ABSTRACT
American empire is the imperialism of a people who remember that their country secured its independence by revolt against an empire, and who like to think of themselves as the friend of freedom everywhere. It is an empire without consciousness of itself as such, constantly shocked that its good intentions arouse resentment abroad. The characteristic delusion of imperial power is to confuse global power with global domination. America needs to share the policing of nonproliferation and other threats with these powers, and if it tries, as the current National Security Strategy suggests, to prevent the emergence of any competitor to American global dominance, it risks everything that Edward Gibbon predicted: overextension followed by defeat. Both nationalism and narcissism have threatened the American reassertion of global power. America can help repress and contain the struggle, but even though its own security depends on the outcome, it cannot ultimately control it.
