The Reluctant Empire

Paper Summary:

This paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes the book "Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire," by Niall Ferguson. Specifically, the writer discusses whether she agrees with the following statement at the end of Ferguson's book: 'I believe the world needs an effective liberal empire and that the United States is the best candidate for the job'. The writer maintains that Ferguson's arguments for U.S. imperialism are the backbone of his book, and he makes some compelling and well thought out arguments for his thesis.

From the Paper:

"Under this definition, the United States could certainly be considered an empire, since we have had imperialistic relations with the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Korea, Vietnam, and now Iraq. In all of these conquests or skirmishes, the country has been fighting for "democracy" and freedom, whether the people wanted it or not. Indeed, the author mentions more recent aggressions, such as the toppling of the Soviet Union (which America had at least some small part in), along with the regimes of Slobodan Milosevic, the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, as an example of American might overseas."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ferguson, Niall. Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire. New York: The Penguin Press, 2004.

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