The American Empire

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes what characterizes the American empire. It looks at it in terms of power through the world market and secondarily, in geopolitical terms. The paper argues that the USA is primarily practicing 'imperialism of free trade' but that its power is also considerably exercised in geopolitical terms and that in fact this was always the case.

From the Paper:

"Smith argues that this third stage of American Empire is different in several ways from the American Empire prior to 09.11.2001. He states "the conflation of narrow national self-interest with global good has been more acute since 11 September 2001 than at any time in the American century" (xii). Certainly this is the first 'global' war that the USA has initiated. In the guise of war against terror it is a war to secure access to raw materials and in particular oil, but it is also the war "devoted to the completion of the geo-economic globalism of the American Empire" (Smith, xiv). The USA's current war waged in particular geographical regions is mostly in order to regain dominance in these regions, to secure globalization and to break down any resistance to the free market and the globalization forces of the USA."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Herman, E.S. "The Global Empire". Triumph of the market: Essays on Economies, Politics and the Media. South End Press, 1995, 123-129
• Ferguson, N. "Introduction". Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire. Penguin Books, 2004, 1-29
• Ferguson, N. "The Limits of the American Empire". Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire. Penguin Books, 2004, 33-60
• Zinn, H. "The 2000 Election and the "War on Terrorism". A People's History of the United States, 1492-Present. HarperCollins, 2003, 675-682
• Smith, N. "Prologue". American Empire: Roosewelt's Geographer and the Prelude to Globalization. University of California Press, 2003, xi-xvii

More papers on The American Empire:

• Research Paper # 71763 : "The American Empire"
• Analytical Essay # 109883 : "The American Empire: Composition and Contingency"
• Book Review # 112835 : "The Reluctant Empire"

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