Using a more modern definition, one might see the United States as a sort of Empire. No, not the same manner of empire as that which was maintained by the British from circa 1580 to 1997 (a span of over 400 years) which entailed establishing colonial authorities across the globe, but one that executes it's authority via cultural, economic, and military influence without directly commanding the affairs of each individual country.
Actually, in many ways, America's “empire” is similar to that which it previously was subservient, in that, for a long time, there has been little or no real political rivalry, and we have commanded the world economy, in a manner of speaking, for decades. Problem is that we seem to be trying to copy what the British accumulated in two centuries while only being at it for less than one, and doing it without the same colonial enterprise that the British utilized.
This, combined with our lack of a King or other such solitary leader, somehow makes the United States less of an empire...
This gigantic military and economic power is precisely that which will bring about our downfall, and further, is exactly what the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution wanted us to avoid. Our President, not Obama specifically but the authority of the office, has risen to be something very similar to a King, which today can even wage limited warfare without the approval of another authority. People often credit the President with having accomplished things (or not) that are totally outside of the power of the executive branch, and in some way they are often correct simply because some manner of [probably corrupt] behind-the-scenes pressure seems to be in use to effect change. Further, the pomp and splendor of state dinners and other political and diplomatic events has certainly surpassed that to which British Kings were accustomed in the 16th and 17th centuries, something I believe says a lot about how detached they are from the laborers of the country – the knuckledraggers that actually do all of the work.
Fact is, the United States maintains a significant military presence in at least nine different countries, three of which are considered combat zones (Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya). In Japan and South Korea also reside a heavy man-count, I presume to counter threats from North Korea. In all, nearly a quarter of our active-duty personnel are stationed in other countries, some of which today seem nonsensical, including our so-called combat zones. Mind you, Congress hasn't formally declared war on another country since our June 5, 1942 declaration on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania during World War II. Since then, lesser designations and possibly Constitutionally-questionable military actions have been authorized and funded by Congress, but never an admission that a state of war actually exists.
In many of the most important ways, the Executive Branch today operates independently of the other branches of government, and in many other ways may pressure the other branches to bend to it's will. No one man controls the country, but the President and his administration has a number of officies that tend to function without direct oversight of any other government body. Politically, economically, and internationally, the behavior of our government is in direct opposition to the core values supposedly espoused by the founding fathers, yet many of us continue to blindly accept it based on some concept of the greater social good... a concept that wouldn't even exist had we not spent ourselves into a debt oblivion that is crushing everything in sight under it's weight.
In closing, yes, I love my country. I love it for what it was prior to World War I, for what it could have been had it held fast to principles of non-intervention and, dare I say, isolationism, and for the fact that I still have the right to speak out against it when I deem it necessary.
Of those, one (at least partially) remains. When it is totally gone, there will be nothing left of America as far as I'm concerned.
