The Pursuit of Empire
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That the United States is the most influential nation in the world is beyond dispute. The continued role the US will play in world affairs is, however, hotly contested, as those in favor of hegemony argue vehemently against those convinced that the pursuit of empire is not in America's national interest. The reasons supporting each view are manifold and complex. In favor of the pursuit of empire are thinkers such as Robert Kagan and Sebastian Mallaby, who argue that the United Statesłand the rest of the worldłstand to benefit from a unipolar global configuration with America at the helm. Other political analysts such as William Pfaff, Lance Selfa and Lewis H. Lapham argue that the pursuit of empire is folly, and that history has shown the error in yielding to the hubris of hegemony. The question of empire no doubt looms large for the United States in the 21st century. How this question is decided will, to some extent, decide the fate of the world as we know it. Robert Kagan advances a notion of "benevolent hegemony" in defense of the behavior of the United States as a world superpower (26). On this view, the power wielded by the United States throughout the world has been, and will continue to be, "good for a vast portion of the world's population" (Kagan 26). Essentially, Kagan is insisting that the alternativeła multipolar world boasting many loci of powerłwill yield more violence, strife, poverty and oppression than one in which a benevolent power is allowed to
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Mallaby, non-imperialist options such as nation-building efforts or foreign aid donations are not merely imperfect, they simply do not work. It is therefore an obligation of the United States to assume an imperialist posture and pursuełin its own national interest as well as the interest of the worldłthe realization of an American Empire.
William Pfaff sets the tone for the opposition by making clear the origin of the imperialist ambition: a Western, enlightenment ideology that rests upon notions of universalism and objective truth (Pfaff). Concerned that the new world order will reflect solely American might and not, for example, a genuine "intellectual and cultural dynamism", Pfaff fears that the move toward empire will be little more than a formal adoption of might-makes-right foreign policy. Western values, Pfaff points out, take for granted the existence of universal norms and standards that are objectively valid for all peoples in all places. The trick is in the ability of the "enlightened" bits of the world (read: the West) to bring the rest of the world around to a specific way of thinking. Western ideas about human rights and individual freedom, understood to be universal "goods" for the world at large, are actuall
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Approximate Word count = 1316
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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