EVEN a cursory look at America’s history of 250 years can leave the observer in awe. For 250 years, America has been a continuous constitutional democracy. For 130 years, it has been the world’s largest economy. For 81 years, it has been the most powerful force the world has seen. Since the late 19th century, it has led in global innovation, manufacturing and technology. Its universities are the envy of the world. How did the US achieve such remarkable success in its 250-year journey? To understand, let us turn to the basics.
Fifty-six delegates from 13 American colonies met in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, to sever links with the British Empire and sign the Declaration of Independence drafted mainly by Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration introduced to the new country the sublime idea that “all men are created equal” and are endowed with the unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It asserted that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. These were revolutionary ideas for a time when empires, monarchies, colonists and dictatorships ruled much of the world, with practically no respect for the rights of the governed.
Eleven years later, in 1787, America’s founding fathers met in Philadelphia to adopt a constitution, drafted primarily by James Madison. It set out three basic parameters under which the nascent state of USA would be governed: a democratic system predicated on participatory governance; free-market capitalism; and freedom of religion, speech, the press, and assembly. The enabling environment thus created led to unprecedented economic development and phenomenal growth in media, sports, entertainment and education. America became the land of opportunities to which people from around the world flocked.
The journey of 250 years had its share of challenges too. The foundational divide in American society was over race and slavery, which led to a civil war between the Union and Confederacy (1861-1865). Even after slavery was abolished, there remained institutional segregation and a struggle for equal rights. The country has also muddled through a political divide between urban liberals and rural conservatives, with differences over taxation, immigration and the scope of the federal government. Economically, income inequalities have grown. The 10 richest Americans have more than the combined wealth of the bottom half of all American households.
The journey of 250 years has had its share of challenges.
In foreign policy, America has oscillated between isolationism and global engagement. It spent the first 100 years or so of its life (1787-1898)avoiding alliances as it focused on economic growth and westward expansion with the widely held belief (manifest destiny) that the US was divinely ordained to extend its territories across North America. The 1823 Monroe Doctrine sought to establish the Western Hemisphere as America’s sphere of influence and warned European powers to stop further colonisation. In the next 50 years or so, until the end of World War II, the US took a more active role in world affairs, pursuing the Wilsonian idea of spreading democracy across the world. In the next 50 years (1945-2001), the US championed a rules-based world order based on democracy, capitalism and the containment of communism. It facilitated Europe’s reconstruction through the Marshall Plan, helped establish Nato, World Bank, IMF and the UN and entered into a Cold War with the Soviet Union that ended with the dissolution of the latter in 1991. A brief era of globalisation ensued with the US model of liberal democracy and market economies becoming the gold standard.
After 9/11, the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive military interventions entangled America in dis-tant wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a multipolar world appeared, the US pivoted its policies to Asia in 2011, and entered into a strategic competition with rising China. With Donald Trump’s presidency, American ideals have yielded to pragmatism; the US seems to be returning to the Monroe Doctrine. Trump has weakened the transatlantic alliance with Europe, retreated from support to Ukraine and started a war with Iran at Israel’s behest, drawing a popular backlash.
On balance, America produced a governance model that nurtured a culture of excellence, innovation and entrepreneurship. It was a melting pot that absorbed millions of immigrants who enriched it. However, with the onset of Trump’s ‘America First’ policy and rising sentiment against immigrants, the US could lose its international appeal. While America’s ideals of yesteryears served as a beacon of hope for all nations, its interventionist face today is creating a global disorder that is bringing in instability, protracted conflicts and a shift in global balance of power.
The writer is chairman, Sanober Institute, Islamabad and a former Pakistan ambassador to the US.
Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2026