American Empire Debate...A Response to the Readings

Is America an Empire? This week’s readings tackle this question and examine two sides of the much debated argument. After reading Rosen’s “An Empire, If You Can Keep It,” I was frustrated by his use of historical examples to prove that America, in his opinion, is an Empire. Citing British or Ottoman imperial control in relation to the current international system, imperial or not, seems invalid and unrelated, as each imperial system (as indicated by Nexon and Wright) is different. Professor Nexon’s and Thomas Wright’s “What’s at Stake in the American Empire Debate” is refreshing as it highlights the major differences between unipolarity, hegemony, and imperial order (while Rosen’s piece failed to acknowledge these discrepancies). The debate presented in both articles and in political discourse at large shows that the answer to the question posed at the start of this post will vary depending on how one defines “empire.”

I have always considered a more traditional definition of empire (Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines it as “a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority; especially : one having an emperor as chief of state”) in which a central power aggressively conquers foreign lands and rules them either through indirect or direct rule. The key word here is conquest, and when applying this definition to the American empire debate, I do not believe the USA has the intent of physically conquering foreign lands and imposing American rule upon them. Although the US military is superior to any other states’, I honestly believe that our overpowering military is mainly for assurance of national security. This aim to preserve national security has manifested itself in a way that makes the US seem like the “schoolyard bully,” intimidating the rest of the world into submission whether through anticommunist agendas or the “War on Terror,” for example.

Clearly, Iraq is the most relevant contemporary example of the US militarily exerting control abroad, but regardless of one’s political opinion concerning the war, I think it is safe to say that the US is not looking to make Iraq another Puerto Rico. I would go as far to say that at this point, the US would like to have the Iraq “problem” taken off its hands, as our military resources are running thin and we continue to fight an invisible and tricky enemy.

I do think that the USA is the world hegemon, but I do not think it’s accurate to characterize it an empire. The USA’s goal is to preserve its national security and “seek peace and prosperity among sovereign states rather than the annexation and direct domination of independent politities” (Nexon and Wright).