Saturday, January 12, 2013
Is the United States an Empire?
In the assigned reading ("Thinking About Empire," Part 4 of Recent Themes in World History... pp. 111-154) there are six authors writing about a particular subject. Although some of the scholarly language can be confusing, collectively, they defend a unique position on the definition of “empire,” establish whether or not it matters, and ultimately, discuss the United States’ classification as one. The first author, Lal, uses Greek historian, Thucydides’ definition of empire—controlling both domestic and foreign policies. The other authors disagree. Some, such as Maier, would add that empires must enlarge territory or influence. Still Pieterse argues that “in the twenty-first century the imperial state, the state that chooses war, is a weak state, a state that lacks alternative institutional resources and imagination to pursue its aims.” Several words and phrases come up like: neoliberalism, metrocentrism, and imperial syndrome. Overall, there seem to be three important questions worth focusing on:
1. What is the definition of “empire”?
2. Does empire matter?
3. Is the United States of America an empire?
Each of the authors disagrees on one or all of these questions. We already know that Lal, Maier, and Pieterse disagree on the definition of the word. And in terms of further explanation, Maier uses the phrase imperial syndrome. This, although I am not completely sure of his meaning, seems to be similar to an empire. Or maybe it is only the feelings of being an empire. He says that it includes: ideas of war from a national challenge, having power from “frontiers” which act as “portals,” having a “big idea,” measuring popularity with the relationship of “rulers and ruled,” and rampant growth of privilege and inequality. It almost seems like an entangling disease. But James says that much of the world now acts in this imperial way. Is that okay? Since it does seem to matter, (according to the aforementioned authors), is imperialism “bad”? I’m not so sure that it is. Certainly if taken to an extreme, choosing war and colonial takeover would certainly qualify you as a “weak state,” but wouldn’t (maybe even shouldn’t) every nation have imperialistic qualities? If so, then maybe the United States of America classified as an empire shouldn’t be bad. But is there a better definition of “empire”? Does it matter? And does the United States of America qualify?
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One of the problems with the definition of Empire is exactly what we see here with the three separate definitions by Maier, Lal, and Pieterse. There is no definitive definition, its such an abstract idea that in everyones mind the notion of Empire is much different. Not only this but the empires throughout history while having similarities also tend to have differences which prevents the notion of a consensus idea as to what exactly defines an Empire. In a sense, thats the beauty of an Empire, there is no definition, its something that every country (Although none will truly admit it, who would turn down the option of constructing a great empire like Rome or Britain) strives for and yet nobody exactly knows what it is till its right there in front of them. One of the reasons its not important to know exactly what an empire is, is that it allows for creativity in nation building that there is no step by step procedure as to how an empire is established. As far as the United States goes it once again is all a matter of perspective, it can be argued that the United States is expansionist (Native American Wars, Spanish-American War, even the Iraq and Afghanistan wars could be argued in this aspect), Multi-Cultural (More minority babies are born than white babies, and eventually whites will actually become a minority), Influencing foreign politics (Foreign aid, embargoes), the US has military forces deployed in over 150 countries around the world. If statistics such as these are what the idea of empire is based of off, then yes the US would be an empire. The US is clearly a large powerful state that attempts to influence global politics and policy. So by this definition, yes the US would be considered an Empire.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point, Kenny, about the language that surrounds the word "empire." But it is interesting that how terms such as empire, which are apparently devoid of clear definition, are still freighted with meaning, mostly negative ones in this case, it seems.
DeleteMaegan, this was a great summation of some key ideas that came out of the reading. But I'd like to know more about how your own thinking evolved in relationship to the reading; what is most challenging to your own perspective?
ReplyDelete