It is a question that almost inevitably comes for debate considering how the state of the world is turning out to be, under the aegis of US inspiration.

But after everything is said and done, nothing beats saying that America after all has been a force for good.

Even as she busies herself cleaning up her own mess in Iraq which at any rate is more George W Bush inspired than US motivated what is just as undeniable is to what the state of the world would have been, if there was no America.

So for everything that is America, we get to see an expression of her value system and ideals when we freely - without let or hindrance travel across the globe. How that freedom of choice has come to pass is not because of the choice we take unto ourselves. More precisely, it means the dreams of freedoms we have, is the result of America making that tangibly possible.

Therefore, has anybody ever wondered how the huge naval presence America maintains under its Seventh Command in the Pacific gives us the security cover we need to not only travel and live freely - but also to trade.

And because it was America and not Britain - that defeated Nazi Germany and Japan during World War II, we are fortunate not to have a continuation of colonial rule.

And because it was America that set up the multilateral trading system we now have, we enjoy living standards we otherwise could not have had; had there been no American global participation.

And finally, if there had been no American inspiration to model a world government along the lines of a United Nations, we can rest assured of no continual outbreaks of internecine warfare and upheavals in the world.

So, thanks largely to America we live in a happy and free world because unlike former European powers, she is benevolent and makes plain that she wishes no territorial grab.

No alternative

As we come to grips to the state of today's world, most of the angst is not against those values the nation represents. But instead it is the imperious and indeed the direction of its many self-serving and narrowly defined foreign policies that America articulates for the world, that germinates the seed of discontent in the word.

Today as we live in an American dominated world where Uncle Sam wields such power and influence in every major global institution, the need becomes ever more imperative to remind ourselves of our global village, all by courtesy of the American ingenuity.

As every nation tries to adjust to the regime imposed by America, which though admittedly is not a bad idea, true free competition, detractors may say, can only exist when we get to see the good, the bad and the ugly and make our picks from there.

But as history as shown from the experiences of the Vietnam War and the World Wars, Americans' are a discerning lot. Pig-headed though, maybe their foreign policies their national character and temperament is conspicuously at odds with what their self-styled media messiahs pontificate for the world.

In fact, if there indeed is a greater celebration of Americanism, then it must be the moral voice of her idealism expressed in the many episodes when history cast her thanklessly in the spotlight of disdain and disapproval.

Indeed, as a matter of fact if the American population were made aware that it was harming other nations, it would be among the first to protest against those misdeeds.

An article in the New York Times by Edward Wong noted the following. With just days to go before the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis, American commanders conceded that they were far from over in quelling a stubborn and sophisticated insurgency.

That same article quoted Major-General John RS Batsie, commander of the First Infantry Division as saying, "This war cannot be won militarily. It really does need a political and economic solution."

Sometime in the 19th century, an occupying power would have used the horrors of Abu Ghraib to instill fear into a populace.

But to America, those images of the prison abuse horrified them more than the whole fiasco of occupying Iraq that they could no longer stomach the idea of American troops carrying out such acts.

It was also the same when they see Israeli soldiers fire at young Palestinian children, they recoil in opprobrium and disdain.

Yes, America can be trusted. Only if one reasons with her from the standpoint of the morality of her actions than to any challenge to her values.

And her values of helping the world come closer and building all-round prosperity, can only but endear her to the world because like what they say, there is no alternative to America just yet.

JAYA PRAKASH lectures in journalism in Singapore.