Who Should Win the Nobel Peace Prize?
They’ve saved the free world more than once. And they’re on the job preserving the peace right now. When it comes to making the world a more secure place for good and decent people everywhere, this one group deserves the bulk of the credit. Who is this group, and how can we ever thank them? Pete Hegseth, U.S. Army Major, has the answer.
This video was made possible by a generous grant from Colorado Christian University. Learn more at PragerU.com/CCU
If the Nobel Peace Prize was given out to people who truly made the world a more peaceful place, which group would win every year?
The Irish Republican ArmyHezbollahThe United States MilitaryThe Islamic Revolutionary GuardThe United States Military saved _________________________________________?
the free world from German domination in the First World Warthe free world from Japanese and German Fascism in the Second World Warthe free world from Communism in the Cold Warall of the aboveNational security is the product of the hard work of American military men and women who stand guard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, every year.
TrueFalseThe United States military has ____________________ stationed in free South Korea to protect it from un-free North Korea.
20,000 troops30,000 troops40,000 troops50,000 troopsWhy can Iowa soybeans be shipped from Seattle to Shanghai and coffee from Columbia to Cleveland?
because the United Nations enforces economic treaties signed by the U.S. and other nationsbecause multinational corporations pay bribes to lower-level government officials to let their goods pass through customs inspectionsbecause the American military, specifically the Navy, stands guard over the world’s shipping lanesnone of the above
- The U.S. military has been the greatest peacekeeping, democracy and freedom-defending agent in the world for a century.
Across the globe for the last century and more, the U.S. military has played a crucial role in nearly every major conflict. The U.S. military played the decisive role in saving the free world from German domination in World War I, German and Japanese fascism in World War II, and Soviet communism in the Cold War.
View sourceThe success of the U.S. military results in more free and democratic societies. When the U.S. military has not been ultimately victorious, people have suffered. The failure of the Vietnam War resulted in 50 million people being deprived of freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and movement, with as many as two million imprisoned and murdered by the communist regime.
View sourceRelated video: “Should America Be the World’s Policeman?” – Bret Stephens
View source- The U.S. military has repeatedly fought wars in the interest of freedom and democracy for people around the globe.
The U.S. military was successful in the defense of free societies and democracies in World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War, both Iraq Wars, and the Afghan War. Though the U.S. initially wanted to avoid engaging in the wars, it chose to fight them not only for its own interests, but for the promotion of freedom and democracy in other countries.
View sourceSouth Korea prospers as a free democracy while North Koreans suffer under the tyranny of a dictatorship because America came to South Korea’s defense nearly 70 years ago. America still stations 30,000 troops there to protect the free South from the oppressed North.
View sourceThe importance of the U.S. military in promoting freedom and democracy is not only a product of the open conflicts the American military resolves; it is also a produce of the conflicts that were never fought because America’s adversaries feared the consequences of American military involvement.
View sourceRelated video: “How Do You Judge America?” – Dennis Prager
View source- With America as the world’s “policeman,” humanity has enjoyed an unprecedented era of relative peace, stability and prosperity.
Unlike the United Nations, America has proven to be effective at making the world a safer place.
View sourceFor example, America stopped the spread of communism via the Soviet Union and thwarted Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.
View sourceWith America primarily acting as the “world’s policeman,” global GDP from 1980 to 2013 increased from $11.2 trillion to $75.6 trillion.
View sourceRelated reading: America in Retreat – Bret Stephens
View source- The United Nations is nowhere near as effective as the United States as a global peacekeeping force.
The UN was created after WWII to be a world peace-keeping force, but it has repeatedly proven to be ineffective, being slow to act and sending undermanned, poorly armed, and over-restricted forces to conflicts.
View sourceFor example, while the UN stood by, the Rwandan government slaughtered 800,000 people in 1994 and Bosnian Serb forces slaughtered 100,000 from 1992-1995.
View sourceRead foreign policy expert Bret Stephens on the impact of American police power.
View source- The alternative to the U.S. as the world’s “policeman”? Spheres of influence in which Russia, China, and Iran fill in the resulting vacuum.
Dividing the world into spheres of influence would put portions of the globe under the control of dominant states, like Russia and Iran, which would inevitably violently compete over the borders of their regions.
View sourceRussia under Vladimir Putin is the single largest threat to the United States.
View sourceIran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, openly threatens America and its allies, most notably Israel.
View source- Without America, people around the world would suffer from far more tyranny, enslavement, and genocide.
America has helped many counties around the world overcome genocide and war and achieve greater levels of freedom, equality, and prosperity. For example, the American military helped stabilize Germany, Japan, and South Korea, and all three have risen to worldwide prominence.
View sourceMeanwhile, as conservative author Dennis Prager points outs, “countries that America abandoned—such as Vietnam and Iraq—experienced mass murder and other horrors. The Left, however, views nearly all of America’s wars since 1945 as expressions of superpower imperialism.”
View sourceRelated reading: Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph – Dennis Prager
View source- South Korea is a free and flourishing democratic country today because America chose to take action against a tyrannical regime.
