With the presidential election just around the corner, talks of international interests and foreign policy are of high priority. Something very few citizens seem to look at, is whether or not we should be involved with these countries in the first place. If another country’s citizens came to our land and forcefully tried to control how our country should be governed, they would be met with rage. It would simply be unacceptable. Yet we feel the need to impose democracy upon other countries, discontinuing the way they have been doing things for hundreds of years.

Western civilization feels as though every country desires what we have. Regardless of whether it’s our ties with the Middle East, or our views on the inequality in third world countries, it all comes down to whether or not it is our place to tell other countries what to do.

Most of the countries we deploy to are nation states. When the United States enters their territory and tells them how to conduct their society, the citizen’s sovereignty is threatened. By no means am I saying that it is right to have children serving in armies, or that it is acceptable for men to dominate women. Just because many traditions and beliefs held by other countries seem strange and unfavorable to us, doesn’t mean we have the right to tell them how to act, be and lead. If this were to happen in the United States there would be no discussion, only action. As we begin a new era, it is important that we think about what our position is in their eyes.

We cannot simply fix everyone’s problems; we have our own problems that need fixing. Sometimes, countries come to us for help in times of need and more recently they have been ignored in their desperation. So what is it that decides our occupation of other lands?

We must first fix ourselves; only then should we discuss how and if other countries want our western influence. We cannot just assume that countries desire to be like the red, white, and blue. Sometimes the American people forget how connected we truly are to other countries, and what type of influence we have. It is important that the candidates are cautious when discussing, and especially when acting in, international affairs.