Why Is America So Busy?

I just read an article titled, “Why is Hillary so Busy?” How busy Hillary is can be expressed with a single number, the article said. Hillary Clinton has already visited more than 100 countries, surpassing Albright’s 96 and Rice’s 85 to become the secretary of state who has visited the most countries in American history. That Hillary Clinton is busy demonstrates that America is busy.

America’s secretary of state is a position that is unique in the world. It is equivalent to a minister of foreign affairs, but for diplomatically busy America, the secretary of state is much more important than other secretaries. In recent years, any area in the world where there is conflict or national interest, America will make an appearance. Why is America so busy? For the sake of its global interests.

For several years, America has fought several lopsided wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, etc. Although their opponent seems not to have had the strength to hit back, America considers that these wars were well fought. Its confidence has surged, and it has started to repeatedly assert its authority across the globe. Regarding Iran and Syria, America has recently been unable to hold itself back. Early this year, due to the Iranian nuclear issue, America and some European countries successively implemented sanctions on Iranian oil exports. Iran threatened that if sanctions were used against it, it would use military force to close down the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic choke point for global oil transport. America’s position was clear: if Iran used military force, America would unhesitatingly use military force to stop it. Regarding Syria, the Americans flew into a rage; at the “Friends of Syria” international conference on July 6, Clinton warned that Syrian President Assad’s fall was inevitable, and that countries that stood in the way were going to pay a price for it.

With Asian politics, America pays even closer attention. At present, the Pacific Rim joint military exercises that America has roped 22 countries into conducting are underway in the waters surrounding Hawaii. Starting from July 6, in only 13 short days, Clinton will visit nine countries in a whirlwind of diplomacy, and attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. America is bombastically getting in on the action in the Pinnacle Islands and the South China Sea. Clinton repeatedly emphasized that America has a “fundamental interest” in the South China Sea, openly supporting every Association of Southeast Asian Nations member country to make the South China Sea issue more multilateral and complex. Furthermore, Clinton extended her hands toward the East China Sea; while visiting Japan she openly stated that while America hasn’t taken sides regarding the Pinnacle islands, the Pinnacle islands do fall under the “U.S.-Japan Security Treaty.”

The American government often pompously states that it “doesn’t take sides.” One ought to keep silent if one is not taking sides. A secretary of state making frequent visits is definitely not a reflection of “not taking sides”; rather, it is a reflection of “pursuing interests.” An intelligent superpower like America wouldn’t waste its efforts around the globe. They would only be so active where they have interests, regardless of whether those are political interests, military interests, or economic interests.