This is my second visit to the United States and very interesting experiences in terms of my interaction with the local people. It has always been a great to talk to the American people as they are very welcoming and emphatic listeners at the same time. Though traditionally inward, there is a growing concern among the people about the U.S foreign policy.
According to statistics come from independent surveys, almost 90% American people living in smalls place are least concerned about their country’s foreign policy and are more into their domestic news as compared to other parts of the world. They are more concerned about their education, healthcare, taxation and rights. It’s a general phenomenon that people of big countries are more inward.
During my visits to Ely, Lake Shetek, Tracy and other places, I found myself explaining people the significant role of Pakistan in the war on terror and how much strategically significant country it is in the South Asian region. It also sheds light on the dark side of the U.S. media which is more into domestic-driven news. Let me take the opportunity to share an interesting episode at Tracy. During a dinner with some of the affluent families of the areas, one person queried; “do you have TVs in Pakistan?” I took a while to be more articulate and replied “we have 45 news channels in Pakistan”.
But interestingly 50% of people in big metropolitans, though again inward, believe the United States needs to re-craft its foreign policy. This desire has been witnessed in an April 2014 Wall Street Journal-NBC poll. The public does not support U.S. intervention in other countries as people are already averse to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where peace almost seems a distant dream. The U.S. government’s lack of delicately and politically crafted policy in Middle East is another source of anxiety for the people who believe that the U.S. should instead invest its resources more on the domestic front to overcome more compelling issues.
Capitol Hill is one of the U.S. most symbolically important and artistically impressive buildings. The Declaration of Independence painting by John Trumbull on display in the Rotunda narrates the rules of governance and that are “deriving the just powers from the consent of the governed”. The current U.S. more inward foreign policy doesn’t seem to be inspired and driven by the very declaration which was officially adopted on July 4, 1776. The U.S. foreign affairs policy lacks public support, as people believe in peace and political solution of global issues ranging from social, economic disparity to war on terror and security threats.
America is a big country by all means with rich resources and there are more welfare programs than any other parts of the world. The literacy rate is much higher in the United States than most of the advanced countries, development projects for native communities run in numbers, and people look more prosperous than underdeveloped countries where the children are dying for a morsel of food. But what’s most troubling is the fact that the U.S. inwardly desire to protect only its own people is risking the world peace.
