NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
In the ancient world, the Pax Romana was a legendary historical period during which the Western world, under the influence of the Roman Empire, enjoyed 200 years of relative peace, stability, and stability. welfare. The Pax Romana, which began under Caesar Augustus and ended with the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, was characterized by lower levels of violence, increased trade, and territorial expansion, with Rome presiding over about a third of the world’s population at its peak.
Since that time, there have been a number of eras with the same name, but none as dynamic as the current one: Pax Americana. Typically dated to the end of World War II in 1945, the Pax Americana is the era of peace, prosperity, and progress that American power has brought to the world since working with our allies to defeat fascism and confront communism . Many predicted that this era would peak with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and end with the Iraq War in the early 2000s. But as Pax Americana turns 80, the company appears to be alive and well and ready to launch a second American century to ensure.
That’s an unashamedly good thing. Americans are losing confidence in their institutions, but they should not doubt the enormity Good their country has created for the world. American global dominance has unleashed the longest period in world history. The seeds of Pax Americana date back to the end of the Civil War, when the United States purged its most despicable and illiberal institution and shortly thereafter entered a period of industrialization and transformation. Entrepreneurs like Rockefeller and Carnegie became some of the richest men in history; Rockefeller’s Standard Oil once dominated the global oil market. And America began to play an important political and economic role internationally. American leaders like Washington and Lincoln loomed large in the international imagination. Teddy Roosevelt won a Nobel Prize for his negotiations to end the Russo-Japanese War. The US played a crucial role in World War I. And although Woodrow Wilson’s missteps contributed greatly to World War II, in 1945 America was the most powerful country in history.
Economically, we reached a peak of over 50% global GDP and owned 80% of the world’s hard currency reserves. We had developed a radically transformed industrial and scientific base that made the US the world’s innovator and exporter. Our universities emerged as the best in the world. And American culture – as communicated by Hollywood – spread like wildfire through foreign lands. We had also developed the most fearsome weapon in history and our military was absolutely unparalleled, with far fewer casualties than countries like Russia, Germany and Japan.
Shooter in a US army tank. (Credit: US Army)
What have we done with that power? Almost any other country in history would have used it to crush and subjugate the world. Americans don’t. Through the Marshall Plan we used taxpayers’ money to rebuild Europe. America has not actually seized any territory. We stopped using our superweapon after we ended the war in the Pacific. America helped Japan rebuild and then returned it to the Japanese. And then we developed military pacts and global aid programs that enabled the world to stand tall against the horrors of Soviet and Chinese communism. The biggest black marks in the post-war era were the horrific domestic massacres and famines that took place under Stalin and Mao, outside the American security umbrella. American inventors like Norman Borlaug helped lift billions out of poverty. We put men on the moon. And the world entered an era that was safer, healthier, and richer than any other era in human history.
And while the United States cannot currently boast the level of dominance we had when we emerged from the ashes of World War II, we remain the world’s hegemon. We are 4% of the world’s population and 26% of GDP. While other developed countries in Europe and Asia have slowed, we have continued to accelerate – so much so that countries like Japan, Britain and Germany would be among the poorest US states. Half of the world’s major startups are American, founded by both native citizens and new immigrants. And we are now so dominant in the most crucial areas of global innovation – artificial intelligence, space travel, robotics, biotechnology and a range of other disciplines – that we often outpace the rest of the world combined. Our military remains the largest and most advanced fighting force in history. And our natural resources and domestic manufacturing capabilities make us one of the richest and self-sufficient countries in the world. The dollar is still the currency of the world. Our universities are still leading. Our elections and culture are almost as closely scrutinized internationally as they are on our shores. And we have maintained our moral foundation far better than most of our colleagues.
Meanwhile, American competitors have stumbled. The Soviet Union, which felt so threatening in mid-century, collapsed – the modern Russian state, a sad oligarchic echo of the evil empire that once threatened to enslave Europe. Japan, a (friendly) economic competitor in the 1980s, entered a decades-long period of stagnation even as America roared. The European Union, created in the 1990s to compete (albeit as an ally) with the United States, has similarly stagnated, with only a few countries (such as Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU) able to keep pace. India and China have proven more persistent in their growth, but neither has emerged as a real challenger. China is closest, but shows signs of weakness. Rumors of internal debt problems persist (bad debt has long been a hallmark of ‘planned’ economies) and the economy has slowed. The inhumane one-child policy is now decimating population growth and threatens to more than halve China’s population by the end of the century. The Communist Party has tightened its political grip on its people in a way that has crushed all fragile green shoots of freedom. And China is especially tied to the ousted dictators in North Korea, Iran and Russia, even as the NATO alliance is regaining strength. The operating system of Pax Americana – a fundamental belief in personal freedom, representative government, free enterprise and human creativity – is one that no dictatorship can match.
The Wall Street Bull (Fox News photo/Joshua Comins)
America has stumbled at times. Our leadership is far from perfect. We’ve fought wars that we probably shouldn’t have fought. Our domestic political system is shaky and hardened. Our commitment to free speech and a free press has been challenged both politically by those who would shun the First Amendment in our own government and culturally by corporations and media organizations who would be too quick to sacrifice their own freedoms and independence to the temptations of power.
But we are almost shockingly good for a nation of our strength. We continue to grow our country based on shared ideals rather than bloodlines. We are perhaps the most racially and ethnically tolerant and diverse major country in the world, and within a generation most newcomers consider themselves American, not Korean, Indian, British or Argentinian. We are the largest funder of both international institutions (through our government) and international philanthropy (through the generosity of our people). We use our dominant military power sparingly. We pay for or create most of the world’s medical innovation and technological advances. Perhaps most importantly, through our military power and the power of our allies, we continue to defend this world against the aggression and violence of those who seek to deprive, rather than support, the freedoms of others. If you have any doubt about the desirability of Pax Americana, imagine America’s military and economic dominance in the hands of China, Russia or Iran. It would be a radically darker and different world.
There are internal threats to our strength. Our debt and deficit spending could cripple us. Our political dysfunction could erode our wonderful legal institutions that have endured so strongly for more than 200 years. Our people could lose our sense of shared values ​​and our confidence in the goodness of our cause. We could experience cultural collapse into the kind of economic and social stagnation that plagues most developed countries today. We could fragment and balkanize as a country instead of uniting.
But I don’t think we will. We have fought these threats before. And time and time again, this government ‘of, by and for the people’ has endured – our freedoms and creativity have allowed us to stay two steps ahead of the dark forces that threaten our world. With any luck, this unprecedented era of peace, fueled by a union more perfect than Rome ever was, will continue unabated, allowing billions to flourish and prosper.
Have faith, Americans. Be hopeful. As the United States approaches its quarter millennia, the Pax Americana endures. Our challenge now, as always, is to preserve that remarkable era of peace and prosperity and to keep America – and the world – both good and great.
