As a point of reference, American imperialism begins (or it doesn’t really — one would have to completely ignore the genocide of the native population, African and Native-American slavery, rapid and continuous expansion of the national borders through war, the ethnic cleansing of indigenous peoples, the mid 1800s colonial state established in Nicaragua, etc.) with the aquisition of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Phillipines after the Spanish-American War of 1898.
In this timeline of American foreign policy, historian and Pentagon General Counsel of the Department of the Navy, Alberto J. Mora, provides his own perspective on the diplomatic role of the United States on the world stage, all the while dismissing the hegemony argument as a facet of American foreign policy. Determine for yourself, the veracity of his argument.
Howdy,
Mora quite explicitly supports “continued benevolent American hegemony”, saying as much, and notes, more or less, that those dismissing the idea that America is, de facto, the hegemon, are fooling themselves. There’s a an almost consensus in the foreign policy establishment on that point.
The point I’d call into question is whether or not it has been “benevolent”. I think it’s often downright malignant, numerous examples of which I described in that timeline.