Exactly this. It's something that people will never realize or understand unless they go to other countries and see it firsthand. In my travels to France and Switzerland, what you have described is exactly what happens. I studied in a small city in France (~200k people), with almost no violent crime, and even then you would see heavily armed officers guarding the subway station and area near the center city. Meanwhile if you go Geneva that's about all you see, doesn't matter much where you are.But in my journeys across Europe, it was common place to see military personnel hold FAMAS/M16s/M4s/AKs patrolling around train stations, busy public parks, down populated streets, etc. Many of those countries, like France, Italy, Czech Republic, etc, have experienced acts of terrorism and violence of this nature in the past, and that's just a thing they do now.
I've noticed a military presence in several countries I've travelled to but none as pervasive as in Guatemala. It's scary there because it's so damned corrupt. In a place like France or Geneva, you can assume that they are there to protect you and not extort you. There are military checkpoints and if you are a foreigner, they can trump up some sort of traffic violation and demand cash on the spot to free you. I've encountered this in Mexico too.
That's a bit unnerving. Perhaps that's a product of less-developed nations that are still in a somewhat perpetual state of violence, with a deep-rooted military culture and backing.
Lotta SE Asian countries are like that too, mainly Thailand. It just happens in a lot of "poorer" countries far too much. I've seen that in Mexico as well. :\There are military checkpoints and if you are a foreigner, they can trump up some sort of traffic violation and demand cash on the spot to free you. I've encountered this in Mexico too.
I have always thought that travel abroad should be part of the public school curriculum in the US and that it would be great if it could be done as an exchange. I'm not saying that I have a workable plan of how this might operate under real world conditions or have considered the impact this would have on the way things work, but I do think that it would go a long way toward eroding this idea of Island America that is still present.
Exposing and immersing yourself in as many cultures as possible is something that should be stressed much more in the Educational system than it is right now. There is still, to me, a very ethnocentric view in America, with a disregard for other cultures and their customs. Nobody can be perfect with this (I've only experience European and some South American cultures), but it's better than nothing. Plus, studying abroad is just a beautiful experience all around.