We are, if anything, a mercantile empire. We don’t usually care to try to run others peoples affairs, we just want to sell them stuff and buy their stuff.
A nation is having peace and prosperity? GREAT! Let the good times roll. Sell us your goods and services and may we interest you in ours?
A nation is having warfare and strife. NOT AS GREAT! But we can sell you some guns and ammo, let us know when things settle down and we can set up shop and invest.
Exactly. And it's up to people on the outside to participate or not, as they wish.
What we make and sell - both in terms of physical products and in terms of ideas - has been popular and well received and people have wanted to buy our product and be part of that "empire."
It's quite possible that they don't want to do so any longer (mostly thanks to the attacks of our own domestic left). But that's a whole different thing from having a physical empire (colonies, etc.) rebel against one.