Overthrow Summary

World War II convinced U.S. leaders that the policies in relation to the isolationism and appeasement had been mistakes. In addition, to counter the growing Soviet threat, U.S. leaders sought new ways to keep the United States safe and protect its interests abroad. 4. How would having control over satellite states benefit the Soviet Union if it became involved

As Foster (2006) analyzed, on account that the transitional government were not entitled to sign any long term oil contracts, the US government had to strengthen its geopolitical influence in the region. Expectedly, the US’ privatization of the Iraqi oil enterprises after a year denotes the promulgation of neoliberal economic model in Iraq, which guarantees the US’ economic benefit acquired from the oil trade (Foster, 2006). Seeing that the war in Iraq and the privatization of Iraqi oil corporates occurred chronologically, one cannot help but wonder if the US plotted to disguise its bona fide, yet unscrupulous, conspiracy by waging its war on terrorism in the Middle East. As priorly mentioned, detailing the military to maneuver the other country for economic benefits is one of the perquisites to imperialist regime.

Part two, Covert Action, of Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, by Stephen Kinzer, presents situations in Iran, Chile, South Vietnam, and Guatemala where covert actions were used to abolish governments that the United States claimed had communist influence and intentions. These threats were misguided, but the excuse was used to justify the actions to the public. The true intention of these interventions was to protect American businesses in foreign countries. These interferences are still causing problems for all countries involved.

Additionally, there is another example that proves this claim which can be seen through the Vietnam War: This is known as the Gulf of Tonkin. The year 1964 would mark the formal involvement of the U.S. entering the Vietnam War issued by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Having similar ideas like those of the CIA interventions, the U.S. also had intentions of stopping communism from happening in Vietnam. All starting because of two separate attacks on two US Navy destroyers: “U.S.S Maddox and U.S.S Turner Joy” (Gulf of Tonkin Resolution), the Gulf of Tonkin shows how similar to Operation Cyclone and Pearl Harbor it really was to the idea of increasing military supplies based on both threats of communism and threats of attacks, as well as gaining the support of Americans by justifying these threats as “major problems that must be taken care of all in the name of “protecting and serving our nation”.

William Hudson's book American Democracy in Peril, has given several challenges facing democracy in American. Hudson's seventh challenge to America's democracy is the national security state. Starts the chapter off talking about Ronald Reagan's administration and their involvement in Central America. He talks about two important people that were involved in it such as CIA director William Casey who created the contra to prevent the Saninistas from supplying the rebels in El Salvador. Hudson also talks the Oliver North and John Poindexter and the Iran-contra and how they with the support of Casey created a hidden government inside the government that used government resources to achieve their own political agenda (Hudson).

Imperialism was a controversial idea that a nation can extend its power outward through means of diplomatic or military force. This often results in a shift of power from one major force currently in control to another. The people of that nation under control conflict may also experience wars, rebellions, or cultural destruction. Looking at some of these events, we see some positives and negatives of imperialistic action taken by the United States, and how it affected the nations imperialized by the United States. For starters, let’s look at Hawaii’s annexation.

Imagine if you lived in a place where you had no freedom, and you were ruled by a man like Joseph Stalin. That is what it would be like in many countries if it weren’t for the United States’ policy of containment. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union wanted to take over other countries and make them have the government system of Communism. The United States didn’t like that, because they thought their governmental system of Democracy was better. As a result, the U.S. adopted a policy of “Containment”.

Some examples are the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, Bay of Pigs Invasion, and many coups in South America. America would often give military support, either through supplying weapons, training troops, or even secretly sending troops to help fight and overthrow the government. After the successful overthrowing the government, the US would have some power over the new government, allowing them to influence their rules and

Before the 20th century the United States was an isolationist nation but around the late 19th century America decided to convert into an imperialist power. They had numerous reasons to shift into being an imperialist nation. America didn’t want to begin imperializing to settle and live in the nations they were taking over, they already had America for that reason, they wanted to adopt these nations for what they had to offer, which was many things. America saw an opportunity to improving their nation and took it. Even if there were many causes for America to imperialize, three of them stood out the most.

As America became a great power, it has continued its legacy of territorial expansionism through neo-imperialist policies. Aside from acquiring land and expanding American territory, the United States has established policies that have allowed direct and often indirect military and political control, economic exploitation, and the introduction of American ideals. The U.S. has justified this form of colonialism by claiming that it is for mutual economic pursuits, the spreading of democracy, and the establishment of stable governments in developing countries. Despite America’s noble causes, American imperialism has caused many repercussions. The United States should cease to be an imperialist power as it is economically damaging to countries under its rule, costly to America, violates the fundamental American principle of self-governance, and exacerbates social and political situations in countries America has tampered with.

Some of the actions that the U.S. took was the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, going into nations that were controlled by the Soviets to fight back, and had the wrong motives. The United States actions during the cold war were not justified, because of the motives that they had behind their actions which were selfish and did not think about everyone else, these actions also caused more aggression. The U.S made the decision to drop a bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The U.S dropped the bomb because they wanted the fighting to be over in Japan and they wanted them to surrender without having to have any American soldiers step in and lose American lives.

Communism was finally starting to come close to an end on its own, so there was no need for the United States to be involved to stop it, but the United States went to war

Hertsgarrd wrote of public pressure that forced America out of Vietnam in the 1970s, as well as, activist the Reagan administration to tone down its support for the white regime in South Africa in the 1980s. Even though many citizens feel the government has the power its seems that the citizens themselves have a real impact on how the government is run. In The Oblivious Empire written by Mark Hertsgarrd, Hertsgarrd writes about how the American foreign policy is not a policy that benefits all. Hertsgarrd uses his essay to express his disappointment and to get across to educated citizens that there is a reason why other countries may not be so fond of us.

Even Iraq was experiencing human rights abuses, as well as Vietnam when it got involved with communism. Granted, some interventions are more difficult to swallow than others, but the fact that Americans are eager and able to prevent human suffering, regardless of their secondary interests, should not be referred to as unnecessary acts of

“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a historian to gain access to the CIA archives on the 1953 coup in Iran.” (Abrahamian, 2001, p. 182) For decades, the lack of available government documents on the 1953 Coup in Iran has made constructing a cohesive narrative of the factors leading up to the coup an immense challenge for historians. However, by comparing the details from other sources, it is possible to determine that the Anglo-Iranian Oil Crisis and the Cold War were the driving factors that led the Central Intelligence Agency and British M16 to stage a coup d’état against Mohammad Mossadeq.