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That's sort of the idea behind an "Empire" though I'd say that using economic means to dominate the local government and economic affairs is the same thing.Does the US need to occupy extensive tracts of other people's territory to be an imperial power?
no comparison its utter nonsence is the US an empire? no is Bush an emporer? no . pure America bashing , the US has a sphere of influence and it has allies but get realAt the high watermark of the Roman Empire they had 37+ foreign military bases.
At the apex of the British Empire they had 36.
The Pentagon now lists 737 "official" foreign US military bases, and it's widely acknowledged that there are a great deal more, some of them quite large. The US has garrisoned the planet. The US military budget exceeds that of the entire rest of the world!
Then there's the issue of the US economic hegemony. America's made a banana republic of much of the developing world for decades, and dominates the world economy.
Is the US an empire? Is the Pope Catholic?
The US military budget exceeds that of the entire rest of the world!
you have taken on the role of world police man and i for one am glad of it , and dont forget the cold war if it wasnt for the USSR you probably wouldnt havethe military size you do nowIs there something about being at the top of the heap that induces paranoia or insecurity in a people? The expansion of the Roman Empire was largely motivated by the Latin's fear of their immediate neighbors, for example. how do you work that one out?
Other countries with militias barely sufficient to repulse an attack by a coalition of Boy Scouts are happy and secure. Other countries experience internal attacks by foreign political rivals without feeling compelled to invade or topple the administration of their attacker's country of origin. these countries are secure in their alliance with the US or organisations such as NATO
Eisenhower's warning has come true. The military is America's pre-eminent industrial product; the cornerstone of the US economy. But without manufacturing conflict worldwide there would be no market for it.
We are not really in peril of invasion. What military opposition the US faces is largely a product of our own military and economic adventurism.
Odd as it may seem, I think there's currently in inverse relationship between military spending and national security.
Good point. The USSR was a great bogeyman to scare the hoi-polloi into funding the military-industrial complex. When it fell, the industry needed a new bogeyman, fast.
Frankly, though, I'm not entirely comfortable with my tax dollars supporting a world police force, particularly inasmuch as they seem to be ignoring problems in Darfur and Afganistan while plowing billions down an Iraqi rat-hole.
Isn't policing the world the job of the United Nations? Shouldn't we be directing our energies into honing the UN into a lean, mean protector of world peace?
So what is the common understanding of empire? How does it differ from the US' current situation?