American intervention on behalf of South Korea provided the foundation for South Korea to flourish as a democracy.
View sourceMore than a half-century later, the U.S. still commits thousands of peacekeepers to protect the southern democracy from the aggression of North Korea.
View sourceWATCH: Historian Victor Davis Hanson on “savior generals,” including Gen. Matthew Ridgeway, who turned the tide of the Korean War.
View source- The lesson of the Korean War is that a politically unified, militarily strong America is a force for good in the world.
South Korea has had the opportunity to become a free and flourishing democracy today because America intervened on its behalf against the Communist threat of the north. The U.S. still commits thousands of peacekeepers to protect the democratic south from the aggression of the north.
View sourceGeneral Matthew Ridgeway’s ability to overcome the defeatist mentality that had settled into the U.S. approach to the war turned the tide of the conflict.
View sourceRelated reading: “The Savior Generals” – Victor Davis Hanson
View source- The real lesson of Vietnam: America disengaging from unresolved messy problems only leaves murderous chaos and dictatorial oppression.
At the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, the United States achieved victory in Vietnam, and two separate Vietnamese states were declared. As a part of the peace, the U.S. promised South Vietnam support and aid should the communist north invade.
View sourceHowever, American politicians cut most of the funding for military support of South Vietnam within the next year. In 1975, when the communist north invaded the south, U.S. politicians did not follow through on their promises.
View sourceThe results of America’s failure to act ended with millions of Vietnamese fleeing as refugees or sent to reeducation camps, followed by the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia that claimed approximately 1.7 million lives.
View sourceWATCH: Historian Victor Davis Hanson on “The meaning of the Vietnam War.”
View sourceRelated reading: “The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern” – Victor Davis Hanson
View source
If the Nobel Peace Prize was given out to people who truly made the world a more peaceful place, one group would win every year: the United States military—the US Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines.
Now, you may be thinking, how can you award a peace prize to a group whose purpose is to fight wars? Fair question. I’ll tell you how: because the reason we are free, the reason anyone on earth today is free, is ultimately thanks to the US military.
They saved the free world from German domination in the First World War. They saved the free world from Japanese and German fascism in the Second World War. They saved the free world from communism in the Cold War. And they’re saving it now.
That might sound like an exaggeration, but only because they’ve protected us for so long. National security—the protection of citizens from an external foe—is not a given; far from it. It’s the product of the hard work of American military men and women who stand guard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, every year. And, they’ve been doing so for as long as any of us can remember.
The First World War, the Second World War, the Cold War, the Korean War, both Iraq Wars, the Afghan War—these were all conflicts that the US tried to avoid. But they were wars that the US fought not only for itself, but for good, decent and free people everywhere.
Where the US military was not ultimately victorious—the Vietnam War—50 million people were deprived of freedom of speech, of assembly, of press, of travel, and of religion. As many as two million were brutally imprisoned and murdered.
The only reason South Korea isn’t an open-air concentration camp like its northern neighbor is because America came to South Korea’s defense nearly 70 years ago. To this day, we still have 30,000 troops stationed there to protect the free South from the unfree North.
And it’s not just the open conflicts the American military resolves; it’s the not-wars—all the conflicts that were never fought because our adversaries feared the consequences of American military involvement.
Let’s put it this way: The reason Iowa soybeans can be shipped from Seattle to Shanghai, or coffee from Colombia to Cleveland is because the American military—specifically, the Navy—stands guard over the world’s shipping lanes. Block those lanes and the price of everything skyrockets, and international commerce grinds to a halt.
Like it or not, the US military has been, and remains, as close to a global sheriff as exists on planet Earth—on the beat, keeping the peace.
Don’t believe me? Ask yourself this very simple question: What if China disarmed? Or Iran? Or North Korea? Or Russia? Think the world would be a better or worse place? The question answers itself.
Now, imagine if America disarmed. Think China stays out of Taiwan or Hong Kong? Iran out of Israel? North Korea out of South Korea? Russia out of eastern Europe? And those are just state actors. Islamists would quickly return, bolder and more vicious than ever.
In short, new conflicts would spring up and old ones reignite all over the world. Freedom would be in retreat every single day.
That’s the dystopian future of a world without the US military. And that’s because across the globe for the last 100 years and more, the bad guys have been thwarted—not only by the American military, of course. But in every major conflict, American military force has been decisive.
That’s why when you meet a veteran, someone who served in the Armed Forces, you should thank them. We have even set aside a special day for it: Veterans Day.
Not Memorial Day. That’s for those who lost their lives fighting for America and for freedom.
Veterans Day is different. It’s for all those who risked their lives so that we could keep ours.
If that’s not worthy of a thank you, what is?
So this year, put out a flag, call a veteran, someone who honorably served in the US military—maybe your dad or mom or uncle, or family friend, and thank them.
Let them know that you know that you are in their debt.
We have been in their debt for so long, it’s easy to take what they did—what they risked and what they sacrificed—for granted.
We shouldn’t.
Veterans Day is meant to remind us. This year, don’t forget.
I’m Pete Hegseth, U.S. Army Major, for Prager University.
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