The only reason there are US military bases in your countries is because TWICE you idiots started wars that almost destroyed the world.

Are we just ignoring the Bay of Pigs? The Iran-Contra Affair? Vietnam? Desert Shield? Desert Storm?

I hesitate to even mention Kissinger who was effectively an autonomous nation-state during the carpet-bombing of Cambodia.

This is non-withstanding the fact that WW2 was effectively a result of punitive measures and economic destruction following WW1 (a blueprint for the post-Charlie Wilson's Afghanistan if you will).

The causes of WW1 however - bad faith alliances during the right-wing rise of imperialism, militarism, and nationalism - look to be back in play in the North American Continent.

The power differential between the US and the rest of North and South America pretty much guarantees that nothing like WWI could happen.

Europe had hundreds of years of plundering the rest of the world. WWI happened because Germany wanted a piece of the pie too, and the other, more established powers didn't want to share. None of that had anything to do with American Exceptionalism.

And, yeah, America's not perfect. We got thrust into the role of being a global superpower after the second time Europe tried to blow itself up. The other option was the USSR (who did their own share of empire building).