06-25-2019, 12:32 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-25-2019, 12:47 PM by Eric the Green.)
This topic needs a definition of the USA "empire." Strictly speaking, the USA has divested itself of much of its empire already, after its conquests in the 1890s. It still holds some conquered territories though. It absorbed Hawaii into itself, and holds on to Puerto Rico and Guam. It let the Philippines go in 1946, after successfully seeking to hold on to it in 1899-1902. It let Cuba go sometime ago, and it has stopped joining the other powers to enforce their will on China after the Boxer Rebellion.
Since WWII, American imperialism revolved around the Cold War and then the War on Terror, so-called. It has not conquered territory directly, but going back to TR has demanded what kind of government some other countries must have. This process was stepped up after FDR. The USA kept South Korea from being conquered by the Communist North, but failed to keep the manufactured country of South Vietnam from being conquered by their Communist North. The USA conducted coups in such countries as Guatemala, Iran and Chile to keep them from going communist, and helped repress a movement in Honduras for much the same reason. It supported right-wing contra rebels in Nicaragua who failed to recaptured the country from a native left-wing Sandanista movement, but Nicaragua went moderate on its own anyway. It imposed sanctions on Venezuela against the allegedly socialist government here, and has recently stepped them up under Trump to drive the country and its people to total ruin. It conquered Panama to topple the Noriega dictatorship and then let it go, and had already relinquished the Canal Zone that TR had conquered. It helped prop up Israel in a region whose regimes were largely allied with the Soviet Union.
It continues to support Israel from the terrorist movements against it, starting in the 1970s. It waged campaigns against Palestinian terrorists in the 1980s, and recaptured Kuwait by organizing and leading a coalition against Saddam Hussein of Iraq in 1991. Then in 2001 the USA supported an alliance against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan after 9-11, and eventually invaded the country to keep the Taliban out of power. Then in 2003 it invaded Iraq, deposed Saddam, and imposed an ineffective parliamentary government there. It re-invaded Iraq and Syria with Kurdish and Iraqi support and participation to roll back the Islamic State conquests in 2014-2017. It has continued to impose its military influence in various and limited ways in parts of such regions as the Sahel in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and South-east Asia.
But all this has not resulted in any further direct territorial conquests by the United States of America. So what is the empire today? Is it our campaigns to influence other countries? Is it the dominance of our currency, especially in regard to oil (the petrodollar)? Is it the worldwide economic control by multi-national corporations, many of whom originally grew and became wealthy and powerful in the USA, and benefited from free trade agreements?
If so, what are the consequences of the "fall" of this "empire" of world-wide military and economic influence? Does it mean that the USA will break-up or lose territory? Does it mean it will decline in power and influence?
Or will divesting itself of much of this role as world cop and decider, and by gaining regulatory control of and re-distributing the wealth and power of the multi-national corporations, and their trade/currency behavior and offshore tax evasion, as the progressives and green new dealers propose, actually benefit the United States and its wealth and power by allowing it to become a more middle-class and more peaceful country again?
Since WWII, American imperialism revolved around the Cold War and then the War on Terror, so-called. It has not conquered territory directly, but going back to TR has demanded what kind of government some other countries must have. This process was stepped up after FDR. The USA kept South Korea from being conquered by the Communist North, but failed to keep the manufactured country of South Vietnam from being conquered by their Communist North. The USA conducted coups in such countries as Guatemala, Iran and Chile to keep them from going communist, and helped repress a movement in Honduras for much the same reason. It supported right-wing contra rebels in Nicaragua who failed to recaptured the country from a native left-wing Sandanista movement, but Nicaragua went moderate on its own anyway. It imposed sanctions on Venezuela against the allegedly socialist government here, and has recently stepped them up under Trump to drive the country and its people to total ruin. It conquered Panama to topple the Noriega dictatorship and then let it go, and had already relinquished the Canal Zone that TR had conquered. It helped prop up Israel in a region whose regimes were largely allied with the Soviet Union.
It continues to support Israel from the terrorist movements against it, starting in the 1970s. It waged campaigns against Palestinian terrorists in the 1980s, and recaptured Kuwait by organizing and leading a coalition against Saddam Hussein of Iraq in 1991. Then in 2001 the USA supported an alliance against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan after 9-11, and eventually invaded the country to keep the Taliban out of power. Then in 2003 it invaded Iraq, deposed Saddam, and imposed an ineffective parliamentary government there. It re-invaded Iraq and Syria with Kurdish and Iraqi support and participation to roll back the Islamic State conquests in 2014-2017. It has continued to impose its military influence in various and limited ways in parts of such regions as the Sahel in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and South-east Asia.
But all this has not resulted in any further direct territorial conquests by the United States of America. So what is the empire today? Is it our campaigns to influence other countries? Is it the dominance of our currency, especially in regard to oil (the petrodollar)? Is it the worldwide economic control by multi-national corporations, many of whom originally grew and became wealthy and powerful in the USA, and benefited from free trade agreements?
If so, what are the consequences of the "fall" of this "empire" of world-wide military and economic influence? Does it mean that the USA will break-up or lose territory? Does it mean it will decline in power and influence?
Or will divesting itself of much of this role as world cop and decider, and by gaining regulatory control of and re-distributing the wealth and power of the multi-national corporations, and their trade/currency behavior and offshore tax evasion, as the progressives and green new dealers propose, actually benefit the United States and its wealth and power by allowing it to become a more middle-class and more peaceful country again?