To quickly take on comparisons with the British Empire -- War: True, the US engages in war, and the British Empire engaged in war. But so have many countries t

To quickly take on comparisons with the British Empire -- War: True, the US engages in war, and the British Empire engaged in war. But so have many countries that were no empires. When the US engages in war, it leaves and tries to set up a gov't as the new authority. This has worked well (Japan, Germany, etc.) and not so well (Iraq, South Korea initially). Companies: Imperial British companies literally captured their markets -- they had their own armies! The British East India Company for example came to rule much of the subcontinent, with their own soldiers! Subjects of British imperial rule were told what to trade. They might have done well for themselves sometimes (or been devastated at other times), but in any case the relationship was clear. Global leadership: The US took the mantle as global leader from the British. This wasn't desired. Indeed after WWI the US refused to play leader. Some historians believe that WWII could have been avoided if the US would have fulfilled its duty as most powerful to provide leadership. After WWII the US became serious about being a leader, by which I mean taking the initiative on issues of global coordination, both security-wise and financial. This is another reason the US is so easily confused with an empire. The UN, IMF, World Bank, NATO, Bretton Woods, these were largely American initiatives, but they were not imperial dictats. Again, the importance in my way of thinking is that countries with relationships with the US are not subjects of the US. That is the key distinction that must never be forgotten. A question: In your way of thinking, is the EU an empire?