by A historian’s thoughts on the persistence of empire
There’s a through-line from the British Empire to the American empire. The same assumptions. The same structures. The same justifications. Different moment in time, same fundamental belief that powerful nations have the right to rule over weaker ones.
What’s changed is the methods. The British used direct colonial rule. The Americans use economic pressure, military intervention, and the spread of their cultural values. It’s more subtle. It’s often presented as mutually beneficial rather than imposed. But it’s fundamentally the same thing.
I was thinking about this while reading about American foreign policy, and I realized that most Americans have no idea that their country functions as an empire. They think of America as a democratic republic. They don’t see themselves as colonialists. They don’t understand that their standard of living is dependent on the exploitation of other countries.
That’s the success of the narrative. The empire has managed to hide itself. To convince people that it’s not an empire. To make imperial extraction seem normal and natural.
