Imperialism - American Style

Max Boot, writing in Canada's National Post is claiming that American Imperialism is good. I don't take issue with the fact that we do good in foreign affairs. But we are not a military imperialist nation. Economically we are, but not militarily.

The examples of imperialism that Boot brings up, from the Philippines to Germany, are all proof that we are, in fact, not an imperialist nation in the traditional sense.

Traditionally, imperialism has involved conquering a nation and then exploiting it for some type of gain for the mother country. The condition of the inhabitants of the conquered nation was a secondary concern to the enrichment of the conqueror. Traditionally, imperialism has meant oppression, humiliation and exploitation until it is impossible to maintain the abuses.

America has never been an imperialist power in that mold. We have conquered nations and held territories outside our borders. We have used other nations to promote American interests. But we have not engaged in the repression and racism that the traditional imperial powers have.

We conquered Japan and Germany and assisted them to form a new government, which we turned the administration of the nation over to. And these weren't puppet regimes, either. These nations have opposed us many times since the end of WWII, just not militarily. The Philippines kicked the US Navy out. We have given the Puerto Ricans the opportunity to leave many, many times. They refuse to take it. They have stayed of their own free will.

Did we exploit Germany and Japan? Only if you consider helping them to form a government of their best and brightest exploitation. We didn't use them as a source of cheap labor or as a reserve of strategic resources. But we let them use us in those roles. The conquered exploited the conqueror, almost a form a reverse imperialism.

Militarily we have not been an imperialist power, but economically we are.

We have become so powerful economically that we can realistically control the destiny of their nations by tweaking our own economy. The superiority and dominance of our free market system has crushed virtually every attempt at command economies. We have made it so difficult for a nation to prosper without us that they are forced by economic reality to meet our demands.

And economically, our demands are similar to those of a true imperialist nation. We demand luxury items and we want them cheap. We demand that these other nations buy our products, regardless of whether or not they actually need them. In a traditional imperialist system the military is the big stick; in our imperialistic system, our economy is the big stick - and also the carrot.

Mr. Boot is correct in asserting that American imperialism has been one of the greatest forces of good that the world has every seen. Unlike a traditional, militaristic imperialism, we don't threaten our sphere of influence with death and destruction if they ignore us. Rather we promise them peace, life and prosperity if they work with us. And by and large, we deliver on that promise.

American imperialism is not about occupation or nation building or subjugation. Imperialism American style is about freedom. As Mr. Boot points out we may impose free speech at the point of a gun, but we never shoot the speaker if he exercises his free speech by calling us names or telling us to leave. On the contrary, we rejoice in the fact that he was willing to tell us off. Freedom, not oppression, is the foundation of our imperialism. And it is that fundamental difference of American style imperialism that makes it so successful.