Who Should Win the Nobel Peace Prize?

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.

The 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.

Related video: “Should America Be the World’s Policeman?” – Bret Stephens

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.

South 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.

The 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.

Related video: “How Do You Judge America?” – Dennis Prager

Unlike the United Nations, America has proven to be effective at making the world a safer place.

For example, America stopped the spread of communism via the Soviet Union and thwarted Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

With America primarily acting as the “world’s policeman,” global GDP from 1980 to 2013 increased from $11.2 trillion to $75.6 trillion.

Related reading: America in Retreat – Bret Stephens

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.

For 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.

Read foreign policy expert Bret Stephens on the impact of American police power.

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.

Russia under Vladimir Putin is the single largest threat to the United States.

Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, openly threatens America and its allies, most notably Israel.

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.

Meanwhile, 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.”

Related reading: Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph – Dennis Prager

American intervention on behalf of South Korea provided the foundation for South Korea to flourish as a democracy.

More than a half-century later, the U.S. still commits thousands of peacekeepers to protect the southern democracy from the aggression of North Korea.

WATCH: Historian Victor Davis Hanson on “savior generals,” including Gen. Matthew Ridgeway, who turned the tide of the Korean War.

Related reading: “The Savior Generals” – Victor Davis Hanson

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.

General 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.

WATCH: Historian Victor Davis Hanson on “savior generals.”

Related reading: “The Savior Generals” – Victor Davis Hanson

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.

However, 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.

The 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.

WATCH: Historian Victor Davis Hanson on “The meaning of the Vietnam War.”

Related reading: “The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern” – Victor Davis Hanson