New York Times columnist Ross Douthat observed in a highly accurate op-ed entitled “The American Empire in Retreat,” which was written on September 4, 2021. According to Douthat, the US has three types of empires. He stated that “first there is the inner empire, the continental U.S.A. with its Pacific and Caribbean satellites.”
Second, he stated that “there is the outer empire, consisting of the regions that Americans occupied and rebuilt after World War II and placed under our military umbrella: basically, Western Europe and the Pacific Rim.”
Lastly, he stated that there is the “American world empire,” comprised of “wherever our commercial and cultural power reaches, and more practically in our patchwork of client states and military installations.”
That indeed is the essence of soft power, which both Russia and China thoroughly and desperately lack.
In retrospect to 2021, I suppose that Washington ultimately concluded that Afghanistan was unfortunately part of the American empire, like Pluto is a part of the solar system. Unfortunately, that war cost the American taxpayers $2 trillion, which was a total waste of money thanks to the foreign policy “geniuses” in the Pentagon and White House.
Wong’s entire article completely contradicts Douthat’s article, and is inaccurate and somewhat hyperbolic. It is not true when Wong wrote, “from one perspective, it is a resurrection of the mission of empire — acquiring the territories and resources of sovereign peoples — that animated European and other well-armed powers up to the 20th century. It is also an embrace, and even a celebration, of Western imperial histories.”
Mr. Wong, you are a little late to the game.
Let us just say that Venezuela’s narco-gangster Nicholás Maduro needed a little “nudge.” What Wong does not realize is that the US already has its hands full on the verge of imperial overreach.
No US troops on the ground are needed in Venezuela. The Venezuelans will have to solve their own political crisis with US air support if needed. The Iranians will ultimately have to solve their own problems, too.
I honestly think that Wong is confusing the US with China as a negative imperial power instead of being a force for good. China routinely engages in “debt-trap diplomacy” by extending large-scale, high-interest loans for infrastructure projects and the eventual exploitation of the debtor nation. A perfect example is the extensive and dangerous extraction of cobalt and gold by use of child and adult forced labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Another example is the Port of Colombo (Hambantota) in Sri Lanka, which is “85% owned by China” after Sri Lanka failed to pay its debts. The debtor list extends to numerous other Asian, European, and African countries such as Laos, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Djibouti, Maldives, Montenegro, and Zambia.
The notorious use of adult forced labor among the Muslim Uyghurs in the far-west province of Xinjiang is also extremely extensive and exploitative, as is the forced sterilization of Uyghur women, which is criminal.
Right now, Cuba may be on the verge of self-liberation, as demonstrated in Morón on March 14 by throwing off the oppressive yoke of communism, which was established in 1959, while in Venezuela, the Chavistas or followers of Hugo Chavez are coming to a quick end.
The US has no desire to add these two countries to the American Empire. However, it could use them as friendly allies or neutral nations in Latin America.
Contrary to Trump‘s admiration of President William McKinley in regard to territorial expansion, the president does not want the acquisition of more land or territory. He wants alliances, business deals, and treaties while creating spheres of influence.
There is indeed no empire to resurrect.
It is even conceivable that Mexico City may finally start cracking down on the drug cartels after the assassination of “El Mencho” on February 22. I certainly hope so, or else predator drones may soon be targeting the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and other narco-terrorist Mexican cartels throughout Mexico.
What is currently the most problematic for the US is not imperial overreach, but the internal problems faced by our massive national debt, which is quickly approaching $39 trillion. This could lead to a financial implosion with a vastly diminished or serious contraction of Pax Americana.
Another possible problem faced by the imperial US is the old Roman maxim of fighting endless wars for endless peace. Indeed, time will tell.
Robert L. Maronic
