Emerging from World War II as one of the most powerful nations surviving, we, the United States of America were propelled by our manufacturing sector, advancing ourselves through our technology, and our military standards, we built ourselves an empire. An empire that has been maintained through slowly tightening our grip over everything we have. Atomic bombs, the United Nations, and surveilancing the rest of world has helped the U.S.A. remain one of the greatest forces the world has ever known. The first way America was able to maintain it’s status as a superpower was by being more advanced with our military technology, the outcome of this pursuit being the atomic bomb. By July of 1945, Germany had already been defeated but the war with Japan waged on. President Truman, cautioned that any attempt to occupy the country would lead to an onslaught of American casualties, decided that the new atomic bomb be brought out to end the war quickly. On August 6 of the same year, a five-ton bomb was dropped over Hiroshima. The city was sent to ruins, killing nearly 80,000 people instantly. Thousands more were killed afterwards due to radiation poisoning and woundings from the attack. Three days later, the Japanese city of Nagasaki met the same fate, with another bomb killing almost 40,000 more people. After these events, Japan announced its surrender. It is said that there were two reasons the bombs were dropped over Japan, the first being to end the war as fast as possible, and the second being to show the Soviets the new found weapons of mass destruction. “Truman and many of his advisers hoped that the U.S. atomic monopoly might offer diplomatic leverage with the Soviets. In this fashion, the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan can be seen as the first shot of the Cold War. (History.com)” Dropping atomic bombs over Japan was a demonstration of American force directed towards the Soviet Union. A gesture such as this was meant to cement the United States’ position as a powerhouse among other countries, especially Russia. In the aftermath of World War II, The United Nations were made in an effort to bring stability and peace to international relationships. Being headquartered in New York City, the UN proceeds to use a firm hand with world scale issues. The U.S., however, has a lot of power regarding how the United Nations is to handle such issues. Such as in the organization, the more a country is able to put forth to fund it, the more power they have over the U.N. As a whole. “The maximum contribution for any nation is 25 percent of the regular budget (the approximate contribution of the United States), while the minimum contribution is 0.01 percent. (ABC-CLIO)” Because of their payments on the organization are so huge, the United States is able to have a better spot in the hierarchy of countires. Having such a large influence on the organization allows the United States to remain the superpower it is today. Finally, the National Security Agency. Established in the early 1950s by president Truman
