With the start of a seemingly endless war on terrorism and a fragile American economy, now hardly seems the right time to examine our general policy towards all other nations, and developing countries in particular. The rubble of the World Trade Center is still burning and our troops are marching on Kabul as I write. Nationalism reached a level never before reached during the world wars. Every other car you see on the highway proudly displays “Old Glory” on their window or antenna, some right next to their rebel flag. On the surface, it appears that the United States has united for a more just cause, and that evil, or those who oppose the United States, as they are commonly called, will surely fall. We will not tolerate innocent attacks on civilians, and those damn Afghans and Osama bin Laden better hide. If you don't believe that, not only are you not American, but you must also be a damn terrorist yourself. However, some scholars and freethinkers in the United States argue that we may not be the innocent victims we made ourselves out to be during the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Some Forward-thinking minds even predicted a tragedy similar to this, but not on such a grand scale. Unenlightened people wonder why something like this could or would happen. What could push a country as poor and unstable as Afghanistan to decide to stand up to the all-powerful United States? The answer is not easy and requires a significant adjustment in our expectations of foreign relations, as well as how we view and treat the rest of the world as a whole. The United States is one of the world's remaining superpowers, and we have an obligation to maintain and support good relations with smaller and weaker nations around the world. We should take full advantage of this relationship in many different ways, without exploiting the original peoples or our own power. First, the United States must focus on investment and trade with countries that have not yet become economic powers. Second, we must implement a coherent foreign policy towards the countries of the Middle East and all third world countries in general. Third, the United States must respect the attempts and results of democratization and religious revivals in the Middle East and Latin America, while playing a passive role in letting Western-style democracy take its course...