American foreign policy has had several turning points and almost all of them have involved moving towards an imperial foreign policy. Nothing unites a country like war and having an enemy--thus, for a country that has tended to be multi-cultural war serves as the best way to insure unity. It is no accident that terms like "War on Drugs", "War on Poverty", "War on Terror" and so on have such resonance and such a strong ability to shut off debate and thoughtful consideration.
The movement towards imperialism is, frankly, inevitable. I realized today that though I consider myself an anti-imperialist history is just not on my side not for some theoretical reason but because there is no clear alternative and no powerful anti-imperialist movement. We may not have a choice but to follow the imperial agenda wherever it leads and make the best of it.
Let me quickly define what I mean by "imperialism". Let's first dismiss the Leninist definition that imperialism is connected to the final stage of capitalism--that is not what I'm speaking of. What I mean is that people with great power will influence a political entity to use all its forces to dominate as much of the world as possible.
Current American Imperialism is based on a world order that emerged after WWII with the founding of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods system that set a coherent set of rules by which all the world would be governed. This system is ongoing and much enhanced so that most world is governed by it--not only in its external affairs but internal affairs as well. Sometimes this scheme is known as "globalization" or "neo-liberalism" but really it should be called imperialism because its agenda is for domination of all cultures in all parts of the world by a single ethic (social-darwinism, aka "freedom"), a single centralized system and a central political authority. Only the political part of the agenda has yet to be fully realized though it came very close just after the 9/11 "attacks". The Bush administration, for various reasons that IMHO had a lot to do with corruption, was not able to fully capitalize on the 9/11 moment but it made enough progress to at least set out the broad outlines of the political structure for the American Empire. At this time the outline involves overwhelming military dominance, a good international secret-police apparatus both of which are currently able to operate in most places in the world due to a world-wide string of bases--these are the official bases though it is alleged by many that there are many more clandestine bases. Remember that the President can, if he chooses, kill assassinate, torture, imprison anyone or any group of people anywhere in the world without scrutiny or accountability.
The formost scholar of the American Imperium is Chalmers Johnson who has written a trilogy Blowback, Sorrows of Empire and Nemesis argues that the Empire and death of the Republic are upon us. For more on U.S. bases in Iraq I commend this recent video to your attention.
I think the fact of an American imperial power is self-evident. Note that paucity of opposition (by governments) to the United States despite U.S. flouting of the Geneva Convention and international law in a systematic way. Even governments of countries in Europe whose populace overwhelming opposed and opposes U.S. actions in Iraq are offering no further opposition not only to the Iraq War but to the general trend of U.S. imperialism. Why? Because however bad a name it has imperialism works. Owning Iraqi oil and having overwhelming military superiority in the region means real power. Europe and Asia is dependent on Mid-east oil and are theoretically subject to assassination and thus are subject to the pleasure of the U.S. President.
It is my view that because the United States has the means and opportunity to impose its imperial agenda it will do so--Americans, contrary to the national myth of "American Exceptionalism" are not much different from other people past and present. Government officials will use whatever means necessary to insure that the U.S system of democracy is manipulated and remains manipulatable enough to ensure the massive funding needed to enforce its will. 9/11 proves how easy it is to stir up hysteria among a public grown increasingly fearful as it has grown increasingly unconscious and hungry for pre-packaged fantasies. The government has proven it can, even if it fails publicly, that it is in no danger of losing control of policy-making. We may as well get used to the idea of empire--indeed, if empire is inevitable then we ought to make efforts to see that it is, at least, well-run and moves to a less savage and bloody stage than the current one. There is nothing on the horizon that I can see that can stop it.
There is only one slightly wild card in the mix and that is the candidacy of John Edwards. He is the only major Presidential candidate to come out openly as opposing permanent U.S. bases in Iraq. I don't see how he can win the nomination but one never knows.