How did the United States become an "American emperor" step by step?

In recent years, although the United States is facing difficulties in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places, it has not stopped exporting American values to these countries. As a form of foreign policy, the United States will export and promote American-style liberal and democratic values to the world as a means to consolidate its global hegemony, so as to maximize American national interests.

James Zhu, an assistant professor at the Institute of Political Science of East China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out in an article entitled "Imperialist Tendency of Liberals" published in the third issue of History of Political Thought 20 17 that the failure of the United States to promote American values to the world stems from its potential imperialist tendency. The United States defines the world as a "civilized nation" and an "uncivilized nation", relies too much on the value of freedom, and fears the turmoil in the region where the so-called "uncivilized nation" is located, all of which give the United States reasons to interfere in other countries' politics.

The original excerpt is as follows:

Although some critics accuse that "American imperialist ambition" will only "lead to a more hostile international system and make American interests more and more difficult to realize", it will eventually lead to the pathological changes of American liberal regime, because "militarism, arrogance of power and euphemistic expression of defending imperialism will inevitably conflict with the democratic structure of the American government and distort its culture and basic values", it is realistic.

America's concept of accepting imperial expansion began in the19th century. With the rapid rise of Europe relative to the world, liberals began to accept the judgment that European and non-European societies are "civilized" and "uncivilized" with more confidence, and then regarded it as an unshirkable responsibility to promote civilization to backward non-European societies. At the same time, early liberals also worried that the arrival of modern commercial society might drive people away from politics and pursue business and family affairs, thus leaving a political vacuum. The country can't wait to fill this vacuum, which will lead to the expansion and concentration of state power. This concern prompted early liberals to put forward measures to strengthen the country through imperial expansion.

The gradual evolution of the United States into imperialism has its evolution process. For American liberals, a homogeneous free world is always more likely to provide security, prosperity and freedom. Because the expansion of freedom and democracy will bring different values and interest judgments; An open world economic system will lead to mutual understanding and the integration of interests, which will to a great extent ease the doubts between countries and ease the security dilemma, so as to obtain the security, prosperity and freedom of free countries.

Liberals believe that in order to achieve universal security, prosperity and freedom, some degree of violence and direct control cannot be completely ruled out. After all, some "uncivilized nations" can not only establish a free government, but also ensure domestic stability because of the suppression of the external realistic environment. Wilson saw this in Latin American nations. If these ethnic groups cannot change this external environment through self-development, then the intervention of "civilized ethnic groups" may be a feasible choice. Wilson's interference in Mexico, Haiti, Dominica and other countries, denying the direct independence of the Philippines and supporting the "trusteeship" system of the League of Nations are all manifestations in this regard.

Liberals are willing to undertake such a heavy educational task, in addition to their innate sense of mission, their concern for domestic freedom is also an important kinetic energy to urge them to undertake the mission. In fact, as Mill and Wilson discovered, free countries are prone to turmoil due to internal conflicts of interest, which in turn threatens constitutional freedom, which makes liberals regard seeking "opportunities" abroad as an effective means to dilute and alleviate conflicts of interest.

In the agricultural era, Jefferson advocated increasing land through territorial expansion, thus prompting more people to become "the most dynamic, independent and moral" yeomen because of obtaining cultivated land. They are endowed with property because of their absolute ownership of real estate, and then enjoy an independent status in personality. Therefore, there is no need to be attached to the landlord like a landless and relatively poor tenant, nor to rely on a buyer with changeable demand like a self-interested businessman, let alone a worker who can survive by relying on his employer. These yeomen "as the inheritors of classical housekeepers, they can enjoy leisure and autonomy, so that they can consider both what is beneficial to others and what is beneficial to themselves".

In commercial times, liberals such as Mill and Wilson worry that overpopulation, capital surplus and product surplus will cause disputes among all classes of the country and lead the country to fall into a "vicious circle of anarchy and tyranny". For example, james madison thinks that modern American * * * and political power have avoided the "uneasy turmoil and continuous revolution between the two extremes of tyranny and anarchy" of ancient American * * and political power. To this end, they hope to ensure the continuous "open door" of countries and smooth international economic exchanges through commercial expansion, so as to ensure that all walks of life in China always enjoy the "opportunity" to seek benefits. Only in this way can the country be prevented from falling into anarchy or being forced to adopt dictatorship because of extreme conflicts of interests between classes.

The work of "national reconstruction" advocated by imperialism now often lacks the long-term support of the domestic people. Professor Hulfried Minkler of Humboldt University believes: "Compared with autocratic empires, those empires that have democratic rule or are highly responsive to the people rarely persist in implementing imperial policies with costs far greater than benefits for a long time." In addition, anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism after World War II have shaped people's rejection of any external direct control, so it is impossible to achieve a deep-rooted liberal order through long-term education. The result is bound to be the embarrassment of free imperialists, that is, due to the lack of support from the real environment (including money, time and internal and external support), it is impossible to fully implement the free imperialist policy to prove its effectiveness. (Comprehensive/Overseas Network Liu Siyue)