Use of the Phrase "American Empire"

[angus]

Use of the Phrase "American Empire"

FF.  Also, it's the name of a book by Andrew Bacevich, of BU (my alma mater).  Check it out:

https://www.amazon.com/American-Empire-Realities-Consequences-Diplomacy/dp/0674013751

It's a bit dated now, but still a good read.

[angus]

American simply refers to the indigenous peoples of North America or South America, or to a citizen of the U.S, or is generally a reference to the United States.

An empire is a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority, or it is something resembling a political empire or an extensive territory or enterprise under single domination or control

If we put these together we get American Empire.  I don't think the term is meant to be offensive, and I don't think, as cathcon suggests, that it is meant to sound cool.  Is it modern?  Well, to the extent that there were many American empires (the olmec, the huastec, the mixtec, the aztec, the Tihuantinsuyu, the Maya, etc.), long before the age of conquest, it is not necessarily modern.  But to the extent that it specifically refers to the hegemony of the US in world affairs, then it is fairly modern.  The Monroe Doctrine is probably where it began, but it has since evolved into:  (1) the political unit into which the United States has evolved and the vassal states in the Americas subject thereto;  (2) a general reference to the cultural, military, and economic hegemony of the United States.

I think it's a reasonable and inoffensive term.  It is also useful, since it reminds of how badly twisted our government has become since the days of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  I guess I'm a bit optimistic in the sence that such a reminder will act as a slap in the face.  I'm no fan of The Donald, or of his wall, his impropriety, his general disdain for polite conversation, or of his lack of geopolitical curiosity, but I have to admit that his anti-imperialist rhetoric has some appeal.  We might applaud those who remember that imperialism doesn't really best suit our economic ends.

[angus]

Interesting.  I don't remember hearing about empire in grade school, including Jefferson's comment, although I think he was using the term loosely.  I do remember in the 80s the Soviet Union being called the evil empire.

The first time I think I heard the term applied to the US was in late 90s.  Then, early in the Bush administration, just after September 11, 2001 when we invaded Afghanistan, I started hearing it quite a bit.  The Empire Strikes Back was the meme of the day. 

In any case, I don't think American Empire an inaccurate description.  You can call it Manifest Destiny if it makes you feel better, but the US has been in an expansionist mode since its inception.  We're clever about it now.  In the late 40s, we created a loose confederation of nations and gave ourselves and our friends permanent veto powers in all elections.  At the same time we doled out spreading around money like an upstart mafioso, which bought us at least five decades of love.  We built major highways through central america and made sure to involve ourselves with all their elections in order to have the "good guys" in charge of our fruit and oil supplies.  Also, we let our entertainment industry do most of the culture-export business and we let our universities educate millions of foreigners every year and carry our ideas back to their homelands, which frees up the government to focus on diplomatic and military adventures.  I'm not such a conspiracy theorist that I think there's a grand plan for all this; it has just worked out that way.  By anyone's definition, we have the greatest, most influential, and most pervasive empire in the world at the moment.