Just like Rome was a de facto empire well before the wars with Carthage, America has been an empire since 1803. We have a different ideology than past empires - professing the freedom of the individual. And we have armies in dozens of countries around the world to make sure those countries and their neighbors adhere to that ideology or else. We believe that states which adhere to that ideology will be generally benign to our interests and that is all we require as part of the empire. Woe to those who hold substantial other interests.
This is historically a practical necessity: You are either an empire or you are subservient to someone else’s empire. America proper, as 6% of the world, is far too small to concede the other 94% to someone else’s ideology and interests and remain viable.
We do honest without imperical threats, foggy bottom be damned.
If you jack with us, we kill you. Period. That's pretty easy.
We would like for you to get your shit all in one box and elect a gooberment, yep. I'll admit to that.
But we're not trying to incorporate Iraq and Afghanistan like we did, say, most of western europe, after we fire bombed it into oblivion.
And we did that. We bombed Desden and killed 100K+ humans. Us. Americans.
We're not imperial, or you would be saluting an American flag.
Instead, salute your own flag, and figure out how to get along without an imperium.
And seriously, don't p(redacted) (redacted) off.
/johnny
Yeah, because we might threaten to leave, or give them less money, or bribe them with even more money. Woe be unto them! Run for the hills! The American dollars are coming... or going! The American dollars are coming... or going! Eeeek!
Truly, we ought to feel ashamed of ourselves, especially when compared to every other Empire in history. I shall go self-immolate now. /sarc>
This is historically a practical necessity: You are either an empire or you are subservient to someone else’s empire. America proper, as 6% of the world, is far too small to concede the other 94% to someone else’s ideology and interests and remain viable.
Um, almost every previous empire had an even smaller percentage of the global population.