Pondering the Pax Americana

I've recently been considering the Pax Americana in general, and the first World War in particular, in my spare time. Comparisons have been drawn in these forums between the years leading to that conflict and our own time, and I believe I have an original thought: Every great nation's existence will be challenged by another nation that wants to be a great nation. Ours has been an exception to this rule.

Cold War? No. I don't believe our opponents were prepared to simply blank themselves out of existence in a radioactive, mutually-destructive blink of an eye. Besides, some of America's most prosperous economic years are marked in this period for a great many people.

American Revolution? No. The people that advocated for and fought a bloody civil war (that's what it was) were prepared to die, along with their entire families, and without regret. A great many did, too. That war was almost unimaginably violent and gruesome, even to noncombatants.

War of 1812? The damn English wouldn't stop screwing with our international commerce. There it is in a nutshell (a really, really small one.)

World War 2? I say yes, our existence was at stake, but I'm trying to make a point - this is a discussion forum; discuss.

World War 1? No. The world was enjoying Pax Brittanica...and in 1871, Prussia became Germany and the Germans...dammit, they just couldn't get it out of their collective head that they were the real owners of Europe and the world, not the British. And it took two @$$ whoopings and an atom bomb to settle the s-storm they kicked up.

Yes, I'm condensing a lot of history. But to critique my grasp of history is to detract from my point, which I'll get to immediately.

I observed above that the Germans of the early 20th and late 19th century represented the biggest and fastest growing threat to the Pax Brittanica. To challenge a world power is to usher in an era of bloodshed, as it necessarily would, considering man's political evolution at the time. The human animal is a foul, bloodthirsty, jealous, heartless and petty thing concerned only with its own ability to comfortably eat, sleep, mate, and repeat. This is apparent to anyone willing to look at mankind objectively, and meshes well with the nationalistic views held by European countries at the time.

Between the end of the Cold War and today, there has been no Germany to dispute the Pax Americana. Al Qaeda is not it, nor is ISIS, and I will tell you why: they are the Frankenstein's monsters created by, funded, and variously fought against and supported by the American government, depending on which way TPTB want the public opinion polls to go.

What would make me shit my pants would be to see IS invest in infrastructure, both civil and commercial. Were ISIS to have motivations rooted in, say, building petroleum refineries, oil and gas pipelines, oil exploration, and marine shipping, I'd be more concerned. If ISIS really wanted to take on the Great Satan America, they would be doing so economically. Growing their influence within OPEC, and shifting the ME oil trade to the North African Dinar, or the Euro, or gold - f*k, bitcoin, some new currency, whatever - would be true and frightening economic warfare.

...and would cause World War 3.

Alas, they're not. They're chopping off people's heads, burning churches, crucifying people...stupid stuff The kind of stuff that pisses off Middle America and Christians. At this point, I arrive at my final point: this fundamentalist Islamic terrorist stuff is stupid, geopolitically and economically goofy. I view it as evidence that there are powers and people governing the governments and the governed beyond what is easily visible. I don't claim to understand that aspect; besides, this post is long enough already.

I covered a lot here, so I'll sum up. I'm not afraid of ISIS, and I don't view them as a national threat, no more or less than I would any other criminal with a gun or a bomb. I believe this because the cui bono doesn't add up. If they were smarter, I would be foolish to not stand up and take notice. We f-ed up the ME in the first place right around the time of World War 1 - right around the discovery of money; erm, oil, in the ME...

It is my hope that America learns to consider her own role in world history objectively, even some of the shameful things our government has done in our name, so that she might not be viewed by future generations - not American generations, mind - as the nation responsible for causing World War 3. If the Pax Americana is ending, it is not ISIS I fear. Sometimes, I'm afraid of Americans.