Removing Tyrants From Power

¶ … United States as Superpower: The Right to Remove Tyrants from Power Since its pioneering days, North America was known for its ideal as a safe haven for refugees. Furthermore the country is known as the "land of opportunity," embodied in the American dream. While much blood has been shed along the way towards true freedom and democracy for all, the United States has continued moving towards these ideals of humanity.

Perhaps now more than ever before, the country has begun to truly realize its ideal not only of democracy, but also of opportunity and promise. This is also why the United States as superpower can now extend its influence to countries in suffering. The ideal of democracy has extended from within the United States towards the rest of the world. This is now at the center of accepted humanity, and all abuses of human rights are frowned upon by most of the free world.

From this point-of-view then, the influence of the United States in countries such as Iraq can be justified. Women and children, along with the lower classes, have been oppressed in an unacceptable manner. Combined with the threat of terrorism to America itself, this gives the President the right to eradicate the evil of oppression in a world and an era where this can no longer be tolerated in the name of any god or any man.

Tyrants no longer have the right to do as they see fit without bearing the consequences of an outraged humanity. As benign superpower in the world, the United States is the advocate of this humanity (Walker). According to Ralph Peters, in an interview with Jesse Walker, the United States has historically earned the right to bring liberation and self-government to oppressed countries. As superpower, the country is in the position to accomplish this ideal globally. Tyrants can and should be removed forcibly if necessary.

This is what happened in the case of Saddam Hussein. Even the instability caused by the chase after Saddam and now the "war on terrorism" is favorable over short-term stability, according to Peters. America should never close its eyes to human rights violations in the name of stability. The era of dictatorship is over, and if the armed forces need to be used to help tyrants understand this, there should be no hesitation. Peters further highlights past U.S.

support of oppressing regimes for the sake of material gain in terms of mining, oil, and the like. He emphasizes that these are short-term gains, and that supporting human rights is far better for both long-term politics and business aspects. The positive sentiment attached to human rights supporters will eventually provide a favorable outcome, whereas short-term solutions such as oppression are bound to be overthrown. Supporting oppressive regimes for whatever reason communicates a dangerous message to existing and potential oppressors.

The message instead needs to be that no people should be oppressed on the grounds of sovereignty (Walker). The United States therefore needs to set the example for the rest of the world. Preaching liberation and democracy while supporting the opposite of this for financial gain is nothing short of hypocritical. The time has come for the United States to rise above hypocrisy and to stand firmly behind its ideals.

Along with its status as superpower, another element counting in America's favor on a global scale is the diversity of its population (Shuja). Its very reputation as a country offering opportunities and dreams, has attracted a wide diversity of nationalities from across the globe. This provides the country with an in-depth understanding of assimilation, diversity of culture, and issues of importance to each culture.

Thus the United States has its finger as it were on the pulse of the globe, and this understanding makes the country an ideal mediator in international disputes (Shuja). Shuja furthermore emphasizes the need for this country within the world, not only as peacekeeper, but as provider of opportunity, liberation and human rights legislation. On the other hand however there is a large amount of anti-Americanism in response to the country's attempt to deal with terrorism.

Here the United States can use its cross-cultural knowledge to gain an understanding of the basis of anti-Americanism, and to deal with it accordingly. According to Shuja for example there are Muslim movements who see the United States as representative of western decadence and materialism. Many tyrants thrive upon this assumption. Perhaps their overthrow can be made easier by addressing the misgivings of Muslims who have never been within American borders to verify for themselves what they have been told. O'Sullivan addresses the difficulties involved in removing tyrants from power.

Having removed such tyrants, the political system in the target country needs to be replaced with one of democracy. Not having experience in such a regime, the country's leaders will have to be assisted in establishing the new regime. Furthermore the population of the country will have to be coached in exercising their rights. It is impossible to simply remove a tyrant and expect the country to become democratic on its own. Again, the United States has the means to provide such assistance in the name of human rights.

The country has an extremely wide basis of financial means, as well as cross-cultural understanding. These should be used to lead newly democratic countries through the maze of establishing a regime that is utterly new to them. O'Sullivan furthermore warns that new political ideals will only find favor in the hearts of people whose immediate physical needs have been met.

If a dictatorship provides better for the needs of a population, then it is unlikely that the population will want to abandon such a regime, regardless of any damage to the human dignity ideal. It should also be considered that many of the oppressed seldom come into contact with politicians themselves. An outreach program should therefore also be implemented to help them recognize and use their rights. There is no doubt that any superpower holding the ideal.