Following the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, conservatives trumpeted
the idea of American imperialism. On October 15, the cover of William
Kristol's Weekly Standard carried the headline, "The Case for American
Empire." Rich Lowry, editor in chief of the National Review, called for
"a kind of low-grade colonialism" to topple dangerous regimes beyond
Afghanistan. The columnist Charles Krauthammer declared that, given
complete U.S. domination "culturally, economically, technologically and
militarily," people were "now coming out of the closet on the word
'empire.'" The New York Times Sunday magazine cover for January 5, 2003,
read "American Empire: Get Used To It."
In the book "Empire",
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri argued that "the decline of Empire has
begun". Hardt says the Iraq War is a classically imperialist war, and is
the last gasp of a doomed strategy. This new era still has colonizing
power, but it has moved from national military forces based on an
economy of physical goods to networked biopower based on an
informational and affective economy. The U.S. is central to the
development and constitution of a new global regime of international
power and sovereignty, termed Empire, but is decentralized and global,
and not ruled by one sovereign state; "the United States does indeed
occupy a privileged position in Empire, but this privilege derives not
from its similarities to the old European imperialist powers, but from
its differences." Hardt and Negri draw on the theories of Spinoza,
Foucault, Deleuze, and Italian autonomist marxists.
Geographer
David Harvey says there has emerged a new type of imperialism due to
geographical distinctions as well as uneven levels of development.[36]
He says there has emerged three new global economic and politics blocs:
the United States, the European Union, and Asia centered around China
and Russia.[37][verification needed] He says there are tensions between
the three major blocs over resources and economic power, citing the 2003
invasion of Iraq, whose goal was to prevent rivals from controlling
oil.[38] Furthermore, Harvey argues there can arise conflict within the
major blocs between capitalists and politicians due to their opposing
economic interests.[39] Politicians, on the other hand, live in
geographically fixed locations and are, in the U.S. and Europe,
accountable to the electorate. The 'new' imperialism, then, has led to
an alignment of the interests of capitalists and politicians in order to
prevent the rise and expansion of possible economic and political
rivals from challenging America's dominance.[40]
Classics professor
and war historian Victor Davis Hanson dismisses the notion of an
American empire altogether, mockingly comparing it to other empires: "We
do not send out proconsuls to reside over client states, which in turn
impose taxes on coerced subjects to pay for the legions. Instead,
American bases are predicated on contractual obligations — costly to us
and profitable to their hosts. We do not see any profits in Korea, but
instead accept the risk of losing almost 40,000 of our youth to ensure
that Kias can flood our shores and that shaggy students can protest
outside our embassy in Seoul."
Chalmers Johnson argues that
America's version of the colony is the military base.[42] Chip Pitts
argues similarly that enduring U.S. bases in Iraq suggest a vision of
"Iraq as a colony".[43]
While territories such as Guam, the United
States Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and
Puerto Rico remain under U.S. control, the U.S. allowed many of its
overseas territories or occupations to gain independence after World War
II. Examples include the Philippines (1946), the Panama canal zone
(1979), Palau (1981), the Federated States of Micronesia (1986), and the
Marshall Islands (1986). Most of them still have U.S. bases within
their territories. In the case of Okinawa, which came under U.S.
administration after the battle of Okinawa during World War II, this
happened despite local popular opinion.[44] As of 2003, the United
States had bases in over 36 countries worldwide.
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