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THE EMPIRE HAS NO CLOTHES: U.S. FOREIGN POLICY EXPOSED Ivan Eland Oakland, CA: The Independent Institute, 2004 298 pages, cloth, $24.95
Since the United States' response to the September 11 attacks in Afghanistan, Iraq, and through "homeland security," there have been an increasing number of comparisons of the United States to the Roman Empire. Both my own book, Philosophy of the United States: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, and Chalmers Johnson's books, Blowback and The Sorrows of Empire, help in developing similarities between the United States and Rome and understanding the transition from a Republic to an Empire. There have also been a number of books exposing inconsistencies between United States ideals and rhetoric and the actual foreign policy as experienced around the world. Among them are American Dream: Global Nightmare by Ziauddin Sardar and Merryl Wyn Davies and The War against America Seen from the Indian Ocean by Sir James Mancham.
This book by Ivan Eland, published by the Independent Institute, clearly has the most provocative title, The Empire Has No Clothes: U.S. Foreign Policy Exposed. It begins by answering "yes" to the question, "Does the United States have an Empire?" This is a much debated subject and a most appropriate subject for discussion. From the perspective of political and legal integration, the United States lacks the appearance of classical empires like Rome, Spain, or Britain, which ruled territories with governors appointed by the Emperor or King. However, from the perspective of political and economic influence, the case is not so clear. American military bases, CIA operations, and foreign policy appear bent on pressuring others to fall into step. Eland would agree with Chalmers Johnson that the United States has already crossed its Rubicon (the river illegally crossed by Julius Caesar in 49 B.C. and taken as a symbol of Rome's transition from Republic to Empire.)1
When did the American empire start? Most historians believe it was with the increase in presidential power and the U.S. naval buildup at the end of the nineteenth century. While the United States, like every nation, will expand into any territory that does not offer significant resistance, Eland distinguishes, I think rightly, between United States' nation building and empire-building. He notes that the United States sought...