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The National Interest
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of American Capitalism?
by Gideon Rose
. . . So where does this leave us? Neo-traditionalists have trouble accepting that America is indeed now a colossus. Neo-revisionists have trouble accepting that the country's strength can be, and in the past generally has been, a force for good. The truth is that today's officials, like their predecessors half a century ago, are neither innocent heroes nor scheming villains. They are ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, struggling under enormous pressure to expand the frontiers of a global political and economic order that has, over several decades, helped more people taste freedom and prosperity than in all previous history. Whether they can approach this challenge with appropriate prudence and wisdom, using the immense power at their disposal responsibly so as to replicate their forebears' large successes while avoiding their occasional mistakes, remains to be seen. . . .