war on America.

World War 2 pole-vaulted America to the main stage of international politics. The fact that America, at the close of war, not only held the most devastating weapon the world has ever known, but also was the only major nation to not have their industrial centers ravaged by war allowed America to neatly fill the power vacuum left over after the war. They had everything necessary to dominate the end of the war, and they did. They had the atomic bomb, the second largest army, the industrial complexes and the economy; at the same time, the other combatants (save Russia) had little industry left, their economies were in shambles and their people were either defeated or sick of death and destruction lying at their very doorstep or both.

One might ask then, Russia was discounted from that equation, so should they also have filled the vacuum? The answer to that is, somewhat. Russia managed to hold control of Eastern Europe, or as Churchill more aptly put it, “an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” Apart from the slight gains in Eastern Europe, Russia gained little. The reasons for this are threefold. First, Russia did not have nuclear arms, nor would they detonate their first until 1949, the same year that America reached 200 nuclear bombs. Second, almost all of Russia’s industrial capacity lay in the path of the Reich as it tore through Europe. This caused not only a great destruction upon the machinery itself, but a great loss of trained labour. Third, the only European power to remain unconquered was on America’s side. With England on the side of America, and set against Russia, Russia had no hope of success in an attempt to expand communism farther west than East Germany, though not for lack of effort.

With full force, America capitalized fully on her advantages in the post war world. Starting with the Nuremberg war crimes trial, it becomes obvious how America controls the sway of power. America, by far the most dominant in the United Nations since its inception, is due entirely to American diplomatic force. The failure of Russia to use its veto power when the United States called the United Nations together to push North Korea back to the 38th parallel showed just how far American domination had gone. America controlled the world to such a point, that it could fully dominate every aspect of developing nations, Chile attempted to form a communist government,


	© All pictures that do not belong to us hereby belong to the people that they belong to. All other pictures are ours.	America: The Not so Slumbering Giant (final draft on February 06, 2003, 1:10:39 AM) “I fear that all I have done is awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve -Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto Those words were spoken after the battle of Pearl harbour by Admiral Yamamoto, who was in charge of the attack. To this day, those words still ring true. Before America was dragged into World War 2 kicking and screaming, America was happy to look after its own affairs and just about ignore the rest of the world, those days will never be back again; America, is here to stay. All we can do is hope they don’t destroy the world as the rest of the world sits on the sidelines. Pre-World War America was a quite decent, well being nation. Much unlike today, sure, they had Manifest Destiny, but that was a minor goal in comparison to what other nations were trying at the time. Manifest Destiny, or the belief that America should control the entirety of North America, was arrogant, it was lofty and it has almost been accomplished. Effectively, America controls Canada; Mexico almost doesn’t count anymore since it is so completely backwards economically, so that is almost full domination of North America. Yes, America did have dealings with foreign powers; The Great War is a prime example. However, these dealings were not extensive, nor were they long lasting. America reached her hand into Europe during the Great War and pulled it back bloody, that ensured twenty years of the isolationist movement taking hold of America. George Washington himself stated American foreign policy up to the World War, “'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances, with any portion of the foreign world--so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it.” And so, when we look at current events and ask ourselves why America is so overbearing and intrusive into the affairs of others; we realize that the blame rests solely on the feet of Japan. “December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy.” That was the day that America changed for good. America on that day resolved itself to always guard against the possibility of another attack like that, not by treating others with respect; in fact they began a tradition of treating everyone else as though they were unimportant. America’s solution was to be constantly vigilant of the possibility of attack, by being everywhere and knowing exactly what is going on at any given time. What makes this decision all the more troublesome is the high degree of arrogance that is attached to America in regards to her influence of World War 2. America firmly believes that it was the saviour of all during the terrible war, and though it may very well be true that England could not have defeated Germany alone, Russia was already on the offensive at the time that Germany declared war on America. World War 2 pole-vaulted America to the main stage of international politics. The fact that America, at the close of war, not only held the most devastating weapon the world has ever known, but also was the only major nation to not have their industrial centers ravaged by war allowed America to neatly fill the power vacuum left over after the war. They had everything necessary to dominate the end of the war, and they did. They had the atomic bomb, the second largest army, the industrial complexes and the economy; at the same time, the other combatants (save Russia) had little industry left, their economies were in shambles and their people were either defeated or sick of death and destruction lying at their very doorstep or both. One might ask then, Russia was discounted from that equation, so should they also have filled the vacuum? The answer to that is, somewhat. Russia managed to hold control of Eastern Europe, or as Churchill more aptly put it, “an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” Apart from the slight gains in Eastern Europe, Russia gained little. The reasons for this are threefold. First, Russia did not have nuclear arms, nor would they detonate their first until 1949, the same year that America reached 200 nuclear bombs. Second, almost all of Russia’s industrial capacity lay in the path of the Reich as it tore through Europe. This caused not only a great destruction upon the machinery itself, but a great loss of trained labour. Third, the only European power to remain unconquered was on America’s side. With England on the side of America, and set against Russia, Russia had no hope of success in an attempt to expand communism farther west than East Germany, though not for lack of effort. With full force, America capitalized fully on her advantages in the post war world. Starting with the Nuremberg war crimes trial, it becomes obvious how America controls the sway of power. America, by far the most dominant in the United Nations since its inception, is due entirely to American diplomatic force. The failure of Russia to use its veto power when the United States called the United Nations together to push North Korea back to the 38th parallel showed just how far American domination had gone. America controlled the world to such a point, that it could fully dominate every aspect of developing nations, Chile attempted to form a communist government,

America: The Not so Slumbering Giant