The obligation nation : America's involvement in the affairs of the World

Does America have an obligation, whether through foreign aid, military involvement, or by spreading democracy, to change the world? This thesis answers these above questions in intimate detail through the moral framework of the teachings and life of Jesus. It is not a paper designed to evangelize or convert; rather, it is designed to assess whether America' s current involvement on the international stage is done with respect to Jesus' primary teachings of compassion and love. Ultimately, we discover that the US has a lot of work to do, and that this country does not fully follow Jesus' word. The foreign aid America provides has many negative consequences, our military involvement is often unneeded and leads to failure, and our efforts to spread democracy have often been marred by violence. This is not a thesis decrying America and all it stands for. Instead, it is a thesis that analyzes America's past, present, and future involvement in the world, and recommends how America can better follow the moral framework of love and compassion laid down by Jesus Christ.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Francel, Leif (Leif G.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Bish Sanyal.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73849

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/73849