America's Selective Aid to Other Countries: Factors and Reasoning

It amazing that a country like The United States of America, who is so in tune with the world would not respond in more of a prompt manner to the atrocities committed in Bosnia. The U.S.A. is like no other country in the world, when there is a problem, like a natural disaster in another part of the world they are more than willing to swiftly help. For example, we were the first to respond to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and our efforts to help them rebuild lasted for what seemed like a lifetime. In addition, at that time our country was beginning to slip into an economic crisis but we were still able to send millions of dollars overseas? Helping a country rebuild is harmless, but if they had acknowledged the events in Bosnia and chose to intervene, it had the potential to start a war. It was almost as if they were waiting for the issue to subside. At times, our country selfishly picks and chooses the types of problems they want to help with, and more often than not they choose what is safe.

The United States of America is said to be one of the most powerful countries in the world, and I recognize that we have the capability to intervene and stop these malicious acts from occurring. When atrocities occur in other parts of the world it often goes unnoticed for some time, but once discovered it is typically brought to an end. It is the responsibility of our country and other countries around the world to come together to protect not only our own citizens, but also those living in other countries. It is remarkable that we can take a stand against violence of any sort and try to make it end, even when we have our own major instances of atrocities going on in our own country. It is my belief that it is the right thing to do to protect ...

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...ny human being no matter what the extent of the brutality. If human beings do not have the ability to protect themselves; I believe it would be very irresponsible to look the other way. We are all equal on this earth, no one person is any more important than the next. All innocent victims deserve the protection we can provide. Our country needs more people like Peter Maass in their face saying “Get out there and do something about it!” Why is it that our country finds it necessary to prioritize the severity of atrocities? These problems are not going away anytime soon; the sooner we acknowledge them, the sooner we can work on assembling a more pleasant world.

Works Cited

Maass, Peter. “The Wild Beast.” 1996. World Views: Classic and Contemporary Readings. 6th ed. Eds. Daren Felty, Ed Macy, Ann McDonald, Jack Trotter, Roger West and Susan Williams. 509-10. Print