Silfay Hraka has an article that likens the the US to the Orkin Man. Read Silflay Hraka: Ask The Orkin Man for the full article.
The money quote?
America excels at asking “What if” questions. The terrorism classes at George Mason and elsewhere are the results of that ability. Al-Qaeda may see the U.S. as a Great Satan, but when it comes down to it, the country as a whole is more like a white-coated lab technician. First we study the noxious bug in order to learn its ways, ask how it might behave in a given environment, and then come up with ways to kill it.
America isn’t the world’s policeman. It’s the Orkin man.
I love it!