To understand American policy better, I suggest you consult a recent, very well written and argued paper by Stephen Peter Rosen of Harvard on why we Americans are less the peace-loving people we often claim to be. He looks at the regional differences in American culture that support a willingness to be violent in our internal and external relations.  The paper’s citation is: Stephen Peter Rosen, “Blood Brothers: The Dual Origins of American Bellicosity,” AMERICAN INTEREST,  July/August 2009, vol IV , no. 6, pp 20-28.

Further Reading on E-International Relations

• The Study of Peace and Conflict: in Need of (Intellectual) Insurgency?
• A Middle Path? US Public Opinion and Grand Strategy
• What Might a Global Security Studies Look Like?
• Gender Representation in IR Journals: Experience from Indonesia
• The Trap of Diversity: What Constitutes ‘Non-Western IR Theory’?
• The Survival of the US–Japan, US–ROK Alliance under a Potential Peace Treaty