The US has behaved very differently than past empires, but still has been imperialistic.<p>Ostensibly, we aren&#x27;t an &quot;empire&quot; because we don&#x27;t do things like establish governors over different places we conquer (and we, again ostensibly, don&#x27;t conquer anyone).<p>Instead we accomplish the same through the shadows. Encouraging certain dictatorships and coups, discouraging others. Wrecking nations through economic means when they step out of line (or attempt to). This is, in my opinion, much worse than the empires of old. We never control these things we create, which inevitably creates even greater hardship for the people dominated by the dictatorships and economic woes we inspired. And we publicly proclaim a desire for peace and democracy!<p>If we were a proper empire, expanding our domain, we would have ended up bringing new states into our union. The people that we subjugated gaining the right to vote at some point in the future via statehood (initially coming in as territories or protectorates). But we don&#x27;t <i>want</i> that. We won&#x27;t the control and influence without the accountability of their votes. This forces people to vote against us via other means. Often violent. We then condemn their actions, which we inspired, and put down these actors, or attempt to, and claim a victory for peace and democracy.