The United States is a superpower nation that emerged victorious in World War II alongside the Soviet Union. Geographically, the United States is situated between the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the west, Canada to the north, and Mexico to the south. It operates under a federal constitutional republic system of governance, comprising 50 states and a federal district. The United States spans an area of 9.834 million square kilometers, with a population of approximately 329 million people. The United States is a liberal democracy and a hub of global economic growth. It is also renowned as the world's largest producer of petroleum, utilizing a capitalist economic system to maximize profits. To achieve relative economic gains, the United States actively strengthens its influence in international relations by engaging in cooperation with other nations, often formalized through agreements or treaties. These collaborations are realized through activities such as exports, imports, and investments, which inherently serve economic and political objectives.
Historically, the condition of the United States as a superpower in the aftermath of World War II has bestowed it with a favorable standing and reputation on the international stage. This advantageous position enabled the United States to engage in international relations with relative ease, aligning its activities with the national interests of the country. National interests, in essence, dictate the course of a nation's actions in foreign policy. K.J. Holsti categorizes national interests into three types. In the context of the United States, the first pertains to its vital interest in propagating liberal ideological values to other nations while striving to counteract and dominate the communist ideology championed by its rival, the Soviet Union. Secondly, its medium-term interest involves the reinforcement of its economic strength. Lastly, its long-term interest is embodied in its ambition to solidify its status as a superpower on the global stage.
The United States’ efforts to achieve its national interests began with the establishment of a peace organization, now known as the United Nations (UN), in 1945. The primary goal of the UN's formation was to maintain global peace and to invite newly independent nations to join the organization. Other nations considered founding members of the UN include China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States, all of which hold veto power within the UN. In the international system, this dynamic establishes a pattern where member states of the UN operate under the influence of these five veto-holding nations.
Subsequently, the United States' strategy to strengthen its influence involved providing aid to European countries to recover from the devastation of World War II. This approach was employed by the United States to attract European nations and shape their perception of the U.S. as a compassionate and benevolent country. To implement this plan, the U.S. launched the large-scale Marshall Plan, offering financial assistance to European countries amounting to $13 billion USD, or approximately IDR 179 trillion. This program also laid the foundation for the U.S. dollar to be established as the global reserve currency. Once the USD became the standard for international transactions, the next strategy was to establish the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to sustain and fortify the dollar’s position as the global reserve currency. Founded in 1947, the IMF and the World Bank were tasked with regulating international financial issues and providing loans to countries facing economic hardships. The IMF and the World Bank represent the face of the United States, successfully attracting around 190 countries to depend on their financial mechanisms. However, any country relying on the IMF and the World Bank is required to adhere to their principles and relinquish a portion of its sovereignty. Consequently, when a nation cedes part of its sovereignty to these institutions, it is, in effect, surrendering a degree of its sovereignty to the United States.
Moreover, the insatiable nature of the United States as a nation is reflected in its political maneuvers. To solidify its position on the international stage and to dominate and regulate other countries—particularly in terms of fulfilling economic needs—the U.S. established an international trade regime known as the World Trade Organization (WTO). All forms of trade and investment activities are governed by the WTO, and every member state is required to comply with its principles. Fundamentally, the rules formulated and enforced by the WTO prioritize U.S. interests and favor countries with substantial capital. Consequently, nations under the WTO’s influence become heavily dependent on it, relinquishing a portion of their sovereignty. This, in turn, serves as a tool for the U.S. to intervene in the domestic affairs of member states, ultimately advancing its own objectives.
Identity can be defined as the attributes inherent to an actor, which can ultimately determine the actor's policies. Identity shapes the interests of actors in international relations, and in turn, these interests influence policy decisions, which, indirectly, help to form identity—either reinforcing the existing identity or giving rise to a new one. Alexander Wendt classifies identity in international relations into four types: (1) Personal identity, where the identity of an actor in international relations is naturally formed, including symbols of the state, nationalism, physical attributes, and others. (2) Typological identity, which is influenced by ideology, political values, or religion. (3) Role identity, which emphasizes the position of the actor within international relations. (4) Group identity, formed when a group, consisting of a collection of state actors, cooperates within international relations, eventually generating a shared identity among members of the group.
Identity is closely linked to the constructivist perspective, which emphasizes that the characteristics of an actor influence that actor's policies in the realm of international relations. Moreover, identity can undergo changes, even after holding onto an old identity. These changes occur due to several factors: (1) differing views from other actors, (2) transitions in national leadership with differing political and economic directions from the previous administration, (3) the leadership style of national leaders, and (4) changes in the international environment. Given this, countries are compelled to adapt by forming new identities to facilitate smoother interactions with other nations.
As previously explained, the United States is a superpower that, alongside the Soviet Union, emerged victorious in World War II. This position of the United States became one of its key identities, specifically as a superpower. Furthermore, this position was reinforced by the establishment of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). These institutions solidified the identity of the United States as a superpower and a founding member of four highly influential international regimes within the global system.
In addition, after World War II, the United States and other Western countries began to focus on economic issues, emphasizing freedom, progress, globalization, cooperation, and, most importantly, human values. These are the values held by the United States and other Western nations, commonly referred to as liberal values. Liberalism is one of the Western ideologies that has become a defining identity for Western countries, particularly the United States. This identity dictates how the United States acts in its foreign policy. To achieve its economic and political gains, the United States engages in cooperative relations with other countries, whether through regional, bilateral, trilateral, or inter-regional partnerships. In these cooperative relations, the United States seeks to instill its liberal values to ensure that the policies of its partner nations do not hinder U.S. interests.
When the national interests of the United States are not met or are hindered due to a regime change or leadership shift in its partner countries, the United States often intervenes in the domestic affairs of these nations. The purpose is to instill liberal values that will, in turn, alter the direction of the policies of the leader of the partner country, with the expectation that these policies will benefit the United States and support its national interests. In several cases, the United States has been the most active country in intervening in various international issues, largely due to its identity as a superpower controlling global economics and military affairs. Furthermore, such interventions have contributed to the formation of a new identity for the United States as a nation known for intervening in the affairs of other countries. Countries that have frequently experienced U.S. interventions include Israel and Palestine, due to their ongoing conflict, Russia and Ukraine, during their war, China, Venezuela, South and North Korea during the Korean War, Iran, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Guatemala, Syria, Iraq, Taiwan and China in matters of reunification, and many more.
Intervention can be defined as a dictatorial interference by one country in the affairs of another, with the aim of altering or even maintaining certain conditions. Such interference may occur whether or not the intervening country has the right to do so, yet it remains connected to external freedom, territorial issues, or even the strength, superiority, and power held by the other nation. Naturally, this has significant implications for its position in the international arena. Starke presents three typologies of intervention: (1) internal intervention, where one country intervenes in the domestic affairs of another nation; (2) external intervention, where one country intervenes in the foreign affairs of another nation alongside other countries; (3) punitive intervention, which is an intervention undertaken as retaliation for losses incurred by the intervening nation.