To be or not to be: the United States as an Empire

Abstract

In the modern sense, the notion of “empire” can be understood not as a political unit but as a systemof relationships that may or may not be pursued as a strategy by powerful states. Hence, in order toestablish an imperial relationship, a state needs both power and will. Because the United States has beena relatively powerful country for much of its history, the occasional adoption of imperial strategies musttherefore be explained by variations in willingness. This article maintains that this willingness was clearlypresent in at least three moments in U.S. history: after the Spanish-American War, after World War II,and after 9-11. In each of these cases, the United States faced strong reactions to its imperial strategy –symbolized, respectively by the Philippines, Vietnam, and Iraq – that ended up leading to its subsequentreevaluation.