Pax Americana

This article is about the historical concept. For the documentary film, see Pax Americana and the Weaponization of Space. For a similar concept introduced by historian Wang Gungwu, see American Tianxia.

Pax Americana[1][2][3] (Latin for "American Peace", modeled after Pax Romana and Pax Britannica; also called the Long Peace) is a term applied to the concept of relative peace in the Western Hemisphere and later in the world after the end of World War II in 1945, when the United States[4] became the world's dominant economic, cultural, and military power.

In this sense, Pax Americana has come to describe the military and economic position of the United States relative to other nations. The U.S. Marshall Plan, which saw the country transfer $13.3 billion (the equivalent of $173 billion in 2023) in economic recovery programs to Western European countries, has been described as "the launching of the Pax Americana".[5]

  1. ^ Nye, Joseph S. (1990). "The Changing Nature of World Power". Political Science Quarterly. 105 (2): 177–192. doi:10.2307/2151022. JSTOR 2151022.
  2. ^ Kirchwey, George W. (1917). "Pax Americana". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 72: 40–48. doi:10.1177/000271621707200109. S2CID 220723605.
  3. ^ Abbott, Lyman, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Ernest Hamlin Abbott, and Francis Rufus Bellamy. The Outlook. New York: Outlook Co, 1898. "Expansion not Imperialism" p. 465. (cf. [...] Felix Adler [states ...] "if, instead of establishing the Pax Americana so far as our influence avails throughout this continent, we should enter into' the field of Old World strife, and seek the sort of glory that is written in human blood." Here it is assumed that we have failed in establishing self-government, and propose to substitute, at least in other lands, an Old World form of government. This sort of argument has no effect on the expansionist, because he believes that we have magnificently succeeded in our problem, in spite of failures, neglects, and violations of our own principles, and because what he wishes to do is, not to abandon the experiment, but, inspired by the successes of the past, extend the Pax Americana over lands not included in this continent.")
  4. ^ "Definition of PAX AMERICANA". merriam-webster.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  5. ^ Mee, Charles L. (1984). The Marshall Plan: The Launching of the Pax Americana. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-42149-6.