The Monroe Doctrine

The article I read was called “Foreign Policy Leaders in Glass Countries Shouldn’t Throw Stones”. It talked a lot about the connections between the Ferguson Case that happened recently in the US, and US foreign policy. The author Stephen Walt believed that the US wastes a lot of money on things do not affect its people directly. For example, Walt says that we wasted three trillion plus dollars on “misguided Iraqi and Afghan Adventures”. If we did not waste all that money, they we could have made improvements in the US. This would have created many more job opportunities, and that ultimately would have benefitted our economy. Also, all the issues that the government has to deal with outside of the US, take away the time they should be spending on domestic issues that are more prominent to the people here. Ferguson helped to remind everyone that the United States is not as perfect as everyone would like to think. No matter how hard people try to say that race has nothing to do with the treatment of people, they are wrong. No matter what side you are on, in regards to the Ferguson case, they both involve some racism.

If the United States was to follow the three lasting principles of the Monroe Doctrine, it would have made Stephen Walt, the author of the article very happy. First, for most of the article Walt talks about how he wants the United States government to focus more on their issues here, and less on the issues of foreign lands. This relates directly to the first lasting principle. Which was “separate spheres of influence”. This meant that the people here will stay here, and focus on the problems here. This may sounds like a good idea, but it leaves the people who desperately need our military’s help to fend for themselves. Secondly, if the US was to follow the “non- colonization” rule, then we could not have as much of a say anywhere else in the world. Thirdly, if the army of the US only helped when the problem involved us directly, then many other countries, like Iraq and Afghanistan would be in deep trouble. Those countries need our help in order to stand any chance against the opponent. The three lasting principles of the Monroe Doctrine are very important, but not always the best decision for the US as a whole.

MLA Citation:

Walt, Stephen. "Leaders in Glass Countries Shouldn’t Throw Stones." Foreign Policy Leaders in Glass Countries Shouldn’t Throw Stones Comments. FP Magazine, 4 Dec. 2014. Web. 5 Dec. 2014.