Obama may not want to play the global policeman, but sooner rather than later he will have to pull on the uniform.

The war cannot even realise Washington's ambition to be recognised as the world's only superpower and global policeman.

Businesses routinely say they don't want to play global policeman, and that these are issues for governments to work out.

Many such interventions have been undertaken as part of America's long-standing commitment to act as a global policeman.

Neither the United States nor any other nation could take on the job of global policeman on its own.

The United States as a global policeman - why not?

In Libya, America has been the global backstop, not the global policeman.

He worries that America's self-assigned role as global policeman is demonizing the country abroad.

Only 4 percent of women and 5 percent of men want to see Americans be global policemen.

The directive is a sharp departure from Bill Clinton's campaign vision of the United Nations as the global policeman.