Like the Mongols? Oh, wait, you probably mean the Huns ;)
Present circumstances would indicate that the US has won this objective test, thus we have earned the right to preserve our values against all competitors.
Preserve, or impose? Preserve, absolutely - and that's what I think we're doing in Iraq - but do we really have a moral mandate to impose our choices on others? If so, why?
I'm not allergic to the proposition that we do, BTW, but let's look at it from the point of view of an objective outsider - he's confronted with a multitude of claims, each one purporting to have universal truths on its side. How is he to evaluate them, and then arrive at the truths we tend to see as self-evident? After all, the "truths" of the Islamists are just as self-evident to them...
You:
Preserve, or impose? Preserve, absolutely - and that's what I think we're doing in Iraq - but do we really have a moral mandate to impose our choices on others? If so, why?
It would be fine if these Islamic folk continued to wander in the desert, and were content to be peaceful, non-agressive, and picturesque third-worlders. Or if they matured (as we would see it) to be a mid-eastern version of Kansas or something. But they're not going to accept either role. To preserve our civilization, it would appear that we must, to some extent, impose some constraints on them. Not ideal, perhaps, but quite necessary.