> You paint a picture of America as an evil empire, but what do the alternatives look like?
The nice alternatives don't have big enough militaries to be considered seriously, one could point at some European nations for a more measured approach, but it's hard to do it seriously when we only exist because the US saved us and continues to do so, as Europe pretty much has no military power if push comes to shove.
No military power is short selling Europe, just not as much as it probably should have, and that's because we figured war is no longer a viable option. Unfortunately recent events have shown this to be a fallacy.
The nice alternatives don't have big enough militaries to be considered seriously, one could point at some European nations for a more measured approach, but it's hard to do it seriously when we only exist because the US saved us and continues to do so, as Europe pretty much has no military power if push comes to shove.