When there was a war in Jugoslavia people weren't problem. I'm from a country that was part of Yugoslavia.

Problem were politicians that were fueling racial disagreements to the point of war. Once people start fighting it's hard to forget for people that were attacked. And violence escalates exponentially.....

LOL

Afganistan is 21 century Vietnam for USA

No one has to stand up to America...nations nearly have to stop standing with America...

The next time America plans to "liberate" a nation, its allies are going to be a lot more wary...each time America meddles, it becomes less popular...its not the enemies it makes that is a problem, its the friends America is losing...the next time America tries to build a "coalition of the willing", it will be a lot harder, because nations will remember the last time they went on a crusade with America...

The problem with America isn't its politicians, its the people...its not that Americans are inherently evil or selfish, its simply that a lot of them don't get it...

Most Americans side with Israel...why?  Because its not muslim, its hated by the whole muslim world, and it's supposedley on "defense"...Palestine just wants violence, Palestine hates Jews, Palestine is constantly bombing or attacking Israel, Palestine is evil and probably sacrifices virgins and eats babies...all Americans see is Palestine being the aggressor and Israel being the poor innocent kid on the playground that everyone makes fun of...

Americans fear the unknown, and since Americans are generally ignorant about the rest of the world, there's a lot of unknown out there for them to fear and hate...a few decades ago the unknown was "the evil commies"...now the unknown is Islam...god have mercy on the next group of victims that are skimped over in US history class...

From your own link:  Perhaps you want to debate with the authors.  However, America still does not qualify under your definition, which is not in the top 5.

im·pe·ri·al·ism

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Yes, and by your definition all lands are products of imperialism.  With the possible exception of Israel.

Your thinking of the american media.. The american public is much more divided over the issue... A lot of people I know are more sympathetic towards the palestinians than the jewish population.  The way  I look at it is how can we say we're sorry to the Native Americans and then back up the bulldozing of houses in Israel.   Our gov't feels its forced to support Israel since it was Britain and America's big idea to do it plus to hold off an all out war between Israel and the surrounding countries.

Do we really want an all-out war between Israel and the Arab nations that surround it?  I mean, Israel has only won the past few wars they've had with those guys, and by huge margins, so what would be any different this time around?  However, let's say Israel is about to lose, then what?  Chances are they have nuclear warheads, so we can kiss Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan good-bye.  Either way, Israel wins, and the only difference is how much their attackers lose by.

@Dr Guy

You are looking specifically for definitions that require "territorial acquisitions"...words are not defined by words, they are defined by concepts, connotations, and ideas...there is also no one definition, but many for any given word...looking at several definitions of imperialism, they do not all require a "flag to be planted" so to speak...

Imperialism is about dominance, not your narrow focus on "territorial acquisitions"...you can argue the definition of imperialism, but it is obvious you are really arguing that America is either not imperialist, or that we are all "technically" imperialist (which essentially is saying America is not "imperialist" in the manner most people are speaking off)...

You are correct in that America is a nation of man...but America is different because it IS a superpower while no other nation is...it has more responsibility because of its power, and it is more important that America is "right" (whatever that may be) because of the influence it has...I will criticize America for its wrongs as much as I will criticize any country for its wrongs...

America had slavery...so did a lot of nations...America killed natives...so did a lot of nations...the issue is not how America and the rest of the world acted decades and centuries ago, but how America and the rest of the world have changed..

A large portion of Americans look down (if ever so slightly) on the rest of the world...America doesn't understand WHY its hated by large portions of the world...there are very good reasons for the mid-east, or Russia, or China, or south and central America, or Europeans to despise America...but Americans don't understand why the hate is there, and therefore instead of the mid-east being a bunch of real people with real pasts and real feelings, the mid-east is a bunch of muslim fanatics just asking to be glassed...

A lot of Americans still heavily support the war in Iraq and are now advocating direct military action against Iran...the rest of the Western world has come to a consensus that Iraq was a mistake....not because Saddam shouldn't have been removed, but because of how the war was handled and why America went there in the first place....

America is looking for a fight with Iran...I don't see the rest of Western civilization so eager...

Every nation has an inglorious part of its past...the problem is, America overlooks its mistakes and repeats them while the rest of the world seems to be moving forward...

