In today’s world, there are five dominant forces competing for the world’s resources.  They are as follows (in no particular order):  China, Russia, America, Islamism, and Socialism.

China is trending to become the  largest economy by every measure.  In addition, it is rapidly growing its military capabilities.

Russia has a large economy but is relevant mostly due to its military, nuclear arsenal, and massive land area.

America is arguably the most powerful geopolitical force due to its military capabilities and its wealth.

The next two are not traditional nation states but are still compelling geopolitical forces.

The Muslim religion is estimated to be practiced by 1.6 billion people.  Out of the 196 countries in the world, 50 define themselves as Muslim countries.   Within these countries, polling conducted by Pew Research and others indicates that their majorities are very receptive to Sharia law.  Many of these Islamic countries have tremendous wealth; they also control or influence one of the most important resources in the world, oil.

The last world force is Socialism.  Nearly every country has massive government programs that provide  for the daily needs for billions of people.  The penultimate example is the socialistic infrastructure in Europe which is well documented.  The European Union is currently the largest global economic unit and carries tremendous influence throughout the world.

No matter where you live, you are living under one of these regimes and will be governed by its value system.  Whether it’s Berlin or Bogota, the laws and power of one of these five value systems impacts you.  Many will disagree with this assertion and claim that many countries are independent of this global pecking order.  Really?  It was only the 1990’s when the entire world was engaged in the Cold war and divided between Pro and Anti Communist countries.  You were either with the USSR or with America.   There were very few exceptions to this rule.  Even in the smallest country in Africa ruled by a ruthless dictator, your miserable daily life is enabled by these powers.   The leader of your country rules only because of the lack of attention from the above five forces or because he is in league with one of them.

If you think the United Nations has influence commensurate with the above five geopolitical forces then you are mistaken.  As of February 2015, Boko Haram controls a land area the size of a European country.  Boko Haram is an Islamic militant group that kidnaps, enslaves and murders with impunity.  The United Nations is still working on another round of sanctions while the murdering continues without one UN soldier firing a shot.  If you wait for UN troops to come to the rescue, you will be dead.  Russia shot down a commercial jetliner in July of 2014.   Those dead passengers are still waiting for help from the UN Air Force.  ISIS is rolling its army across the deserts of Asia.  ISIS is burning people alive and committing mass beheadings.  There is not a UN tank in sight.

The value system for each of these five forces can be easily discovered.  Each is known to have a massive government infrastructure that taxes its citizens and uses that money to control what the citizens can and can’t do.  America is simply known to be the most free of all of these alternatives.  America may not be the happiest place.  If you love Sharia law then you can be very happy in Pakistan.  America is just the only one that aspires to have limited government.  Limited government is one of our American values.  Our goal is to articulate all of these American values and these values are available to anyone in the world.

Warning: You may be imprisoned or killed if you espouse American values in 4 of the 5 territories mentioned above.