Singles that weren't released in the US

[DuranDuran]

The Man

The Man with Paul McCartney was released as a single in a few countries, but it wasn't one in the US

 

[Bringing Brighter Days]

The moment the Bad Tour closed shop, MJ was transitioning and being marketed as an exclusive international artist.

and those songs addressing media criticism and scrutiny, the majority of those records were released overseas and that was the overall intent

 

[Eric]

I'd say it wasn't his decision but his record company's. Michael was bigger outside of US since Bad Tour so it is understandable that more singles were released outside of the US, especially during Dangerous and HIStory Tours. What is unexplainable is Earth Song. Because that was 3rd single from HIStory (after record setting hugely successful You Are Not Alone) and a crucial one for continuous success of the album. Without 3rd single in US there was a huge gap between You Are Not Alone and They Don't Care About Us (which was boycotted by radio stations in US) and people just stopped buying the record. Also not touring there didn't help either.

Sony didn't release a physical CD of Earth Song in the USA because they had hoped to boost the sales of the HIStory album. Earth Song made it to the top of the MTV top 20 countdown back in 1996. I'm sure the HIStory album got a little boost from not having a CD single of Earth Song.