Is The US An Empire?

Good article.

I would say the U.S. is not an empire considering we have checks and balances.

It's too myopic to consider the US as not an imperial power simply because we have the power to vote, and checks and balances for that matter. For imperialism to be something as an accurate definition, you have to look at the nation's foreign policies. In that context, we are very imperial. In fact we are the largest and strongest empire in world history. We are the single superpower in the world, and the neo-conservatives are hell-bent on asserting US military superiority in the world. We have over 700 military bases in over 130 different countries, on all continents (except Antarctica), encompassing the entire globe. We are on a perpetual military footing, always at war. We use our military and other violent means to spread our own ideology across the globe left and right. Thus, it is very simple, that we are an Empire. I personally would say we practice "neo-imperialism" (more corporate than anything), but many say we are straight imperialist. There have been Empires in the past that weren't focused on totalitarian rule domestically. The definition presented in the above article is a false one.

"May our growing hegemony live on"?? You're just sick. First you deny the US an imperial power, then you accept and try to justify it, then you wish the 'thousand year reich' to live on.

An empire is a conglomeration of various nationalities not joined by agreement. The Union of India, Pakistan and Srilanka are some of the examples of empires in the Indian subcontinent.

anpudan,
Sothi Piragasam.

It's impossible to deny that we are imperialistic. We've involved ourself in the affairs of most nations and have been involved in not only political but economic exploitation around the globe. Well, actually the economic part is mostly private corporations, but it's condoned by the United States. I'm not even gonna go into how many "regime changes" we've orchestrated to fit our own interests. It makes me even sicker to know that we supported despots like Mobutu Sese Seto in Zaire and the Shah in Iran just because they liked us, or because they sided with us against the Soviet Union.

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