Empire
Alone in the history of the world, the United States has a program for global supremacy. It can be found in the 2002 National Security Strategy (NSS) of the United States and in the governing doctrine of the United States military: "full-spectrum dominance." (from Geoffrey Perret's book 'Commander in Chief'
'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality – judiciously, as you will – we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'" Ron Suskind quoting an unnamed senior White House official.
U.S. global power, as presently conceived by the overwhelming majority of the U.S. establishment, is unsustainable. To place American power on a firmer footing requires putting it on a more limited footing. Despite the lessons of Iraq, this is something that American policymakers - Democrat and Republican, civilian and military - still find extremely difficult to think about." Anatol Lieven.
"... to maintain our empire abroad requires resources and commitments that will inevitably undercut our domestic democracy and in the end produce a military dictatorship or its civilian equivalent. The founders of our nation understood this well and tried to create a form of government - a republic - that would prevent this from occurring. But the combination of huge standing armies, almost continuous wars, military Keynesianism, and ruinous military expenses have destroyed our republican structure in favor of an imperial presidency. We are on the cusp of losing our democracy for the sake of keeping our empire. Once a nation is started down that path, the dynamics that apply to all empires come into play - isolation, overstretch, the uniting of forces opposed to imperialism, and bankruptcy. Nemesis stalks our life as a free nation." pg 279. Chalmers Johnson's: Nemesis.
"Empire: nation-state that dominates other nation-states and exhibits one or more of the following characteristics: 1) exploits resources from the lands it dominates, 2) consumes large quantities of resources—amounts that are disproportionate to the size of its population relative to those of other nations, 3) maintains a large military that enforces its policies when more subtle measures fail, 4) spreads its language, literature, art, and various aspects of its culture throughout its sphere of influence, 5) taxes not just its own citizens, but also people in other countries, and 6) imposes its own currency on the lands under its control.
This definition of “Empire” was formulated in meetings I held with students at a number of universities during my book tour in oo5 and 2006. Almost without exception, the students arrived at the following conclusion: The United States exhibits all the characteristics of a global empire. Addressing each of the above points... " The Secret History of the American Empire: John Perkins.
Staying Bush's course means the end of our republic, rejection of international law, and it confirms our path to empire. History has shown the likely fate of empires is destruction. It should now be obvious that we are a lot less safe now. War has become increasingly more destructive and our fate could be worse than those which have gone before. We are, as Noam Chomsky points out, on a path to an "Armageddon of our own making". See Chalmers Johnson's "Republic or Empire" in the January, 2007 issue of Harpers Magazine or his book trilogy: Blowback; The Sorrows of Empire; and Nemesis. (Links below.)
Harold Pinter's Nobel Prize acceptance speech.
Is imperial liquidation possible for America ?: Chalmers Johnson
From Empire to Earth Community
Resisting the Empire:
Documentary Filmmaker John Pilger on Struggles forFreedom in Israel-Palestine, Diego Garcia, Latin America and South Africa
The renowned investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger
has spent the better part of his life documenting American empire and the
resistance it has met. Pilger has made over fifty documentaries and is the
author, most recently, of "Freedom Next Time: Resisting the Empire," which
looks at ongoing struggles in Afghanistan, Diego Garcia, India, Palestine,
and South Africa. Pilger joins us for the hour to play excerpts of his
documentaries and speak of the struggles he has covered. *
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/07/1347259
The State of the Empire
Bibliography
A People's History of American Empire: Howard Zinn
“Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic": Chalmers Johnson
The Sorrows of Empire Chalmers Johnson
The End of the American Era: Charles Kupchan
Democracy Matters: Cornel West
Blowback: Chalmers Johnson
Overthrow: Stephen Kinzer
Empire of Debt: William Bonner and Addison Wiggin.
The State of the Empire 2006.
Jonathan Schell on Bush's Failed Empire
Dark Ages America, the Final Phase of Empire by Morris Berman. Like any book at variance with the official story, this one has taken a lot of hits. You need to read it for yourself to see the depth of source material, the insight, and the poor outlook for the US empire.
The Price of Empire: J. William Fulbright (1989)
The Secret History of the American Empire: John Perkins
The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War. Andrew J. Bacevich
Commander in Chief: Geoffrey Perret
Are We Rome? The fall of an Empire and the Fate of America: Cullen Murphy
Presidential Power: Unchecked and Unbalanced. Mathew Crenson and Benjamin Ginsberg.
Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in a Time of Terror. Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr. and Aziz Z. Huq
The Matador's Cape: America's Reckless Response to Terror. Stephen Holmes.
Failed States: Noam Chomsky (See this link also.)
Hegemony or Survival: Noam Chomsky
The American Empire project lists books that, singly or together, confirm that the US is building an empire.
Pretensions to Empire, by Lewis H. Lapham
Notes on the Criminal Folly of the Bush Administration
$24.95 (hardcover) + shipping