It is indisputable that the United States is the only superpower in the current international system, even though it faces several challenges as far as its national interests are concerned. The main interest of any state in the global system is the maintenance of security. The US is confronted with several national security challenges, but terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and promotion of democracy abroad are some of the top priorities of foreign policymakers. These are the three challenges that this article will talk about in detail. Starting with terrorism, the United States is struggling to overturn the influence of terrorists, both domestically and abroad.
One of the strategies utilized is disarming terrorist operations and seizing the initiative from them through the promotion of freedom and democracy. After the 9/11 attack, the United States invaded Afghanistan and Iraq with the main aim of flushing out members of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, which is a known terrorist group that has always targeted the United States, even in other countries. Therefore, the United States is faced with the enormous challenge of identifying, disrupting and destroying the activities of extremist organizations. It does this through assaulting the leadership, command the communications lines of these extremist organizations. It is noted that terrorist organizations receive funding from some governments, meaning that the United States should always identify these governments and attack them.
The second challenge facing the United States as far as national security is concerned is the spread of mass destruction weapons. In the current international system, even weak states such as India and Pakistan are in a position to produce nuclear energy. The main problem is not the production of nuclear energy but its utilization. It is feared that nuclear energy would be a real threat to the interests of all states in the international system in case it gets into the hands of extremist organizations and terrorists. Therefore, the US has formulated some policies to prevent rogue states such as Iran and North Korea from acquiring weapons of mass destruction (Sciolino 56). In 2005, a decision was reached globally that the intelligence community should utilize all possible means to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction because its consequences are stern. The United States employs a proactive counter-proliferation strategy as one way of preventing the spread of WMD. The main aim of the intelligence agency is to collect adequate information that would help in the mitigation of the problem. In this regard, the inclusion of other actors such as the supranational and other state actors is very important. The United States has been forced to engage other states such as India to help in the collection of intelligence reports in Asia.
Lastly, the issue of maintenance and promotion of democracy is another challenge to the United States. As a superpower, the United States has investments in almost all countries in the world. These investments and business interests would only flourish in case of peace prevails. It is confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt that democracy is favorable to trade and commerce. Therefore, the United States engages in programs that promote democracy because of its interests in trade globally. In states that do not appreciate democracy, such as Libya, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Egypt, and Syria, the United States has always supported all efforts to bring about democracy and open up the economy.
Works Cited
Sciolino, Elaine. Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.