The United States: An Empire in Denial

With the arrival and eventual establishment of a permanent settlement on the Statesn soil in the early seventeenth century, the face settlers came upon an lofty territory of land teeming with resources and termi tribeless possibilities. Soon, these settlers longed for liberty and thus want to break free from the imperial clutches of British rule. Standing decisively against a commodious and powerful pudding st unmatched, liberty was won in the States by the blood of its founding fathers, indelibly written in the firmness of purpose of Independence.Perhaps in these humble beginnings are the reasons why the States forthwith could neer officially admit on how she has evolved into the imperium she had once detested and fought. The particulars, however, articulate for themselves. the States immediately is a colossal empire and as oftentimes(prenominal), she has in her power the capacity to shape the future by creating a being environment conducive to profitable economic r elations (especially to third- orb countries) and inter areaal peace, some(prenominal) of which are in pitiable supply, these days.What the earth needs, according to Niall Ferguson in scallywag 301 of his book Colossus, is an good barren empire and the coupled States is the crush candidate for the job. What restrains America from accepting and makeing its authority as an imperial power? This paper delves on this question and discusses the following relevant issues (1) rendering of an empire, (2) what America has become, (3) the American might strongholds approximately the globe, (4) the American empire fastening and denial, and (5) America as the engine of global growth.America is straightaway the only king in the piece and she is in a position to greatly set the course of human recital. Main Body Definition of an empire investigate into the topic at hand, it is necessary to elucidate on the true importee of empire as rationalized by Mr. Ferguson An empire is firs t and fore slightly, a precise great power that has left its mark on the international relations of an era . . . a polity that rules over wide territories and m some(prenominal) peoples, since the focal point of space and multi-ethnicity is one of the great perennial dilemmas of an empire .. . An empire is by definition . . . non a polity ruled with the explicit take on of its peoples, But by a process of assimilation of peoples of democratization of institutions empires can turn themselves into multinational federations or even nation states. (10) Thus defined, an empire does not require the general consensus of the people involved. However, an empire can adapt to whatever is the prevalent social, economic or political environment at hand. What America Has BecomeIn the course of human tale for the past four centuries since the arrival of the English settlers in America, has the linked States revealed itself, in whatever degree, as a nation with imperial intents? As Ferguso n states This book argues not merely that the united States is an empire solely that it has always been an empire. Un analogous most of the previous authors who have remarked on this, I have no objection in principle to an American empire. Indeed, a part of my argument is that m some(prenominal) parts of the introduction would pull in from a period of American rule (Ferguson 2).The United States is perceived to be the greatest empire to have ever existed in the history the mankind, propellent itself to the top, not only with its involvement and successes at previous wars, but most especially, with its exploitation of constant advances in science and technology for its defensive posture. In this field, America has no equal. As we have seen, by most stuffy measures of powereconomic, military and culturalthere has never been an empire mightier than the United States today (Ferguson289). The American Might Strongholds around the GlobeFrom a military standpoint, America has the grea test influence over many separate nations today. Controlling worthless and defensive strategic sites around the globe, its military arm is well-emplaced and is in the exceed position to act or react should the need arise. . . . the U. S. military has around 752 military installations in more(prenominal) than 130 countries . . . In the first social class of President Bushs presidency, around 70,000 U. S. troops were stationed in Germany, and 40,000 in Japan . . . Almost as many (36,500) were in confederation Korea . . .Moreover, new wars have meant new bases, like Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, acquired during the 1999 war against Yugoslavia, or the Bishkek air base in Kyrgyzstan . . . At the time of writing, about 10,000 American troops are still based in Afghanistan, and it seems received that a substantial force of 100,000 will have to remain in Iraq for at least the next few years. (Ferguson 16) What other nation in the face of the earth be it in the past or in the present could ever boast of such a claim? What other nation is more prepared to control vast areas of land, air and body of water with its military dominance?On land the United States has 9,000 M1 Abrams tanks. The rest of the world has nothing that can compete. At sea the United States possesses nine supercarrier conflict groups. The rest of the world has none. And in the air the United States has three contrastive kinds of undetectable stealth aircraft. The rest of the world has none. The United States is also farthermost ahead in the production of smart missiles and pilotless high-altitude drones (Ferguson 16). The American Empire Adherence and Denial The United States today is an empire but a peculiar kind of empire.It is vastly wealthy. It is militarily peerless. It has astonishing cultural reach. until now by comparison with other empires it often struggles to impose its will beyond its shores . . . Only when the United States could cast itself in an anti-imperialist role . . . w ere the Americans able to perform their own cryptoimperial role with self-confidence (Ferguson 287). This is where the American nation faces its greatest overleap in reaching its full potential and becoming a great empire for the great benefit of the world, for it could not bear the theory of an majestic America.It took a succession of humanitarian disasters abroad in the 1990s and terrorist attacks at home in 2001 to rekindle public enthusiasm for a more assertive American conflicting insurance policy, though even this had to be cloak in