Session 7: US interests and Security Cooperation

The United States of America has waged several wars around the globe in the name of Democracy. This was done namely in the excuse of terrorism; a concept that still needs to be defined. The US has impinged the sovereignty of nations such as Afghanistan and Iraq several times in the recent past and still continues to do so. However, all of this was done by United States in order to protect its own national interests. The term ‘national interest’ can be seen both in a logical context but it can also be determined by circumstances. The question arises, what threatens the US from geographically distant areas that are non-democratic? The answer lies not in the regime of the area but the natural resources found for instance, oil.

Similarly, the US has also proposed several treaties as a means of security cooperation with the rest of the world. Security cooperation refers to collaborations between conflicting parties or individuals. Taking example of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) it can be seen how its objective is to ‘inhibit’ he spread of nuclear weapons. Ironically, the countries endorsing it are nuclear weapon states yet they discourage other countries from developing nuclear weapons. Furthermore, the treaty restricts NWS (Nuclear Weapon State) status to nations that “manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosives prior to 1 January 1967.” For countries to join the treaty would require them to dismantle their nuclear weaponry and place their nuclear material under international safeguards.

These examples show how the United States has, under a legal umbrella, given itself the permission to carry out actions in its own interest at the expense of resources, technology and infrastructure of other states. At times, it may even be a trade off with (non-American) civilian lives. As long as nothing American is hurt in the process, everything else is justified.