The American Empire

Carl Cavanagh Hodge, "America's Empire by Default," Foreign Policy Research Institute, Orbis, Winter 2005 (fpri.org)

Is America's current broad view of its role in the world a violation

Hodge contends that the Western system as it currently stands is "a largely Anglo-American effort." The U.S., he says, became a world power because of its successful integration into the British world system of free trade secured by military power. "A navy and a currency second to none" has long been the basis of American prosperity and safety.

The drawing back together of America and Britain, the world's two great freedom-loving civilizations, in the 1940s laid the groundwork for the post-war world of free trade and "international order in which democracy and international commerce could prosper." Despite the proclamations of its enthusiasts, the U.N. has contributed only modestly to this world order, says Hodge.

America, Hodge concludes, is an empire by default, "because there is no international community with the capability or will to discipline its most wayward members." For America, as previously for Britain, empire has become the obligation of democracy, peace, and prosperity.