American Exceptionalism's Influence On American Foreign Policy

America has been a beacon of hope and prosperity for her citizens as well as scores of immigrants. However, the same America has historically demonstrated indifference for humanity by employing slavery, implementing social policy that contributes to depriving the most vulnerable citizens of their unalienable rights, establishing economic strategies that benefit the few, but cripple the majority of Americans and other global citizens. American exceptionalism heavily influences American foreign policy in the ways we support and execute diplomacy, legislations and the way in which we assert ourselves into the lives of others, foreign and domestically. In my opinion we are a country that has little to no regard for human life, morality and dignity.

Hundreds of thousands of innocent lives were lost as a result of the bombings. America wasn’t justified in their actions. Secretary of War, Henry Lewis Stimson expressed that “Japan had no allies; its navy was almost destroyed; its islands were under a naval blockade; and its cities were undergoing concentrated air attacks.” I believe that a combination of the threat of the Soviet entry in the war and targeting cities that were economically dependent on foreign sources for food and raw materials would have been enough. It is clear that our military was more interested in its devastating effect, a quick and easy end to the war6. As Japan was already on the brink of collapsing, this was a way for America to display US supremacy and instill fear within other countries (i.e

Saddam controlled a region with a quarter of the worlds oil production7. After six years in Iraq, the US spent billions of dollars on the conflict and lost over 4,000 American lives in the war. Thousands of lives American and foreign were lost over the war in Iraq, a war that was fought under so substantial ground. The United States acted in a way that only supported their self interest and gain (as it relates to Saddam’s oil supply).

During the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan felt that America had a duty to be the “shining city on the hill,” an example to the world of what he believed a good and blessed country should be. I believe that duty holds true and the value is still the same, unfortunately through the examples of American slavery, World War II and the Iraq war, I have displayed that America has little to no regard for human life if it stands in the way of our economic, safety and social