This song is clearly about the USA. Consider the time it was written, 1982, when the Cold War was still raging.
Terms like "Old World" and "Third World" definitely refer to other countries. "Third World" had an especially potent meaning in 1982. It was the developing and often unstable part of the world that the USA and the USSR were fighting over.
America as the "New World Man", full of power "with weapons on patrol", admired and yet resented by other nations, trying to save the day (from Soviet aggression) for the Old World (Western European) Man, and trying to pave the way (a way other than, and away from, Communism) for the Third World Man. Culturally he (it?) often was (and still is) seen as primitive by the Old World Man, and imperious by the Third World Man.
Is the song pro-USA? In the sense that it is upbeat, yes. However, the lyrics also contain admonitions and warnings of how the USA, with all its power, could blunder terribly, and even do evil. The New World Man, for all his nobility, still has problems with his power and poisons. Neil Peart, a Canadian, viewed the USA quite positively, while still acknowledging its flaws.
This song is clearly about the USA. Consider the time it was written, 1982, when the Cold War was still raging.
Terms like "Old World" and "Third World" definitely refer to other countries. "Third World" had an especially potent meaning in 1982. It was the developing and often unstable part of the world that the USA and the USSR were fighting over.
America as the "New World Man", full of power "with weapons on patrol", admired and yet resented by other nations, trying to save the day (from Soviet aggression) for the Old World (Western European) Man, and trying to pave the way (a way other than, and away from, Communism) for the Third World Man. Culturally he (it?) often was (and still is) seen as primitive by the Old World Man, and imperious by the Third World Man.
Is the song pro-USA? In the sense that it is upbeat, yes. However, the lyrics also contain admonitions and warnings of how the USA, with all its power, could blunder terribly, and even do evil. The New World Man, for all his nobility, still has problems with his power and poisons. Neil Peart, a Canadian, viewed the USA quite positively, while still acknowledging its flaws.