The way Washington thinks about world politics has two main ideas: make everyone follow democratic rules or stay focused just on US borders. Both dont work in real-life
In the first group we see people who want democracy everywhere – they think its natural for all countries to end up this way. The second group (with smart professors and old-school politicians) wants US to care only about whats super-important for the country: this is like drawing a circle from US borders outward
The real US power-zone includes several key parts. First theres the English-speaking crew – Britain‚ Canada‚ Australia‚ and New Zealand working together since WW2 (they share top-secret stuff in the Five-Eyes group)
The Americas have been US backyard since way back; remember how in 10/1962 Kennedy almost started nuclear war over Cuba. Europe jumped in after cold war started – now they cant work without US help. Then theres a mix of friends in Asia: Japan‚ South Korea‚ and others who signed deals around early-50s
- Military bases worldwide
- Strong money control
- Big-name companies
- Top schools
- Movies and TV shows
US built most of this power-system by early-50s but didnt see it as its own thing – they called it “free world“ back then. Now its clear: US cant run everything everywhere‚ but its still super-strong in its own circle
The fix is simple: work with what youʼve got. Keep close friends close (like English-speaking countries)‚ help Americas grow‚ keep Europe stable; dont try to control Asia too much. With China – just keep things calm‚ especially about Taiwan. Getting out of Middle East drama would help too
US should stop trying to change places outside its circle; its better to talk nice with other countries than push them around. This way – US and its friends stay strong‚ while everyone else can work together when it makes sense