euphemism, its imperial character repeatedly denied (Ferguson 287). But this denial is not a sentiment shared by all Americans. As events cover and the need for change arises, more and more adherents to an imperial America surface, publically giving voice to an advocacy silently embraced by a few.Richard Haas, who went on to serve in the Bush administration as director of policy planning in the State Department, argued that Americans neede d to re-conceive their global role from one of traditional nation-state to an imperial power, calling openly for an informal American empire . . . As doubting Thomas Donnelly, deputy executive director of the come across for the New American Century, told the Washington Post in August 2001, thithers not all that many people who will run out about it empire openly. Its discomforting to a lot of Americans.So they use code phrases like America is the sole superpower (Ferguson 4). There is little doubt that the resolving of an imperial America would profoundly provoke global agitation. However, one moldiness bear in mind that this is not a new concept and that for decades, this abstraction has always been in the backdrop, even more so in every anti-American cause one would care to listen to. a couple of(prenominal) people outside the United States today doubt the beingness of an American empire that America is imperialistic is a truism in the look of most educated Europeans.But th e theologian Reinhold Niebuhr noted as long agone as 1960, Americans persist in frantically avoiding recognition of the imperialism they in event exercise (Ferguson 294). All evidence suggests that America is an empire. The denial of the American canaille and most especially that of the United States government to this fact is not an raw innocuous act or claim, as in the present deterrent example of Iraq and Afghanistan. Does imperial denial matter? The answer is that it does . . .The trouble with an empire in denial is that it tends to make two mistakes when it chooses to intervene in the affairs of lesser states. The first may be to allocate insufficient resources to the nonmilitary aspects of the project. The second, and the more serious, is to attempt economic and political transformation in an unrealistically short time frame. (Ferguson 294) America as the Engine of Global Growth To this day, America remains to be the behemoth that it is with the American dollar taking its just place as the international currency in the global market.Twentieth-century history handed the United States a privileged position in the world economy its currency became and has remained the worlds favorite. Since 1945 it has been used more than any other for denominating international transactions, and that has made it the preferred currency for central situate reserves (Ferguson 283). America, it appears, has everything that is needed to perform its imperial role. It is even likely that, in these times of widespread poverty, many countries would rally behind this cause for aboveboard economic motives.The reason that so much overseas capital flows into the United States, so it is said, is that the American economy is the engine of global growth and foreign investors simply want a piece of the action (Ferguson 281). At the end of the day, the alleviation of poverty through the creation of a dynamic and blend inly economy is the backbone of a peaceful nation. Here is where one sees the role that America should play. The Role that America Should Play What the world needs today is not just any kind of empire.What is needful is a liberal empire- that is to say, one that not only underwrites the free international exchange of commodities, push and capital but also creates and upholds the conditions without which markets cannot function- peace and order, the rule of law, non-corrupt administration, stable fiscal and monetary policies- as well as provide public goods, such as transport infrastructure, hospitals and schools, which would not otherwise exist. (Ferguson 2) The question that must now be answered is Can the United States achieve the role of being an effective liberal empire? There is no doubt that the America of today has a foothold on almost all of the essential attributes required to perform this role. Although the United States seems in many ways ideally gift economically, militarily and politically to run such an empire of liberty (in Tho mas Jeffersons phrase), in practice it has been a surprisingly inept empire builder (Ferguson 2). Because of the democracy with which America was founded upon, we have seen time and again how the American populace, in general, refuses to accept the concept of an empire.As such, it could not move on to greater heights of historical attainment. Others would claim that many millions of people around the world have benefited in some way or another from the existence of Americas empire not least the West Europeans, Japanese, and South Koreans who were able to prosper during the cold war under the protection of the American nuclear umbrella and that the economic losers of the post-cold war era, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are victims not of American power but of its absence (Ferguson 13).In the linguistic communication of retired General Anthony Zinni What is our obligation to the world? We preach about values, democracy, human skilfuls, but we havent convinced the American p eople to pony up . . . Theres no leadership that steps up and says, This is the right thing to do . . . Thats the basic problem . . . There has to be the political will and certification for these things. We should believe that a stable world is a better place for us . . . the U. S.would make a much greater difference to the world. (Ferguson 293) Conclusion Through the acceptance and support for an American empire by the American people themselves which in itself is a great undertaking the United States could significantly alter the course of human history for the better. This conclusion could better be proven by questioning any of the multitudinous impoverished citizens from a third-world country if such a nation would be better off under the auspices of the American dollar.The United States has always been an empire in denial. A truly unfortunate fact for humankind would have a much better place to live in if only the world, most especially the American populace, would accept, recognize and support this undeniable reality of an imperial America. Works Cited Fletcher, Richard. Colossus. U. K. Penguin, 2004.