This depends on which "United States" the topic is referring to. There actually is a difference. The term "United States of America" refers to the 50 states and all other sovereign territory while "United States" refers to the federal government and all of its companies, agencies and other accessory organizations. When you read the Constitution, this should make sense. "We the people of the United States... Constitution for the United States of America."
Before things get confusing, it would be incorrect to say that the United States of America follows a specific foreign policy since different parties and individuals have dynamic views on a proper policy.
To understand why the United States follows the policy it does today, we need to understand where it all began.
Once upon a time, the value of gold was unchanging. In fact, it was the base of value for the US dollar at $35 per ounce of gold. This system made the value of the dollar as stable as it could possibly be, as long as there was enough gold to back it, which is what made gold so important in a number of major world conflicts, especially World War II (ultimately in WWII the gold standard was suspended in order to meet costs more flexibly though).
Looking forward in time, the Vietnam War was projected to cost the United States $500 billion, while there was only enough gold in reserve to back $350 billion (1970s dollars). Initially, the Federal Reserve (a private collection of major banks which finances the US government) decided it would continue to print dollars to meet the cost, which led to rampant inflation, especially among foreign investors. As a result, these investors looked to withdraw their gold from the Federal Reserve's store before they lost too much of it. With the destruction of the dollar's value iminent, in 1971, President Richard Nixon oversaw the withdraw of the US dollar from the gold standard (essentially, the FR just stole over 300,000 tons of gold from investors all over the world, only it was legal...).
With the US dollar now a debt based currency, the FR needed something to create demand for it if it was to keep the value it had for very long. Nixon happened to have struck a deal. The Saudi Arabian government (who controlled the biggest oil-producing nation in the world) agreed to only sell their oil (which the entire world would demand more and more as developing nations progressed) in US dollars in exchange for military protection/alliance as well as reduced rates on exports to the USA. Other nations quickly followed suit until the global oil industry was financially dominated by the United States. Now, not only did every nation need to have US dollars to pay for the majority of their energy costs if they imported oil, but also the currency of every nation became tied, in some way, to the US dollar.
For the United States and the USA this was a great deal. Now, the FR could print as much unbacked (pretty much worthless) currency as it wanted, import as much as the USA wanted, while distributing inflation worldwide. That being, the FR was ALSO slowly stealing money from every person on Earth, CONSTANTLY.
The problem is in more recent years, many nations have withdrawn from their oil agreements, sparking some concern in the United States. Muammar Gaddafi of Libya planned to unite Africa under one currency, the dinar, which would apply to oil sales as well. Not too long after releasing these plans, the US military ousted Gaddafi from power. What was once the strongest democracy of the middle east with the highest standard of living in all of Africa... was now a "failed state".
A similar effect took place in Iraq under Saddam Hussein (who the US put into power in the first place...).
Today the United States is aiming at Syria under the pretext of intervention against ISIS, but really they're only continuing their plans to overthrow Assads government. The US plans to do the same thing with Syria as done with Libya and Iraq: remove government and instigate terrorist activity in order to maintain control of petroleum interests.
Here's the catch... the oil isn't in Syria. The oil is in Iran, who is tied to Syria through a treaty of mutual military defense. Iran is the third-largest oil producer on Earth, and they too are leaving the dollar status quo. Iran happens to be backed by both China and Russia (with promise of use of nuclear weapons as well). The US knows that if they instigate war with Iran, it means total destruction. However, to them, this is a better option than losing all control of the financial scam they've been buying into.
So who's behind all this... well... not the US government! Let's look at the Federal Reserve. It was previously stated that the US dollar is a debt based currency whose demand is regulated by oil. A debt based currency is one which exists with the promise of repayment to its origin. With that being said, we can understand that since 1971, the FR had been printing debt currency and loaning it to the US government to pay its costs. However, the FR charges interest on these loans (wait... interest? On money that doesn't even exist? YES.). However, to ultimately pay this interest, the only option the US has is to borrow more money...
And we wonder why our national debt is over $17 trillion and growing exponentially... Did you know that there's more debt in the world than actual money because of this?
THIS. THIS right here is the basis of the foreign policy of the United States today. The military is NOT a force for good. It just says it is, just like every other tyrannical force in history trying to justify an unjust war with morality. The Spanish-American war? World War I?
In conclusion, the only reason the US continues to follow the policy it does is because its losing control of its carefully-crafted robbery of the world's wealth, and it knows it will backfire at any time they're off-guard. When a government loses control but wants to stay in power, it will almost always turn to military force, and this is exactly what's happening.
The best thing to remember is that VERY FEW American citizens are even aware that this is what their country is doing. Yet, as time moves forward, their government continues their rampage across the Middle East while slowly chipping away at their rights, from gun ownership, to religious practice on public property, to what's shown on mainstream press.
The American people base their country on a simple set of moral values for society well-refined over the nearly 300 years the Constitution has existed. What they don't understand is how deviated their own government is from those very values. It's not the citizens prejudice should be aimed at. It's the reparation of their leaders that should be encouraged.
The American people are a force for good. That's one thing I can understand, an American myself, raised to care for my family and community as would anyone else from any other free nation.
Those enlisted in the military? A force for good.
The people in charge of it? A force for food.
I love the USA. I hate the US.
