U.S. foreign interventions

The United States has been involved in hundreds of interventions in foreign countries throughout its history, engaging in nearly 500 military interventions between 1776 and 2026, with half of these operations occurring since 1950 and over 25% occurring in the post-Cold War period. Common objectives of U.S. foreign interventions have historically revolved around economic opportunity, protection of U.S. citizens and diplomats, territorial expansion, counterterrorism, fomenting regime change and nation-building, promoting democracy, providing aid and enforcing international law. There have been two dominant ideologies in the United States regarding foreign policy—interventionism, which encourages military and political intervention in the affairs of foreign countries—and isolationism, which discourages these.