| A series of decisions by the current US | | | | stayed at the table but sought to undermine |
| Administration, in widely differing sectors, are causing | | | | effective action, as with the Framework Convention |
| increasing concern among the global public-health | | | | on Tobacco Control or the quest for concerted |
| community. Together, these decisions can perhaps | | | | action on climate change (the Kyoto |
| best be thought of as manifestations of American | | | | Protocol).Domestic and international politics, however, |
| exceptionalism, in which international laws and | | | | related. Despite budget deficit, increased military |
| standards of behavior apply only to other countries. | | | | expenditure, and taxes burden, that increased |
| In the international arena the USA has opted out of a | | | | pressure on American citizens, U.S exercise unilaterally |
| series of collective initiatives, many of which have | | | | in the world. U.S. current leaders want to supply their |
| potentially important consequences for health, | | | | needs by colonization and expansion policies same as |
| security, and human rights. These initiatives and | | | | colonial powers in last centuries.American |
| treaties include topics such as the banning of | | | | Exceptionalism placed American values at center of |
| land-mines, the International Criminal Court, and the | | | | foreign policy, fostering belief in the essential union of |
| promulgation of anti-ballistic missiles. The decision to | | | | American virtue and power. American Expectionalism |
| send captured fighters from Afghanistan to | | | | opens up American national history to a series of |
| Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they are held in legal | | | | intersection with other national stories. American |
| limbo, is viewed by some as a withdrawal from the | | | | Exceptionalism cause that U.S. acts exclusively in all |
| Geneva Convention. In other areas, US officials have | | | | aspects like politics, culture, economy, and military. |