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How is the United States different than Rome or The British Empire?
by justinzollars 5y ago
How is the United States different than Rome or The British Empire?
- LatteLazy 5y agoThe Romans lasted 100s of years. Us Brits made over 100. The US is flagging barely 30 years after outlasting communism...
- chaostheory 5y agoTechnically, our "empire" started after WWII, so it's more like 80 years.
- LatteLazy 5y agoI'm not sure when the clock starts exactly. After ww2 the ussr looked like the biggest badest empire. Doubly so after sputnik and their first atomic bombs. Maybe the 70s?
- chaostheory 5y agoMultiple empires can co-exist simultaneously. The US actually already had colonies since 1898 so it would already qualify as an empire at that point. You can even make a case that the US started in empire in 1848 when it annexed Mexican land. The 1970's is way too late. Even my initial guess of post-WWII is late.
- krapp 5y agoAmerica was an actual empire (as in actually taking over other countries and colonizing them) back in the 19th century. America's "empire" after WW2 is more of a redefinition of the term.
- chaostheory 5y agoGood point. Puerto Rico, Guam, and maybe even the Virgin Islands are proof of that. The Philippines too, but we didn't keep that island chain. 1898 is that birth of the US empire.
- finiteseries 5y agoIt’s essentially an entire continent unto itself that stays completely geographically insulated as long as a single power doesn’t coopt all of Eurasia. The territorial ambitions are slightly different to a colonial maritime power within spitting distance of no fewer than 3 other maritime powers, or one in control of the Mediterranean with a very large front door open to the North European Plain.