Recent years have proved to be difficult for the United States. Everybody somehow got used to the internal political stability in this country which cannot go all to rack and ruin either through the Watergate case or any other cataclysms or revelations. That’s why many facts that became reality for the United States during the Trump presidency caused surprise or, to put it mildly, incomprehension.

Of course, we can talk a lot about the clash of interests within the United States (which has also affected the entire world) between banking and industrial capital. Similarly, you can talk about the migration nuances that have aggravated the situation in the country, or about the “Floyd factor” which literally stirred up American society. In the same row there are the clash of geopolitical interests between the United States and China and, of course, the COVID-19 factor which led to the global pandemic and disrupted the most powerful planetary political and economic order.

We are not minded to seek out some conspiratorial notes in all this – in terms of the artificial origin of certain events but we have to recognize that the clashes that shook the United States (both political and physical) began to somewhat undermine the stability of the state. However, today and now the situation in the country, and in the foreign policy perspective, tends to stabilize.

And although at a certain stage (just a few months ago) many experts spoke about the loss of Washington’s inherent international grip, at the moment the United States is able to demonstrate its strength on a global scale.

There is no doubt that the global geopolitical landscape is running through a number of major changes, including the strengthening of the role of China; however, in any case, the United States retains its leading position in many areas on an international scale. The development of events in such a way when the “confusion and vacillation” within the United States are already behind (at least at the historical stage) which contributed to the strengthening of Washington’s role on the world expanse, – all these indicate the presence of strong foundations in this state. The origins of what seems to be traced in the events that led to the fact that every year July 4 is celebrated in the United States as the country’s Independence Day.

Fragments of history

It should be reminded that July 4 is marked as the day of the formation of the United States as independent and free state. In 1776 representatives of 13 states signed the Declaration that declared the country’s independence from the British Empire. This document is often called the first in history a basis of the state system which voiced the principle of popular sovereignty in contrast to the prevailing theory of the divine origin of power at that stage.

Indeed, the Declaration of Independence marked the creation of all human beings as “equal” endowed “by their Creator” with such “inalienable rights” as “life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness”. At the same time, the document confirmed the right of the people to revolt, up to the overthrow of the despotic government.

Therefore, American sources define self-government, one of the key values that laid down the foundations of the Declaration, as entity which implies the performance of all necessary power functions by the people without the intervention of higher authorities beyond their control.

In this context, the author of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson, defines self – government as an independent and equivalent confirmation of the rights granted to man by “the laws of nature and God”. However, with the record of the difficult achievement of agreement on this issue: throughout early American history, there were repeatedly external and internal conflicts over the final form of power.

But, in general, the Declaration laid the foundations of a state that was destined to grow and strengthen, serving as an inspiration for independence movements around the world (m.golos-ameriki.ru). In particular, the ideas contained in the document were used in the 1789 French Revolution which was welcomed in the first months of the Great French Revolution. In turn, Declarations of Human and Civil Rights updated the “provisions of natural and inalienable human rights” – freedom, property, security and resistance to oppression together with the statement of the germ of people and their continuation to be “free and equal in rights”.

It is rather symptomatic that, according to the founding fathers of America, individual freedom is impossible without religious freedom. According to T. Jefferson (“The Bill of Religious Freedom”), the Almighty “expressed His highest desire” to preserve it as such, and therefore “made it completely immune to restraint”. T. Jefferson called it a sin and tyranny to force a person to “contribute money to the spread” of hateful views. Our civil rights are not dependent upon our religious views, he concretized, therefore allowing the authorities to interfere in the field of worldview, restricting the confession or dissemination of principles (considering them incorrect), is a dangerous delusion, simultaneously destroying religious freedom.

In his first inaugural address (1801), G. T. Jefferson emphasized that although religion “is professed in various forms,” they all “instill in people honesty, truthfulness, restraint, charity, and love for man.” Recognizing and respecting the “Supreme Providence”, whose goal is “the happiness of man in this world and even greater happiness in the world beyond”, what “more do we need” to become “happy and secure”, he asked? After that, he actualized the existence of a wise government that is able to “keep people from harming each other”, that can ensure their free choice of ways to “realize their strength” to “improve their lives” and that does not take “the earned bread out of the mouth of the worker”. The board in this way will allow “to complete the circle of the above-mentioned happy possessions” (amerika-xix.org.ru/library/jefferson-unaugurals).

What’s for today?

As it turns out, the approach to the tasks of the state, published at the dawn of American history, was aimed at strengthening the country’s statehood and protecting its interests. This line was followed by almost all US presidents. The same trend is typical for today.

Another thing is that for a long time, many analysts predict the weakening of the United States in terms of its influence on world processes. This view is justified (and for some, the belief is also justified) both the geopolitical realities (the strengthening of China, the attempts of some European countries to conduct an independent policy in some cases without regard to the position of the White House, the changes taking place in the world in the aspect of the pandemic, etc.), and the state of affairs in the domestic American field.

However, it is unlikely that anyone today will dare to convincingly prove that in the foreseeable future the United States will lose its international prestige. Recent events in the world, no matter how many people disagree with this, demonstrate how much official Washington is trying to strengthen control over the geopolitical directions that determine the world agenda.

As for the domestic American platform, it is also possible to avoid fateful cataclysms if all political forces and, in general, civil society follow the ideas laid down in the Declaration of Independence.

Source: Turan News Agency