The evidence is rapidly mounting that we are witnessing the beginning stages of the end of the American Imperial Empire. This military colossus is spread across the world, its costs are out of control and the fact that, instead of being a positive force for America, it has become a monumental liability, one that is totally unsustainable.
How does America fit the description of an Imperial Empire? Well it can be considered to be an imperialist state because of its " established economic and political domination of other nations that are not its colonies." And when you add the use of indirect and direct measures, including aggressive military power, to control and dominate other countries of the world, it then becomes an Imperial Empire.
So what are the indications that this Imperial Empire is in the beginning stages of its eventual demise? Where are the signs, where is the evidence? For starters let's consider the fact that America's powerful military has engaged in three unnecessary and unjustifiable wars in recent history against small nations that did not pose any direct threat to this nation and its people -- and, yet, it did not prevail against any one of them.
We might say that Vietnam was strike one; Iraq was strike two and Afghanistan, after U.S. troops leave at the end of 2014, will be strike three. The massive military debacle in Iraq, in particular, appears to have been a turning point in American history as this country took a fatal turn in the wrong direction. History may see it as that point in time when the foundations of the empire began to crumble. These three wars are living proof of the vulnerability of this military when faced with unrelenting opposition from home grown guerilla-type fighters.
But the U.S. government, instead of using the defeat in Vietnam to step back from its hubristic agenda, has since then refused to change course and the cost to America, in financial terms and in it's relationships with other nations, has been staggering. It's becoming more and more obvious that the nations of the world are refusing to bend to the dictates and dominance of the U.S. government.
Recent world events would seem to support the above contentions. In the Syrian crisis, while Mr. Obama and the Congress were debating whether to use military force, Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly took charge of the situation by coming up with a plan to dispose of Syria's chemical weapons and that was that; he dismissed America's "options on the table" and clearly called the shots. Should this government and our president thank Putin for preventing a Middle East war? What would have happened if the U.S. had launched an aggressive military operation?
In the Ukraine/Crimea situation, while the U.S. and Euro/NATO nations were attempting to intervene in that nation's internal political affairs, Putin stepped into the act and once again took control and is calling the shots. The viable strategy that needs to be created by President Obama and the Congress to deal with this situation is non-existent and, again, illustrates how America's foreign policy has become dysfunctional; and is the reason why this country's influence and hold on the world is rapidly waning.
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