This is not a great article. First, if you mention that America has an overseas empire, you probably need to let us know exactly what the empire contains. Maps

This is not a great article. First, if you mention that America has an overseas empire, you probably need to let us know exactly what the empire contains. Maps of European imperialism exist and help us understand what an "overseas empire" actually looks like. In the article, aside from the Philippines, there is no mention of any other largely populated countries. We have no idea of the scale of the "American Overseas Empire" at all. Second, if you're trying to say that the American Empire is larger than it's colonization, it's be nice to let us know, again with a map, the sphere of influence under American rule. Telling us that America has many military bases is a poor substitute. Finally, the author is picking through straw with his examples of Jefferson and FDR. America is an empire. It's influence has been global since the turn of last century. The extent of American influence is seen everywhere. There are many books and articles on America's influence on the world that fairly cover both sides of history. The reason why colonization is not often talked about is because it's an outdated and inefficient practice that America just didn't care much about. It's why the Europeans deprecated it - ruling a country in order to benefit from it's resources is inefficient because you actually have to govern it and govern it pretty well for you to have any long term benefits. There's much easier and more direct ways for you to gain benefits from others, and believe it or not, most of them are mutually beneficial to both parties.