The United States does have a good history of putting together treaties and charters, which have had the most noble of goals and aspirations, of which, the Atlantic Charter so signed between Great Britain and the United States in August of 1941, is an exemplar of that very thing. In regards to Great Britain, they desperately needed United States aid in their battle against the Germans, thereby desiring at a minimum, the receipt of necessary armaments as well as monetary loans, along with their specific desire to see the United States ally themselves with Great Britain in order to defeat that Nazi regime. So then, to a large extent, the terms of that Atlantic Charter were naturally going to be in accordance with what the United States preferred to see implemented, and pretty much Great Britain was in no real good position to push back, and therefore that Charter was duly executed between those two nations.
In regards to that Atlantic Charter, which had eight principle points, the very first was that neither America or Great Britain by virtue of that war, would seek to aggrandize onto themselves, additional territory to add to empire or to create the same; and further that those peoples currently under colonial rule, would be accorded the opportunity to choose their own form of sovereign government, instead. Lastly, these two powerful and influential nations agreed that they must be the leaders in achieving world peace and therefore “…must come to the abandonment of the use of force,” and “…that the disarmament of such nations is essential.”
This Charter while not as effective in action as desired, did substantially become the basis for the lifting of, and thereby the removal of colonial rule by Great Britain as well as other European nations, in the continent of Africa, as well as in other nations around the world. Regrettably, when it comes to armaments and the use of force, this critical principle, died on the vine, and of which, the United States has by its own actions, demonstrated time and time again, that diplomacy is not its strong suit, but rather, the use of military force most definitely is its primary calling card, instead.
In point of fact, the Atlantic Charter would not currently be approved by today’s America, for America believes it has the right to interfere in the sovereignty in many a vulnerable nation, directly or indirectly; as well as imposing itself and the conditions of its loans so issued to such – in addition to bossing its way on exports, imports, rights of mineral exploration and extraction, and the usage of that foreign territory, per the dictates of America. In other words, while the sun has truly set on the British empire; that empire in many respects, has morphed instead into the sphere of America, for whatever America so desires and wants.
There was that time, when America saw itself as a nation which felt it had a principled obligation to see that they proselytized to countries throughout the world, by its example and by its strength, the value of the democratic vote, as well as equality, meritocracy, opportunity, and justice. That world, would be a terrific place to live in, of which, the rule of law, peace, and fair trade would be in harmony with the very best principles of what America is supposed to stand strong for.