Obama and Congress are certainly not looking for a fight with Iran, and that's what matters since they're the ones with the powers to wage and declare war respectively.  And Obama and the rest of Western civilization are morons if they honestly believe Iran's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, and not to make weapons they can use to wipe entire countries off the map in a matter of hours.

Obama has been vacillating with Iran, and Brazil and Turkey (a NATO member by the way) are starting to realize that siding with America in this matter is not smart, as revealed by their new nuclear exchange program with Iran.  Obama has also handed off Eastern Europe to Russia with the cancellation of the missile shield, which would have been a statement by America that Russia was to leave Europe alone.  Right now we are giving up our influence for some vague sense of global togetherness, and Russia and China are picking up all the influence and power we're throwing away.

Obama's America is weak, and our allies that aren't in Western Europe are realizing we aren't there for them like we used to be.  Under Bush, the world didn't like us, but they respected us since they knew where we stood; under Obama, the world likes us, but they have no respect for us since Obama doesn't stand for much of anything.  It is better to be respected than liked, since respect gets you influence and attention while being liked gets you only vague promises and empty words.

Mao said political power comes from the barrel of a gun, and while saying something positive about a mass-murdering bastard like him leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, he was right since as long as the final arguments of governments are tanks and troops, political power in the world will be measured by how much ass you can kick, how quickly you can kick it, and whether or not the world believes you are willing to start kicking it.  We can do the first two extremely well, and have always been able to since our independence, but the third isn't always so reliable, especially with our current government.

To say otherwise would be to say that the Europeans who subjugated much of Africa, Asia and South America and Australia were not imperialistic and they certainly were.

However, not all nations have been effected by imperialism. Examples include Iceland, Sweden, Bhutan, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Liberia and a few others. Interestingly, Liberia got started by freed black slaves with the help of the American Colonisation Society and this is essentially the opposite of imperialism.

Many countries have been imperialistic in the past, but they were organised and governed in a completely different way so the term cannot apply in a modern context. The US hasn't had such a fundemental change in government.

How exactly is America going to stand up to China and Russia?  What do you propose that we do?  Bomb them?  Embargo them?  Throw rocks at them and call them dirty names?  So we don't want Putin or Medvedev as President...what are we going to do, assassinate them until the Russians elect someone we like?  So China is nationalistic...what are we going to do, burn every picture of Mao and every Chinese flag?

This is not pre-WWI or pre-WWII...this is the age of nuclear warfare where a conventional military can't just stop a new Nazi-Germany or new-Soviet Union in the making...our "political power" is based on a lot more than military power....we are a superpower because of our military, but being a military superpower is not going to get us everything we want...our economy, the amount of interdependence through trade, the political support we get from our allies...these are the things we need, not military power...

Before the invasion of Iraq, Turkey backed out and decided it would not let us conduct operations that used Turkey as a home-based...Turkey's decision prevented us from flanking Iraqi forces from the North-West...against a powerful enemy, Turkey's decision would have been absolutely devastating to our military success...we need friends, not military power, we need a stronger economy that ties nations together so that they avoid war at all costs because it would be economic suicide...

The era of power through respect is over...having nations respect and fear us isn't going to get us anywhere...having nations need us economically is what will protect freedom and democracy...

If China decides to invade South Korea, the only military option we really have is the nuclear option...if Iran launches nukes at another nation, the only military option we really have is the nuclear option...but, there are other choices that don't cause nuclear winters yet can be just as effective...

If China finds out America will not buy any more Chinese goods, then China is screwed, and it will back down...if Iran finds out it won't be able to export a single drop of oil, then its pitiful economy will be screwed even more, and it will back down...of course, those actions are contingent on the rest of the world also refusing to include China/Iran in the global economy, and the rest of the world isn't going to give a damn how many F-18s and Abram Tanks we have...we need influence that is not based on military power in order to spread our will...as of right now, the American economy is falling behind, and military expenditures are a huge crunch (1/6 of the whole budget)...every time America meddles and lands troops somewhere, more and more people get ticked at us and more nations become unwilling to cooperate with us...

I will repeat what I said earlier, just with a slight twist....if you are really concerned about the power of Russia or China, the solution is not to stand up to them....the solution is to make sure no one else stands with them, and that requires building friendships, not military power...

What mustn't happen is for America to collapse. If this were to happen, economies would crash, countries would panic, and what better way to get resources when the world market is down than to take them by force. I see it in this way: If one country has too much power, it can't collapse, because if it does, there's a power vacuum.