@
Baqer, I've been in a lot of countries, and most of my visits were for business, not for pleasure. I was mistaken for an Englishman in South Africa. I saw how the ruling class in Argentina can do whatever they like. The police there were hijacking cars off the street for profit. I was interrogated in a basement at 2AM in Brazil by the security forces. I saw how a businessman in China was entirely intimidated by illiterate Communist Party members. I was crossing the mountains in Turkey when I unexpectedly encountered the Turkish security forces with a stopped truck full of contraband. That last one was probably the worst, because I think they were going to shoot the driver. When I interrupted them, they asked for my papers and when they saw that I had an American passport (the soldier held it upside down, but he could read the symbols), they waved me through and I didn't look back.
The world is a seriously fucked up place once you get outside the States. Basically, the armed might of the US government usually protects US citizens, but there are exceptions. Accidents.
One thing I can tell you is that if you don't have the rule of law, then in a mafia country, you only have yourself. You can be strong and intimidating, or you can get totally fucked if you think the law in that country is somehow going to protect you.
If you are brave and entirely fearless, your opponent is going to wonder why you aren't scared of him. He's going to think that you have someone more powerful than his boss who is backing you up, and there is a fairly good chance that you will come out of the encounter with your freedom and all parts intact.
The reality is that it's a completely different world than the one we were taught about in school.
The good thing is that the US actually believes in the rule of law, most of the time, and it has been fighting continuous wars for a very long time. This gives it practice and experience in fighting new wars and that is a huge advantage in winning them. Or at least, not losing them too badly.
And I'm very happy to contribute to making the US more effective at projecting it's principles around the world. Not because we are so great, but because all the others are so much worse.