The 'E' Word, Admit it: America is an empire.

WSJ ^ | 6/6/03 | NIALL FERGUSON

[Falcon4.0]

Not only can they leave it, they can join it as well.
You could not become a Roman during the Roman Empire. You Could not become British during the British Empire, but you are welcome to file and become an American.

[gitmo]

Mr. Ferguson is the author of "Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power" (Basic Bks., 2003).

If this article is in any way indicative of the theme of Mr. Ferguson's book, it is of little to no value.

[Valin]

Now, is that a bad thing,

Bold and reckless, maybe, but I'm gonna call it AGT (a good thing)

[mikenola]

Well said BillyBob. This "empire" canard is a pet-peeve of mine. Conservatives should stamp it out every where we hear it.

Funny thing is that the folks who decry America as "imperial" are usually from countries who had *real* empires. Ask an African, Algerian, or Vietnamese what they think of the French.

You could view alot of America's current problems in the Middle East as tracing back to Europe's elitist, racist, imperial thinking. Read the artificial "mandates" of Iraq, Israel, Palestine and Jordan that stitched artificial states according to arbitrary map lines drawn in the smokey backrooms.

As with so many other things: Europe breaks it, America has to fix it, and then gets pissed on by the people who broke it. Sheesh.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

You could not become a Roman during the Roman Empire.

Well, you could. But it wasn't easy or likely. Roman Citizenships were granted as rewards after twenty years in the Auxilerys IIRC or for non-citizens who did big big favors for Rome. But even at that you were still a second class sort of citizen.

They might invite you to dinner but you would be wise not to flirt with the daughter of the house.

[anniegetyourgun]

Well, I think you nailed it. The bulk of the article is a laugher. As to that last sentence, it does give one pause. Especially in light of the fact that it is liberals in this country who have the shortest attention span beyond their own power. If they regain it, they most assuredly will lose interest in any compassionate rebuilding. And worse, they will even lose interest in national security.