Is it true there has never been a war between two democracies?
I’m shocked that Cecil, of all people, is prejudiced enough to use to an offensive phrase like Pax Americana. It’s insulting to the efforts, effects and power of modern Europe. For shame.
Why the surprise? We have an entire thread devoted to Mick jokes.
I guess the Irish aren’t in the Sainted Inner Circle. Fire at will! (That’s Will O’Malley, of course.)
Can you imagine the uproar if someone started a Chink thread on Chinese New Years?
:dubious:
Who is the Prime Minister of President these days?
What do you consider prejudiced about it?
Was it the “efforts, effects and power of modern Europe” that prevented general wars breaking out in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968? Or was it the “restraint” applied by the U.S. along with a general weariness and poverty of Europe that prevented those actions from becoming general?
Was it the “efforts, effects and power of modern Europe” that finally brought a semblance of peace to the former Yugoslavia? Or was it the action, (as late and desultory as it was) of the U.S. that prevented Serbia from launching a general war in the region after the European nations failed to take anything resembling an active role for the first eight years of that tragedy?
Which European nation or collection of nations used their “efforts, effects and power” to persuade the U.S.S.R. from deciding to expand their buffer zone into Greece, Austria, or even Germany and Finland following WWII?
Which European nation or collection of nations used their “efforts, effects and power” to persuade the Brits, French, and Israelis to refrain from trying to carve up Egypt?
Now, I am not going to make any case that the U.S. has acted wisely or pefectly. I think the U.S. has made numerous blunders and has come off looking like a pretty bumbling peacekeeper on too many occasions, but getting offended at such a rather mild, (and probably mildly ironic), phrase in the manner of the OP seems just a bit silly.
Thanks for catching the typo, Blake, we’ll get 'er fixed.
Don’t worry tomndebb, I wasn’t really offended by Cecil. I love Cecil like I love beer. Certainly Cecil has a right to use the phrase, it’s a bona fide expression.
I would have thought a moderator would know better than the judge the “manner” of a post from two lines of text! 
The phrase itself just seems typical of the self-congratulatory opinion America has of itself. I’m not trying to take away from the examples you cite or demean America’s contribution to the world, but a lot of European people have lost their lives fighting for peace and European Govenments have spent millions on achieving the same aims as the USA. (Sometimes to the World’s benefit, sometimes not).
Do we generally break “The west” down into America and Europe when talking about our interaction with the rest of the world? Is the culture really that differant? My point is America and Europe and closer in many ways than 60 years ago and the expression is too ‘single minded’.
No matter the process by which we got here, as of right now, the USA is the only superpower.